Theories of Motivation in Organizations - Essay Example

Theories of Motivation in Organizations Organizations are in this competitive era, confronted with different types of problems. There were many issues that were solved by the organizations with the help of specially designed strategies but apart from this, there are still many that need to be addressed. Among various issues that organizations come across, one of the most important is the employee retention. Any organization, no matter in how much strong economy it operates in, cannot run without its employees and cannot attain competitive edge. The success of any organization depends greatly upon the satisfaction level of its employees. Greater the satisfaction level less will be turnover rate and thus, greater employee retention. One of the most important factors, that govern the employee retention within the organizations, is motivation level of the employees. There are many other factors such as pay, compensation packages and good environment but motivation is the one that serves the purpose. Employees work with innovation and uniqueness only when they are motivated to do so. Successful completion of the tasks depends not only upon the intrinsic rewards but extrinsic as well, such as appreciation by the supervisor that ultimately leads to employee satisfaction and makes them motivated. There is an old saying ‘you can take a horse to the water but you cannot force it to drink’; it will drink only if its thirsty - so is the case with people. Organizations operating in strong economies like UK and USA have considered employee motivation as their foremost and important task to carry out. Their focus is to motivate the employees to such an extent that they work in the best interest of the organization and towards the successful completion of tasks. Human resource department is trying their level best to introduce such policies and strategies that are coherent with the needs and demands of the employees in order to keep them motivated. This paper will shed light on motivation theories with their practical implications in the organization and on the literature dealing with motivation in organizations. One of the most important theories related to motivation is Goal Setting theory proposed by Edwin Locke in 1960. Findings made by Edwin said that intention to work towards a common goal is a major source of work motivation (Robbins, S. and Timothy, J., 2001), however, in order to understand the motivation in the work place there are several dimensions of goal setting theory that explains the motivation. Supervisors in contemporary times motivate employees by setting SMART goals and then reinforce them by administering intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Organizations are using different strategies in line with the goal setting theory. Intention of an employee for striving towards assigned goals matters a lot when it comes towards achieving a set goal. In order to develop the intention of employees, organizations nowadays set such organizational goals and objectives that are aligned with the individual’s interest and area of study (Warillow, S., 2009). In addition to this, he also maintains that motivation in a work place depends upon the energy level of the employee. More enthusiastic the employee, more motivated he will be and this would lead to innovation and creativity at workplace. While keeping the employees motivated there are few important aspects that should not be overlook by the supervisors. There are three important things that inspire motivation level to a much greater extent in any individual. These factors are to find out what is important to the employee, proper support by the supervisors, and communicating to the employees clearly about what is expected of them in terms of their performance. Coming to the practical implications of the goal setting theory, organizations nowadays are giving special importance towards setting clear goals and objectives. Clarity of the goal is very important as any employee cannot work in the best interest of the organization until and unless he is having a clear picture about what is expected of him. Once the supervisors communicate goals effectively to the employees they get a track and align all their activities with the set goal. Motivation and enthusiasm always comes with challenging tasks. Setting a challenging goal is very much important as one cannot be motivated unless he is given a demanding goal. It can be explained well by the example of a clerk who can type 100 wpm but the hourly goal is 70 wpm. This will not motivate him unless he is given a challenging goal of 110 wpm. So this takes us to the point that employees can only be motivated when they are given tough goals. When organizations assign the employees with problem solving and decision making issues then they feel valued and respected. This is one of the ways of motivating employees. At the present time, organizations are involving employees in goal setting process and allowing them to come up with their own goals; be individual, organizational or departmental. This creates a sense of worth among the employees and they get motivated. In addition to these dimensions, two of the important dimensions are to provide feedback and to take into account the task complexity. Employees always wanted to know that how well they are doing. Providing timely feedback to the employees keeps them enthusiastic. Similarly supervisors must also take into account the task complexity. They should set goal that are realistic and achievable and even if they are setting complex and challenging goals, they should provide them with all the resources and enough time to meet their objectives (Richard, L., 2000). However, after critically analyzing the goal setting theory and finding out its practical implications in the organizations, it is important to shed light on the benefits, the organizations are deriving from practicing goal setting theory for motivating employees. Organizations, by practicing this theory, can have their employees derive lots of benefits. In contemporary