MOTIVATION: Summary

by Manfred Davidmann

Contents

Behaviour

Hierarchy of Needs

Job Satisfaction - Accountants and Engineers

Challenging Job - Professional People and Manual Workers

Motivation

Needs and Wants People Strive to Achieve

References {..}

Relevant Current and Associated Works

Relevant Subject Index Pages and Site Overview

Behaviour

Behaviour is purposeful, directed towards some end. That is, it is motivated.

The driving force is need.

The direction is towards perceived reward and away from perceived punishment.

Hierarchy of Needs (A.H. Maslow, 1954) {1}

Primary Needs

1. Physiological. Survival needs. Examples: Food, drink, health.
2. Safety. Physical and emotional security. Such as clothing, shelter, protection against attack (unemployment benefits, redundancy pay, old age pension).
3. Affection needs. Affection and the need to belong. Examples: Family unit, other small groups such as work groups.
4. Esteem needs. For self-respect, for accomplishment, for achievement. The achievement must be recognised and appreciated by someone else.
5. Self-fulfilment needs. To utilise one's potential to the maximum working with and for one's fellow beings.

Higher Order Needs

Once primary needs are satisfied they cease to act as drives and are replaced by needs of a higher order. So that higher order needs are predominant when primary needs are satisfied.

Job Satisfaction - Accountants and Engineers (F. Herzberg, et al, 1959) {2}

Some factors motivate, others dissatisfy.
The need for job satisfaction motivates.
Lack of money dissatisfies and then pay is not motivating. He called money a 'hygienic' factor.

But pay is reward and Herzberg's conclusions run counter to general experience.

The accountants and engineers he questioned appear to have been quite frustrated with the work they were doing and with the way their employers were managing, that is with their employers' style of management.

Challenging Job - Professional People and Manual Workers (M. Scott Myers, 1964) {3}

What motivates is a challenging job which allows a feeling of achievement, responsibility, growth, advancement, enjoyment of work itself, and earned recognition.
Workers become dissatisfied when opportunities for meaningful achievement are eliminated.

Studied professional people as well as manual workers and produced quite a clear statement of job-related drives (needs). But wages, fringe benefits and working conditions regarded as less important.

And also quite a comment on how people then felt about working for American employers.

Herzberg had considered that feelings of job satisfaction were more important than money for persuading people to increase productivity. Scott Myers defined 'job satisfaction' in more detail in meaningful terms. Attempts were then made to apply the knowledge gained so as to increase job satisfaction by Job Enlargement and by Job Enrichment. Job Enlargement consists of making jobs more challenging and interesting by increasing the variety of the tasks to be carried out. Job Enrichment consists of adding different types of tasks and of providing greater worker participation and involvement.

Sisk then {4} looked in some detail at whether there is a relationship between 'job satisfaction' and productivity. He concluded that 'job satisfaction is only one of several factors making up the complex of needs ... and, as yet, there is no demonstrable relationship between job satisfaction and productivity'.

So there are other additional factors which need to be considered {5,6} such as the style of management.

Motivation (Manfred Davidmann, 1970) {5}

A study of 255 U.K. directors which found that:

Motivating (in order of intensity of felt need)

1. Remuneration
2. Profit sharing
3. Share option and purchase schemes
4. Bonus
5. Pension

Dissatisfying

6. Taxation

Neither motivating nor dissatisfying

7. Job satisfaction

Hence directors are motivated by money. They are not motivated by job satisfaction. In other words, they do not need job satisfaction because they have all the job satisfaction they need or want.

Hence definition of 'motivation' {5,6}, that is of what people will work to achieve:

'Motivation towards better performance depends on the satisfaction of needs for responsibility, achievement, recognition and growth.

Needs are felt, and their intensity varies from one person to another and from time to time, and so does the extent to which they are motivating.'

'Behaviour is learned, earned reward encourages even better performance, thus reinforcing desired behaviour'.

The term 'recognition' in the definition includes money rewards. Note that both job satisfaction and money are motivating. One works to achieve that which one needs and which one does not have, and this could be either one or the other or both.

Attaining goals leads to feelings of self-respect, strength and confidence.

Few people are able to continue a pattern of achievement and success without the added encouragement provided by others recognising their achievements.

Continued failure and frustration and defeat can result in feelings of inadequacy and a withdrawal from competitive situations.

Persistent lack of rewards leads to a view of society as being hostile and unrewarding.

It is what one does not have that one wants, one works to achieve that which one needs.

Hence if we know what people need and want then we know what they will work for, and like working for, and so work well to achieve.

So that we can now look at the

Needs and Wants People Strive to Achieve {6}

1. First there are certain basic needs which have to be satisfied if people are to exist and survive, such as:

Food and shelter, clothing and warmth.
Affection and esteem.
Friendly and trustful co-operation and companionship.
Security from external threats (protection from attack).

2. Then other needs make themselves felt, such as:

Independence from domination by others (because of need, for example).
Security from internal threats (losing job, criminal activities, political persecution).
Housing, education, good health.
Help when in need.
Constructive work.
Constructive leisure activities.

3. To which we can add the ones we have discussed:

Challenging work, which means scope to work at increasing levels of skill and usefulness and thus of pay to the maximum of one's ability.
Maintaining, and the chance for improving, one's position relative to colleagues.
Recognition of success by others (leads to feelings of self-respect, strength and confidence).
Fair share of the national income and wealth.
Fair share of the international income and wealth.

References

Relevant Current and Associated Works

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Relevant Subject Index Pages and Site Overview

• General Management
• Motivation
• Community
• Economics

The Site Overview page has links to all individual Subject Index Pages which between them list the works by Manfred Davidmann which are available on the Internet, with short descriptions and links for downloading.

To see the Site Overview page, click Overview

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Copyright    ©    Manfred Davidmann    1982, 1995, 1998
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