The challenge of human resource management. Theories of motivation - Essay Example

? The concept of motivation is often viewed as complicated and fascinating by different leaders but a closer analysis of the operations of any given organisation shows that this is an indispensable component which can ensure viability of any particular company in the face of competition. Thus, effective leaders ought to understand motivation and there are numerous theories of motivation that exist to try and help the managers as well as the leaders to understand the needs as well as goals of their employees in a bid to sustain certain actions while at the same time attempting to stop some unbecoming behaviour (Werner 2007). Against this background, this essay seeks to critically compare and contrast two theories of motivation. These are Maslow’s hierarchy of needs which is a content theory as well as Locke and Latham’s goal setting theory which is a process theory. The essay starts by explaining the meaning of the key term which is motivation then followed by outlining the similarities as well as the differences that may exist between the two. The last part will specifically focus on suggestions about how a team leader might use these theories to motivate their team. Basically, motivation is loosely defined as “a state arising in processes that are internal and external to the individual, in which the person perceives that it is appropriate to pursue a certain course of action aimed at achieving a specified outcome and in which the person chooses to pursue those outcomes with a degree of commitment and persistence (Robins, Odendaal & Roodt 2001). Thus, motivation is basically concerned with arousing, directing and sustaining our behaviour. Theories of motivation fall into two basic groups: content theories as well as process theories. According to Finchman & Rhodes (2005), content theories of motivation focus on what motivates an individual. They are typically concerned with determining the specific needs that motivate people. On the other hand, process theories attempt to describe and analyse how people are motivated, that is, how behaviour is aroused, directed and sustained. Process theories of motivation in this case posit to the effect that there is no individual who can give the other person satisfaction that is related with accomplishing especially a challenging job, but it is self derived (Carrell et al 1995). Overally, motivation is influenced by needs, goals, expectations, motives as well as drives and these play different roles in motivation as going to be explained briefly below. According to (Brewster et al 2003), a need is something that is basic to life such as food and shelter and once it is satisfied a person is motivated. A goal is a certain target that an individual wants to attain and once achieved, that person is motivated. An expectation is primarily concerned with promises to be fulfilled say after performing a task and if these are fulfilled the person is motivated. A motive is an intention of acting in a certain way or doing something and it also affects motivation. Lastly, a drive is a push factor that pushes someone to act in a particular manner and if there is promise of reward that person would be motivated to pursue that drive. These are some of the major factors that motivate people to act or behave in particular ways. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is perhaps the most appealing theory of motivation. Thus, according to Maslow, when a need occurs, motivational tension develops and is directed towards satisfaction of that need (Carrel 1995). The hierarchy comprises of five levels of needs namely physiological, security, social, self esteem and self actualisation needs. These needs build from grassroots levels up to the point where some skilled workers feel that they should be rewarded on the basis of their importance, coupled with their performance to the company. As far as company growth is concerned, there is need for the workers to feel that their needs are satisfied. According to (Maslow 1970 as cited in Werner 2007), as each of these needs is satisfied, they cease to motivate the person and the next level of needs becomes dominant. Basically, the two assumptions underpinning Maslow’s hierarchy of need is that human beings have needs and secondly, once these needs have been satisfied, the people particularly employees are motivated to perform their tasks. Lower needs are satisfied by external factors in most cases. A goal is a specific target that an individual is trying to achieve as explained above. Having goals can be very motivating because people compare their current performance with the performance required to achieve a particular goal (Werner 2007). In this case, the motivator is self derived contrary to the hierarchy of needs by Maslow which puts more emphasis on external factors that motivate people. In this case, an individual feels compelled to do more to his or her current performance with the major aim of achieving greater things. An employee sets his or her own goals and if he succeeds in achieving that particular goal, he will feel a sense of achievement and esteem. Research on goal-setting theory has shown that specific, challenging and acceptable goals can have very powerful effect on the motivation of the employee. On the other hand, it can be noted that the major similarity between Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory and the goal setting theory is that they are both characterised by a sense of self esteem where an individual will be motivated by achieving a particular goal. Leadership is defined as: “The process whereby one individual influences other group members towards the attainment of defined group or organisational goals,” (Werner 2007). To a certain extent, a team leader may use these theories to motivate their team as going to be outlined in this section. It is widely recognised that it is best for the leader and the employee to work together to set the employee’s goals for a specific period of time so as to create goal commitment. The goal should be clearly spelled out and each individual’s role should be clearly defined as well. The main advantage of laying out challenging goal expectations is that each person would fully know what he is supposed to do and they would cooperate as way of attempting to achieve the set goals which will play a major role in motivating that particular person. The leaders can also take a leading role in ensuring that the employee gets constant feedback on goal achievement. Overally, the leader should ensure that the goal set is measurable, challenging, specific understandable and acceptable (Werner 2007). This will go a long way in motivating the employee to be focused on his or her