Module: 3

Motivation

Concept of Motivation
The term motivation is derived from the word ‘motive”. The word ‘motive’ as a noun means an objective, as a
verb this word means moving into action. Therefore, motives are forces which induce people to act in a way, so
as to ensure the fulfillment of a particular human need at a time. Behind every human action there is a motive.
Therefore, management must provide motives to people to make them work for the organization.
Motivation may be defined as a planned managerial process, which stimulates people to work to the best of
their capabilities, by providing them with motives, which are based on their unfulfilled needs.
Motivation is the driving force which help causes us to achieve goals. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or
extrinsic.
The term is generally used for humans but, theoretically, it can also be used to describe the causes for animal
behavior as well. This article refers to human motivation.
According to various theories, motivation may be rooted in a basic need to minimize physical pain and
maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, or a desired object, goal, state of
being, ideal, or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, selfishness, morality, or avoiding
mortality.

Following are the outstanding Features of the concept of motivation:

1. Motivation is a personal and internal feeling:
Motivation is a psychological phenomenon which generates within an individual.
2. Motivation is need based:
If there are no needs of an individual, the process of motivation fails. It is a behavioural concept that directs
human behaviour towards certain goals.
3. Motivation is a continuous process:
Because human wants are unlimited, therefore motivation is an ongoing process.
4. Motivation may be positive or negative:
A positive motivation promotes incentives to people while a negative motivation threatens the enforcement of
disincentives.
5. Motivation is a planned process:
People differ in their approach, to respond to the process of motivation; as no two individuals could be
motivated in an exactly similar manner. Accordingly, motivation is a psychological concept and a complex
process.

Types of Motivation
There are two types of motivation, Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation. It's important to understand that we are
not all the same; thus effectively motivating your employees requires that you gain an understanding of the
different types of motivation. Such an understanding will enable you to better categorize your team members
and apply the appropriate type of motivation. You will find each member different and each member's

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motivational needs will be varied as well. Some people respond best to intrinsic which means "from within" and
will meet any obligation of an area of their passion. Quite the reverse, others will respond better to extrinsic
motivation which, in their world, provides that difficult tasks can be dealt with provided there is a reward upon
completion of that task. Become an expert in determining which type will work best with which team members.

Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation means that the individual's motivational stimuli are coming from within. The individual has
the desire to perform a specific task, because its results are in accordance with his belief system or fulfills a
desire and therefore importance is attached to it.
Our deep-rooted desires have the highest motivational power. Below are some examples:

 Acceptance: We all need to feel that we, as well as our decisions, are accepted by our co-workers.
 Curiosity: We all have the desire to be in the know.
 Honor: We all need to respect the rules and to be ethical.
 Independence: We all need to feel we are unique.
 Order: We all need to be organized.
 Power: We all have the desire to be able to have influence.
 Social contact: We all need to have some social interactions.
 Social Status: We all have the desire to feel important.

Extrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic motivation means that the individual's motivational stimuli are coming from outside. In other words,
our desires to perform a task are controlled by an outside source. Note that even though the stimuli are coming
from outside, the result of performing the task will still be rewarding for the individual performing the task.
Extrinsic motivation is external in nature. The most well-known and the most debated motivation is money.
Below are some other examples:
 Employee of the month award
 Benefit package
 Bonuses
 Organized activities

Maslow's Theory of Motivation

Maslow (1943, 1954) stated that people are motivated to
achieve certain needs and that some needs take precedence
over others.
Our most basic need is for physical survival, and this will be
the first thing that motivates our behavior. Once that level is
fulfilled the next level up is what motivates us, and so on.
1. Physiological needs - these are biological requirements for
human survival, e.g. air, food, drink, shelter, clothing, warmth,
sex, sleep.
If these needs are not satisfied the human body cannot function
optimally. Maslow considered physiological needs the most

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important as all the other needs become secondary until these needs are met.
2. Safety needs - Once an individual’s physiological needs are satisfied, the needs for security and safety
become salient. People want to experience order, predictability and control in their lives. These needs can be
fulfilled by the family and society (e.g. police, schools, business and medical care).
For example, emotional security, financial security (e.g. employment, social welfare), law and order, freedom
from fear, social stability, property, health and wellbeing (e.g. safety against accidents and injury).
3. Love and belongingness needs - after physiological and safety needs have been fulfilled, the third level of
human needs is social and involves feelings of belongingness. The need for interpersonal relationships
motivates behavior
Examples include friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance, receiving and giving affection and love.
Affiliating, being part of a group (family, friends, work).
4. Esteem needs are the fourth level in Maslow’s hierarchy - which Maslow classified into two categories: (i)
esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery, independence) and (ii) the desire for reputation or respect
from others (e.g., status, prestige).
Maslow indicated that the need for respect or reputation is most important for children and adolescents and
precedes real self-esteem or dignity.
5. Self-actualization needs are the highest level in Maslow's hierarchy, and refer to the realization of a person's
potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. Maslow (1943) describes this level as
the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be.

Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation

In 1959, Frederick Herzberg, a behavioural scientist proposed a two-factor theory or the motivator-hygiene
theory. According to Herzberg, there are some job factors that result
in satisfaction while there are other job factors that prevent
dissatisfaction. According to Herzberg, the opposite of “Satisfaction”
is “No satisfaction” and the opposite of “Dissatisfaction” is “No
Dissatisfaction”.

Herzberg classified these job factors into two categories-

Hygiene factors- Hygiene factors are those job factors which are
essential for existence of motivation at workplace. These do not lead
to positive satisfaction for long-term. But if these factors are absent /
if these factors are non-existant at workplace, then they lead to
dissatisfaction. In other words, hygiene factors are those factors
which when adequate/reasonable in a job, pacify the employees and
do not make them dissatisfied. These factors are extrinsic to work. Hygiene factors are also called
as dissatisfiers or maintenance factors as they are required to avoid dissatisfaction. These factors describe the
job environment/scenario. The hygiene factors symbolized the physiological needs which the individuals
wanted and expected to be fulfilled. Hygiene factors include:
a. Pay - The pay or salary structure should be appropriate and reasonable. It must be equal and competitive
to those in the same industry in the same domain.
b. Company Policies and administrative policies - The company policies should not be too rigid. They
should be fair and clear. It should include flexible working hours, dress code, breaks, vacation, etc.
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 c. Fringe benefits - The employees should be offered health care plans (mediclaim), benefits for the
family members, employee help programmes, etc.
d. Physical Working conditions - The working conditions should be safe, clean and hygienic. The work
equipments should be updated and well-maintained.
e. Status - The employees’ status within the organization should be familiar and retained.
f. Interpersonal relations - The relationship of the employees with his peers, superiors and subordinates
should be appropriate and acceptable. There should be no conflict or humiliation element present.
g. Job Security - The organization must provide job security to the employees.

Motivational factors- According to Herzberg, the hygiene factors cannot be regarded as motivators. The
motivational factors yield positive satisfaction. These factors are inherent to work. These factors motivate the
employees for a superior performance. These factors are called satisfiers. These are factors involved in
performing the job. Employees find these factors intrinsically rewarding. The motivators symbolized the
psychological needs that were perceived as an additional benefit. Motivational factors include:
 Recognition - The employees should be praised and recognized for their accomplishments by the
managers.
 Sense of achievement - The employees must have a sense of achievement. This depends on the job.
There must be a fruit of some sort in the job.
 Growth and promotional opportunities - There must be growth and advancement opportunities in an
organization to motivate the employees to perform well.
 Responsibility - The employees must hold themselves responsible for the work. The managers should
give them ownership of the work. They should minimize control but retain accountability.
 Meaningfulness of the work - The work itself should be meaningful, interesting and challenging for the
employee to perform and to get motivated.

Limitations of Two-Factor Theory

The two factor theory is not free from limitations:
1. The two-factor theory overlooks situational variables.
2. Herzberg assumed a correlation between satisfaction and productivity. But the research conducted by
Herzberg stressed upon satisfaction and ignored productivity.
3. The theory’s reliability is uncertain. Analysis has to be made by the raters. The raters may spoil the
findings by analyzing same response in different manner.
4. No comprehensive measure of satisfaction was used. An employee may find his job acceptable despite
the fact that he may hate/object part of his job.
5. The two factor theory is not free from bias as it is based on the natural reaction of employees when they
are enquired the sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction at work. They will blame dissatisfaction on
the external factors such as salary structure, company policies and peer relationship. Also, the
employees will give credit to themselves for the satisfaction factor at work.
6. The theory ignores blue-collar workers. Despite these limitations, Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory is
acceptable broadly.