times, it is crucial to develop a sense of belonging to the organization and it is done through goal setting. Challenging and smart goals defined by the organizations, while keeping in account the employee willingness, create a sense of belonging with the organization and thus, motivates the employees. Strategizing targets is also another important aspect. In today’s era, as employees are highly involved in goal setting process, they themselves develop strategies for achieving those goals and thus, organizations do not need to spend plenty of their time on strategizing goals. Objective goal setting can be used by the organizations for measuring the performance of the employee thus; goal setting process serves as an important tool of measurability of employee performance (Bartolomei, T., 2010). In addition to goal setting theory, there are other motivation theories proposed by different theorists that are now in practice by many of the organizations. One of the theories I am going to shed light on is McClelland’s theory of needs. This theory focuses on three kinds of needs i.e. need for achievement that refers to the drive to achieve set of standards and to succeed; need for power which is related to making the people in a group to behave in a way they have not behaved otherwise and the last need that McClelland has focused on is the need for affiliation which refers to the desire of an individual to get along with others in the organization (Robbins, S., and Timothy, J., 2001). This theory argues that every individual working inside the organizations has three types of needs that keep them motivated. Individuals high on need for achievement always prefer to pursue challenging tasks but of medium difficulty so that they can achieve their intended aim and succeed in whatever they are doing. This gives them the satisfaction and they get motivated. Organization after identifying the need of an individual treats him in a way that provides him maximum utility. Such individuals are given tasks of such a nature about which they are confident that they can do well. However, individuals high on need for power are given such environment inside the organizations where they can lead people, govern their behaviors and direct them in the direction the organizations want them to be. Such people attain maximum satisfaction in such work setting and thus, get motivated. On the other hand individuals high on need for affiliation are given friendly and social work environment and organizations arrange social events for them so that they have high job satisfaction and can work well in the best interest of the organization. However, keeping in view the diverse needs of the work teams and individuals, organizations need to give special emphasis on the job description of the employees and work settings. Individuals having different needs should be given jobs that are in line with their needs so that while working on such jobs they develop a sense of attainment and get motivated. Designing jobs that are nor coherent with the needs and demands of the individuals can deteriorate their hidden potential and also their will for doing a particular job. In today’s competitive era organizations are moving more towards implementing these motivation theories practically. There are few dimensions of this theory as well that has some practical implications. Talking about the implication of this theory, managers in contemporary times should appreciate the diversity and set goal and objectives in accordance with the needs of the individuals. In addition to this, managers should also appreciate the intrinsic motivation that individuals derive from the fulfillment of their respective needs. When their diverse needs are fulfilled they develop a sense of achievement which is a type of intrinsic reward and this occupies a special place. When they receive intrinsic reward they get motivated intrinsically and thus, they focus more on the task and lead to the successful completion of it (John, P., 1999). According to one of the findings, the emphasis is given on determining the behavior of the individuals in order to keep them motivate. It argues the self arousal and individual behavior is very much important. Until the individuals do not feel self aroused and do not have fair idea about their behavior, they cannot work in the best interest of the organization (Mitchell, T., 1982). Another important motivation theory that focuses on increasing the motivation level of the employees is the Reinforcement Theory of Motivation. This theory argues that behavior of an individual is affected by the environment around him. As a result of this, their behaviors are environmentally controlled. This theory maintains that individuals choose from several responses to a given stimuli and they are most likely to behave in a way that was associated with some positive outcome in past. Reinforcement happens to be very important, may it be on an organizational level or individual level. Reinforcing individuals makes them align their responses with positive behaviors thus leading towards innovation and uniqueness. Theorists argue that reinforcement is undoubtedly an important influence on behavior. They maintain that reinforcement theory in its purest form ignores feelings, attitudes, expectations and other cognitive variables that impact behavior. However, in order to keep the individuals motivated it is important to reinforce them so that they align their efforts with the organizational goals. Reinforcement theory has its practical implications as well. Managers need to specify the desired behavior so that individuals working inside the organizations have clear understanding of what is expected of them in terms of behavior. Managers need to maintain a log of individual behavior that is critically important to the organizations (Barnett, T., 1999). Most of the organizations in contemporary times give special importance to reinforcement theory as an important method of motivating the employees. Pay, an extrinsic reward acts as a reinforcer and individuals get motivated with the rewards such as bonuses, promotions