What is the nature of work motivation? - Chapter 6

In this chapter, work motivation is examined in more detail. A distinction is made between motivation and performance and between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Different theories about work motivation try to explain how people are motivated. All these theories come with suggestions about how motivation can be increased.

What is work motivation?

Work motivation is the psychological forces that dictate the direction of one's behavior, the level of effort and the degree of endurance in an organization. Work motivation, therefore, consists of three important elements that are discussed in more detail below.

The direction of the behavior means what behavior an employee chooses from the many possible behaviors. The direction of behavior can be functional for the company if it contributes to achieving the goals of the organization. The behavior can also be dysfunctional and hinder the organization in achieving its goals.

The question is asked how committed an employee is to the chosen behavior. It is not enough for an organization to motivate people to perform certain behaviors but the organization must also motivate its people to work hard at these chosen behaviors.

And finally, there is the element of perseverance. How much perseverance does a person have when faced with different kinds of obstacles and difficulties?

Motivation and performance are two different aspects of behavior. Performing is an evaluation of a behavior a person carries out in, other words how good or bad the person performs his task. Motivation is just one factor of many that affect a person's performance. A high degree of motivation does not always have to result in good performance and vice versa.

A distinction is made between the origins of work motivation, namely intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsically motivated work behavior is behavior that is carried out for the behavior itself for example, if you really like your job. Extrinsically motivated work behavior is behavior that is shown to obtain material or social reward or to prevent punishment.

What are the theories of work motivation?

What motivates people? How can you motivate them? How can you keep them motivated?

Theories on work motivation provide answers to these questions by explaining why people behave as they behave. Four theories about motivation are discussed here. These are the Need Theory, the Expectancy Theory, the Equity Theory and the Organisational Justice Theory.

All these theories are complementary to each other so there is no 'best' theory.

1. Need Theory

What motivates an individual to work for an organization? According to the Need Theory, every employee has needs that he/she wants to satisfy and it is up to the manager to respond. A manager can/must, therefore, motivate people by satisfying their needs; the needs are therefore the source of motivation. Needs are things that are necessary for survival or things that benefit the individual.

There are different Need Theories which are discussed below:

According to Maslow's theory of the Hierarchy of Needs, people have five universal needs that they want satisfied:

1. Physiological needs: things like food, water, and shelter

2. Safety needs: the need for safety and stability for example, free from war

3. Social needs: interaction, friendships, and love

4. Self-esteem needs: self-confidence, respect, and recognition

5. Self-actualization needs: the feeling that you are at full potential

The needs differ in the order of importance. You must first satisfy a need (need 1) before you can go to the next need (need 2). Once a need is satisfied, it is no longer a source of motivation. Managers must first identify and satisfy the initial needs, then the second, then the third and so on. No level may be skipped!

According to Alderfer's ERG Theory existence needs are all needs referring to the need for survival such as water, food, clothing, etc. The relatedness needs must be provided which are in relation to communication with others, kinship, and other relationships. Finally, the growth needs everyone has the need to develop themselves. In Alderfer's ERG Theory you do not have to start at the bottom and you can skip a level. Multiple needs can also be motivating sources at the same time. He agrees with Maslow that if a lower need is satisfied the need for new needs will increase. According to Maslow, the satisfied needs are no longer a source of motivation but Alderfer does not agree with this. He believes that if you do your best to satisfy higher needs but it does not work out that your motivation to satisfy the lower needs increases.

Both theories are not yet free from all criticism. One of the criticisms is that it is unreasonable to expect that a relatively small amount of needs are arranged in a certain fixed order and that this is also the same for everyone. It is also unrealistic to expect that the different needs all provide motivation in the same order.

2. Expectancy Theory

The theory of expectation is a theory about work motivation that focuses on how employees make choices between alternative behaviors and the degree of commitment. The question is whether the employee expects a better result if he puts in a lot of effort.

If an employee is convinced that he/she can not do this then the motivation to try it will be zero. Does the employee believe that performing at a certain level leads to a given level of performance? In general, employees are only motivated to perform at a certain level if this leads to a sought-after reward. Does the employee believe that performing at this certain level will result in the outcomes they want?

If the answer to the two above-mentioned questions is "yes" only then is the employee prepared to exert effort and perform. These must have a direct connection.

The theory of expectation identifies three important factors that determine the motivation of an employee. The first is the valence. How much is an outcome? This can vary in size, whether it is positive/negative and magnitude. The second is instrumentality. The relationship between work performance and the compensation can be measured on a scale. Finally, there is the expectancy. Faith is believed to be the connection between commitment and achievement. Expectation may also be measured on a scale. People will only be motivated by the thought that their efforts are rewarded.

If one of these three factors is 0 then the motivation is also 0! The Expectation Theory not only proposes that the reward should be based on commitment, but also that managers should do their best to ensure that this link is clearly visible to the employees.

3. Equity Theory

The Equity Theory is a theory of work motivation that focuses on the perceptions of employees of the fairness of the relationship between income and contributions.

Does the employee consider the remuneration as suitable and appropriate to the amount of energy and time they have put into the work? This is not the objective balance between effort and reward, people must experience the balance. It is also important for the motivation of the employee how his balance is in comparison with the people around him. These referees can be people who work in the same company or work somewhere else but it can also be yourself, for example, in comparison to another job. Fairness is experienced when the employee's ratio is equal to the ratio of the referent. This does not mean that the employee and his referent earn the same amount because it concerns the ratios; the relationship between efforts and rewards.

When the 'output' and 'input' ratios are not equal, one speaks of 'inequity'. There are two types of 'inequity':

1. 'Overpayment inequity': exists when an individual observes that their 'output/input ratio' is greater than the ratio of his or her referent.

2. 'Underpayment inequity': exists when an individual perceives that their 'output/input ratio' is less than the ratio of their referent.

There are several ways to restore equity:

• Employees can change their 'inputs' or 'outputs'.

• Employees can try to get the 'inputs' or 'outputs' from their referents change.

• Employees can change their observations about their inputs and outcomes.

• Employees can change the referent.

• Employees can leave their work or their organization or push the referent to leave his/her work.

4. Organizational Justice Theory

The organizational justice is the perception of the employee about the global honesty within the company. The Organizational Justice Theory does not refer to a single theory but rather describes a group of theories that focus on the nature, determinants, and consequences of organizational justice. The image of that justice is an important determinant for the motivation, attitude, and behavior of the employee.

There are four different forms of organization justice:

1. Distributive justice is the perceptual honesty about the distribution of outcomes in an organization, such as salary or promotions.

2. Procedural justice is the fairness of the procedures used to make decisions about the distribution of outcomes.

3. Interpersonal justice is the honesty of the interpersonal treatment that employees receive from their managers.

4. Informational justice is the perception of employees about the extent to which managers explain their decisions and the procedures they use for this.

Organizational justice is positively correlated with job satisfaction, organizational bonding, work performance, and OCB and negatively correlated with absence and turnover. If organizational justice is low, there is an increased chance of counterproductive work behaviors, an employee's behavior that hurts the organization's norms and values and can hurt the organization.