Motivational Theory, Essay Example

Introduction

Motivation is the reason or purpose for doing specific actions.  This includes the motivation to take on challenges or tasks that would not normally be taken on or attempted.  Motivation comes from an internal drive or an external factor that can be based on repercussions or successes.  This motivation or desire to do certain things is influenced by multiple factors.  This desire to take action or do nothing is influenced by internal factors, known as drive, or external factors.  These invisible forces push a person to take action either out of personal responsibility, fear of repercussion or for a greater influencing power based on a desired outcome.  Throughout history people have tapped into the power of motivation to solve problems, conquer issues and drive people to complete tasks that they may not want to achieve without the invisible force of motivation.  The act or process which provides a person a reason for doing something is the basic foundation of motivation.

Harnessing the power of motivation is what mankind has been trying to accomplish since the dawn of time.  In order to better understand what motivates individuals or groups of people there must be an understanding for what those factors entail and how to focus effort into maximizing those efforts.  Motivational theory is the study of why people do and act as they do.  In breaking down motivation there are certain aspects that could be researched and studies.  For example, what motivates a person to become a marathon runner?  What pushes a person to wake up early and train while others decide to sleep?  What drives the person to continue this activity over a sustained amount of time?  What factors play a significant role into their ability to overcome the short term losses of sleep, energy, time with family or other factors and still continue to prepare for their goal?  These factors could also play a significant role into why a person volunteers for extra projects at work or takes on tasks that are not comfortable in a new assignment.  There are many theories on motivation.  The first area of focus will be that of motivating factors established by Frederick Herzberg and his thoughts on motivating and distracting factors on work.

Motivational Theory

One motivational theory includes that of Herzberg’s hygiene and motivational factors.  This includes a theory based upon Frederick Herzberg’s work that hygiene or dis-satisfiers as well as motivators or satisfiers work to stimulate a person to complete tasks or actions in a work environment (Herzber, Mausner, and Snyderman, 132).  By manipulating these two types of factors a leader or manager could encourage or discourage actions of his or her employees.  This theory transcends the workplace and could be utilized in other areas in which motivation plays a key role in creating a successful environment.  This theory shows the relationship between variables in the workplace and how well they motivate or demotivate workers.  On one side the motivating factors include areas that deal with the content of the work being performed and relates to opportunities and overall satisfaction.  These are known as motivation factors.  On the other side the inclusionary factors are those of context of the job and lead to the dis-satisfaction.  These are hygiene factors.  The correlation between how a person feels about the job content and the factors impacting the job context play a vital role in the overall motivation for the employee to complete the work efforts.

Examples of those factors include the following:

The motivational factors revolve around the content of the work.  If the content factors are not present in the work the employee is not necessarily dissatisfied but they are not motivated by the work.  This is a key distinction between the satisfiers and dis-satisfiers.  Every factor that is a satisfier does not “dis-satisfy” the worker.  In the absence of these factors the employee is more of a neutral or not satisfied position.  The worker without these factors will not necessarily put forth effort to do a good job nor will they become fully involved with the process or product they are influencing with their work.  The hygiene factors directly influence the job context.  The opposite is true for these hygiene factors in such that they do not have the ability to satisfy the employee but they directly influence the dissatisfaction of his or her work.  With this hygiene factors nullified, the employee will ensure their work is at an acceptable level but will not have a motivating factor to increase effectiveness nor efficiency in their efforts.  If the factors are influencing the workers environment, the employee will become negatively influenced and the output would suffer as a result.  These satisfiers and dis-satisfiers are consistently impacting the environment of the worker and in terms of Herzberg’s theory should be consistently monitored to ensure the quality of effort is put forth by the employee.

Impact and Design of Motivation

The motivational theory’s impact is far reaching in the realization that there are certain factors that leadership within the organization can influence to ensure the maximum output is gained from their employees.  While the exact science of inputs and corollary outputs are not a one for one trade there is definitely a correlation between the mixture of motivational factors and dis-satisfiers in the workplace environment.  In order to understand how these factors are utilized in the workplace and how motivation works throughout organizations it is imperative to understand the influencers within Herzberg’s theory.  These catalysts are the key attributes that can be manipulated by leadership of an organization and tailored to the type of workers the organization needs in order to be successful.  Understanding what motivates employees as well as what dissatisfies them can be the competitive advantage a company needs in the marketplace.