and increments. For the organizations to have competitive edge, they need to develop strategies and policies that compensate the employees and strengthen them so that they can align their preferences with the organizations’ objectives. Organizations are deriving benefits from the reinforcement theory. They implement this theory either to strengthen the desired behavior or to weaken the undesired behavior. For strengthening the desired behavior organizations administer positive support and negative support. While, for weakening the undesirable behavior, organizations go for either extinction or punishment (John, P., 1999). Although, till now this document is a comprehensive study of different motivation theories, along with their practical implications in the organization and benefits that organizations are deriving by implanting these theories, it is also important to find out the limitations of contemporary motivation theories that hinder the organization in embedding these theories in their true sense. These restrictions are based on the framework and views of most of the theorists who say that it is the behavior of an individual that motivates him. But on the other hand some theorists are of the view that it is the extrinsic reward that moulds the behavior of any individual. So these motivation theories differ in model of humanity. Another problem that managers confront is diverse workforce is that in diverse workforce teams, people from different cultures and backgrounds are grouped together and they pool their collective effort that leads to the successful completion of tasks. It has been observed that it is difficult for managers to use same type of techniques for motivating people from different backgrounds. Thus, motivation theories do not deal with the methods of motivating diverse workforce. In addition to this, motivation theories do not cater with values, perceptions and personality of the individuals working inside the organizations. However, most of the motivation theories deal with the individuals rather than taking into account teams and groups. Today organizations are relying heavily on work teams and groups but motivation theories do not address the methods and techniques of motivating work teams. Another important aspect is that most of the motivation theories focus on extrinsic motivation rather than on intrinsic and so they completely fail to take into account the intrinsic motivation (Mills, A. et al., 2006), Most of the motivation theories are applicable only in strong situations where there is proper communication of goal and objectives and proper reward system. Organizations, in order to have high productivity, must develop strategies for the retention of their employees so that they can have a dedicated workforce. Motivating employees is mandatory for the organizations to have competitive edge. Motivated employees not only work hard towards the success of an organization in the short run, but also develop the personality of an organization for success in longer run (Haworth, M., 2003). It is really important to keep every individual in the organization informed about the short and long term goals and objectives of the organization. This is the only way to keep everyone on par to achieve the desired results. Goal setting makes the vision of an organization clear in the mind of its workforce. Each individual when works with a clear vision about what his or her organization intends to achieve, remains motivated towards and aligned with the core objective (Jurkiewicz, C., Massey, T. and Brown, R., 1998). Along with communication of objectives and formulation of strategies to achieve those targets, an organization must be developed in a way that fulfils the needs for everyone in the organization on individual basis. Every individual in the organization plays his role toward achievement of a common goal therefore; every individual has to be considered separately. His needs have to be considered by the supervisors and an environment should be created that is conducive and encouraging. Reward system has to be unbiased and vigilant, as they say “Justice delayed is justice denied” similarly if an employee is not rewarded for the efforts and contributions that he has made towards a success or an achievement, it results in de-motivation not only for that individual but also for the people working with or under supervision of that employee. Therefore it is important to reward people in the form of appreciation, accolades or monetary terms on time to keep them motivated (Ehow.com, 2003). There are certain limitations that an organization faces while rewarding achievements of an individual but it is recommended that each individual should be treated in accordance with his personal contribution and not on the criticality or importance of his work for the overall success. References Barnett, T., 1999. Reinforcement Theory [Online] Availabe at [accessed 13th November, 2010] Bartolomei, K., 2010. Goal setting as a Motivation tool in workplace [online] Available at [accessed 13th November, 2010] Haworth, M., 2003. Motivating Employees: ten ways to Start you off, [online] available at [accessed 9th November, 2010] Ehow.com, 2003. How to motivate employees, [online] Available at [accessed 10th November, 2010] John, P., 1999. Theories of Motivation [Online] Available at [accessed 13th November, 2010] Jurkiewicz, C., Massey, T. and Brown, R., 1998. Motivation in public and private organizations: A Comparative study, Productivity in Review 21(3), pp. 230-50. Mills, A., Jean, M., John, B. and Carolyn, F., 2006. University of Toronto Press: Toronto, pp. 226-7 Mitchell, T., 1982. Motivation: New directions for Theory, research and practice, Academy of Management Review, 7(1), pp. 80-8 Richard, L., 2000. Practical Implications of Goal Setting Theory [Online] Available at [accessed 12th November, 2010] Robbins, S. and Timothy, J., 2001. Organizational Behavior, Prentice Hall, pp.197. Warillow, S., 2009. Motivation in the Workplace - People Are Motivated When They Are Inspired [Online] available at [accessed 12th November, 2010] Read More