goals. There is need for leadership to clearly define the line of communication channels where there is possibility for feedback from both ends in a bid to motivate the team members. Thus, effective leaders ought to know that they understand their employees and what motivates them. In order to what motivates an employee, a leader must find out what that employee needs and what goals they have set for themselves. It can thus be seen that the two theories discussed above play a complimentary role motivating the employees by the leaders. Motivated workers want to come back to work and they want to be part of the team at work and they are also interested in helping and supporting others at work which positively contributes to the performance of the organisation. It is therefore imperative for the leaders to ensure that they identify the needs of the employees as a way of motivating them. They must also assist them in setting up goals. Effective leaders constantly review the needs of the employees. For the workers to be fully productive, they ought to be motivated such that they would develop a positive sense of belonging to the organisation rather than just treated as workers who have no needs. The success of an organisation is usually dependant on the production by the workers. Somebody who is motivated would feel to be part of the organisation hence he would put more effort in his performance as a way of cooperating with other co workers towards the attainment of the organisational goals. Most importantly, the leaders should be in a position to constantly review the grievances of the workers so as to be able to take necessary action should the need arise. Leaders should lead by example as a way of motivating their teams with regards to goal setting. Indeed, they are the ones who set the pace about how the organisation ought to operate. The motivation process is goal directed in most cases. The leader must always bear it in mind that the goals or the outcomes that an individual employee is seeking also arouse that person to behave in a certain way. Achieving the goals by the individual may also significantly result in the lowering of the needs of the employee. Accordingly, behaviour of the manager greatly influences leadership styles (Carrell, R. et al 1995). Leaders can give the employees the autonomy to set their own goals in their operations which will likely motivate them to put optimum performance in their operations since they would have a sense of belongingness to the organisation. Employees who are given the autonomy to set their own goals will feel very honoured and important to the organisation which will motivate them to be part and parcel of the organisation. It can also be seen that a person who is given the chance to set his or her own goal can easily identify with the organisation hence there will be no need for close monitoring of his operations given that he is aware of the goals he has set for himself. People who set their own goals are fully aware of the ways they will employ to accomplish their goals. According to Carrell (1995), the worker should decide how the job is done, planned, controlled and even make decisions concerning the whole process. At the end of the day, this initiative can motivate the employees by making the job more exciting and challenging. Skilled workers are normally motivated by seeing the results of their contributions and efforts than just performing routine tasks though they may be handsomely remunerated. Effective leaders can use the goal setting theory to motivate their skilled workers through giving them the ability to make decisions or at least influence the decision making process as a way of creating a sense of belonging to the company. Besides fulfilling other needs, it can be noted that in most cases, skilled workers are motivated by the level of their responsibility, status, opportunity for development, recognition of success as well as interest in the job. It is the duty of the leaders to ensure that they identify the goals and needs of the members of their teams. The level of responsibility held by someone is a great motivator as it attaches some form of importance to that person within the organisation. This motivator goes hand in hand with that of status. More often than not, people occupying prestigious posts are motivated by the status they derive from their positions. When you have a high post, you are indeed motivated by the sense of importance within an organisation. This can as well be attributed to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory just like the goal setting theory. At this stage, the individual concerned will be earmarked for the need for self esteem which has more to do with status. Basically, in most cases, organisations give the managers or leaders formal authority to direct and control the activities of their subordinates while at the same time stressing the importance of motivation. Authority to direct and control is meant to ensure that there is conformity in the activities taking place in an organisation towards the attainment of the organisational goals but there is also need to take into consideration the needs of the employees as well as goals in a bid to motivate them. On the other hand, there is need for the managers to display leadership skills as a way of positively influencing their behaviour towards the attainment of the organisational goals through using other people. The managers should also be able to motivate the workers as a way of minimising chances of conflict and misunderstanding among employees which can make it difficult for the managers to control them. Thus, from this argument, it can be noted that leaders can use the theories of motivation to motivate the members of their teams. Over and above, it can be concluded that the concept of motivation is often viewed as complicated and fascinating by different leaders but it plays a great role towards the improvement of the employees’ performance which can play a pivotal role in ensuring viability of any particular company. It has also been noted that effective leaders ought to understand motivation and there are numerous theories of motivation that exist to try and help the managers as well as the leaders to understand the needs as well as goals of their employees in a bid to sustain their behaviour. It has been noted that the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theories is mainly concerned with external factors that motivate the people while the goal setting theory is mainly concerned with personal stimulus to achieve particular goals. Both theories can play a great role in helping the leaders to motivate the members of their teams. References Becker, B. & Gerhart, B. (1996). 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