The motivational factors, those that increase satisfaction, revolve around the actual perceived benefits the indivual gets from the work they perform.  This can mean a multitude of things to the individual but they are broken up into different areas.  One area is the realm of growth.  Growth involves expanding one’s horizons by learning new skills, gaining information or honing skills.  The individual gains a value from the work and they will extend themselves to gain this enhancement.  Even if the work does not provide enhanced skillsets the effort may be beneficial by either providing a positive experience or negating a harmful one.  This example would be a driving factor based upon the ability for the work to encompass the needs of the individual.  This could range from demanding or challenging jobs for those that like to be extended beyond their normal capabilities or a job that allows for creativity or expression when that is a factor for a work.  The authority or responsibility of a position can also provide motivation for an individual to perform.  The perception that performance would allow for great responsibility or control over an operation or people would motivate some to go above and beyond their core job description so that they can gain that enhanced capability.  Performance can also lead to achievements and recognition.  Showing a progression and acknowledgement for that progression through awards and recognition motivates some to reach for loftier goals and continue down the path that helped them garner those previous recognitions.  Though responsibility increases and receiving achievements are both motivators there is also the upward movement through an organization or social status.  Attaining a higher level of status within the organization drives people to take on challenges and perform to the next higher level.  These are motivating factors that drive individuals that can be influenced through leaders of an organization.  Through the management of talent in an organization, future high performers can be molded and grown in an organization.

The hygiene factors are those that build the work environment and are the context of the situation where workers must perform their tasks.  Some detractors from motivation include the organizations administrative and bureaucratic operations.  This is basically the red tape that must be pushed through to achieve an objective.  The next area would be the level of supervision and the amount of freedom an individual has regarding decisions and work effort.  The amount of constraint leadership has on the individual could negate the extra effort the individual is willing to provide.  This also plays into the interpersonal relationships the individual has with his coworkers and leadership.  A hostile work environment would create tension and unease in the workplace and would not allow for efficiencies or effectiveness of employees to prosper.  The status of the individual as well as the working conditions that the person performs the job function in would only be seen as a dis-satisfier if it was not up to the standards that the individual holds.  The increase in status would fall under advancement or achievement.  The employee’s perceived or real vision on job security plays a critical role in the ability to perform.  If the security of the job is in question the employee would not invest himself or herself into the position but would ultimately spend more time looking for more security than performing the job functions.

The key areas are focal points for many companies that are trying to take advantage of a new type of workforce.  This workforce demands things such as creative leeway, functional and flexible work schedules, immediate recognition, a “merit-ocracy” in which performance leads to opportunity and satisfying work that is in tune with the individuals needs and wants out of their position (Conley, 89).  On company that leads the way in this type of focused employee effort is Facebook.  Facebook is driven by innovation and innovation is not achieved through rigor of regulations and strict adherence to best practices and framework straw men.  Their competitive advantage comes from people that are thinking in a way that allows creation of ideas, follow through of those ideas and promotes the successful implementation of those ideas.  Their environment focuses on all the key motivators while also ensuring the dis-satisfiers are kept at bay.  Motivators include an inclusive feeling in the company’s success, ability to take on tasks and excel at them, flexibility of their individual work schedule and ideas are listen to and ultimately acted upon (Miller, 2).  This type of environment is pulling in those types of workers that want to thrive and are willing and motivated by those key variables of the workplace.  Facebook created their work environment to appeal to a specific type of worker.  They tailored their incentives, promotions and work environment to attract the type of performers needed to make their company succeed and they did so by maximizing their satisfying factors and negating the dis-satisfiers.

Works Cited

Conley, C., Peak: how great companies get their mojo from maslow. (2007). A. Wiley. Print.

Herzber, F., Mausner, B., and Snyderman, B. The motivation to work. (2010). Transaction Publishers. Print.

Miller, A. What is it like to work at Facebook? (2009) Web. http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-it-like-working-at-facebook-2009-12