30. Present an overview of major theories of need satisfaction in explaining motivation.
The term motivation refers to two different but related ideas. Two standpoints: From the standpoint of the individual, motivation is an internal state that leads to the pursuit of objectives. Personal motivation affects the initiation, direction, intensity, and persistence of effort. From the standpoint of the manager, motivation is the process of getting people to pursue objectives.
Motivation is the expenditure of effort to accomplish results. A key point of the two-factor theory is that the opposite of satisfaction is no satisfaction—not dissatisfaction. Similarly, the opposite of dissatisfaction is no dissatisfaction— not satisfaction.
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process of motivation works as follows:
A need is a deficit within an individual, such as a craving for water or affection. Self-interest is thus a driving force. Reflect on your own experiences. Before working hard to accomplish a task, you probably want to know how you will benefit. If your manager asks you to work extra hours to take care of an emergency, you will most likely oblige. Yet underneath you might be thinking, “If I work these extra hours, my boss will think highly of me. As a result, I will probably receive a good performance evaluation and maybe a better-than-average salary increase.”
The need-satisfaction approach: People are motivated to fulfill needs that are not currently satisfied. The need-satisfaction approach requires two key steps in motivating workers. First, you must know what people want—what needs they are trying to satisfy. To learn what the needs are, you can ask directly or observe the person. You can obtain knowledge indirectly by getting to know employees better. To gain insight into employee needs, find out something about the employees personal life, education, work history, outside interests, and career goals. Second, you must give each person a chance to satisfy needs on the job. Based on his work as a clinical psychologist, Abraham M. Maslow developed a comprehensive view of individual motivation.
Maslow’s need hierarchy arranges human needs into a pyramid-shaped model with basic physiological needs at the bottom and self-actualization needs at the top.
Achievement, Power, and Affiliation: According to David McClelland and his associates, much job behavior can be explained by the strength of people’s needs for achievement, power, and affiliation. The achievement need refers to finding joy in accomplishment for its own sake. High achievers find satisfaction in completing challenging tasks, attaining high standards, and developing better ways of doing things.
Risk Taking and Thrill Seeking: The willingness to take risks and pursue thrills is a need that has grown in importance in the high-technology era. Many people work for employers, start businesses, and purchase stock with uncertain futures. Both the search for giant payoffs and daily thrills motivates these individuals.
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory: The study of the need hierarchy led to the two-factor theory of work motivation, which focuses on the idea of two different sets of job factors. One set of factors can satisfy and motivate people. They discovered that some factors of a job give people a chance to satisfy higher-level needs. Such elements are satisfiers or motivators. A satisfier is a job factor that, if present, leads to job satisfaction. Similarly, a motivator is a job factor that, if present, leads to motivation.