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Theory X and Theory Y
In the 1960s, social psychologist Douglas McGregor developed two contrasting theories that explained how
managers' beliefs about what motivates their people can affect their management style. He labelled these Theory
X and Theory Y. These theories continue to be important even today
Theory X stands for the set of traditional beliefs held, while Theory-Y stands for the set of beliefs based on
researchers in behavioral science which are concerned with modern social views on the man at work.
These two theories represent the extreme ranges of assumptions. The managerial attitudes and supervisory
practices resulting from such assumptions have an important bearing on employees’ behavior.

Theory X advanced the view that human beings have an innate dislike for work. They can only be made to get
results at work by the application of coercive methods and by direction. Theory X stresses on the authoritarian style
of leadership where results are the focus of leadership and it is more work-centered than people-centered.

Theory X assumptions are negative;

 Employees inherently dislike work and, whenever possible, will attempt to avoid it.
 Since’ employees dislike work, they must be coerced, controlled, or threatened with punishment.
 Employees will avoid responsibilities and seek formal direction whenever possible.
 Most workers place security above all other factors and will display little ambition.
 Managers who accept theory-X assumptions tend to structure, control and closely supervise their
employees. These managers think that external control is appropriate for dealing with unreliable,
irresponsible and immature people.

Theory Y approach to management is more people- McGregor’s Theory X & Y

centered. Here the individual is valued and appreciated.
Theory Y submits that when workers are given the right
Theory X Theory Y
kind of environment, they can reach their highest potential
and can be of great value to their organizations.
Work Avoiding Work is natural
Theory Y assumptions are positive;
 Employees can view work as being as natural as
rest or play. Need to control Capable of self-direction

 People will exercise self-direction and self-

control if they are committed to the objectives.
Avoid responsibility Seek responsibility
 The average person can learn to accept, even
seek, responsibility.
 The ability to make innovative decisions is
Workers seek security Can make a good decision
widely dispersed throughout the population.

Managers who accept theory-Y assumptions about the nature of man do not attempt to structure, control or
closely supervise the employees.

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McGregor’s ideas about leadership and managerial behavior had a great effect on management and leadership
thinking and practice. Traditional leadership had been hierarchical and highly controlling where employees always
looked up to leaders and depended on them.
This could be very disempowering and a waste of human talent and potential. McGregor thought that if leaders did
not scrutinize certain core assumptions they have about people; it could restrict their appreciation and view of the
strength of the human capacity for growth, collaboration, and development.

Leadership
Good leaders are made, not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader.
Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. To
inspire your workers into higher levels of teamwork, there are certain things you must be, know, and, do. These
do not often come naturally, but are acquired through continual work and study.
Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the
organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent.
Leadership is inspiring others to pursue your vision within the parameters you set, to the extent that it becomes
a shared effort, a shared vision, and a shared success (Zeitchik, 2012).
Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a
goal (Kruse, 2013).

Factors of Leadership
 Leader: - You must have an honest understanding of who you
are, what you know, and what you can do. Also, note that it is
the followers, not the leader or someone else who determines if
the leader is successful. If they do not trust or lack confidence
in their leader, then they will be uninspired. To be successful
you have to convince your followers, not yourself or your
superiors, that you are worthy of being followed.
 Followers: - Different people require different styles of
leadership. For example, a new hire requires more supervision
than an experienced employee does. A person who lacks
motivation requires a different approach than one with a high
degree of motivation. You must know your people! The
fundamental starting point is having a good understanding of human nature, such as needs, emotions,
and motivation. You must come to know your employees' be, know, and do attributes.
 Communication: - You lead through two-way communication. Much of it is nonverbal. For instance,
when you “set the example,” that communicates to your people that you would not ask them to perform
anything that you would not be willing to do. What and how you communicate either builds or harms
the relationship between you and your followers.
 Situation: - All situations are different. What you do in one situation will not always work in another.
You must use your judgment to decide the best course of action and the leadership style needed for each
situation. For example, you may need to confront an employee for inappropriate behavior, but if the
confrontation is too late or too early, too harsh or too weak, then the results may prove ineffective.

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Leadership Styles
The seven primary leadership styles are:
1. Autocratic Style: - The phrase most illustrative of an autocratic leadership style is "Do as I say." Generally,
an autocratic leader believes that he or she is the smartest person at the table and knows more than others. They
make all the decisions with little input from team members
An autocratic leader gives out instructions on the tasks a team needs to do and how. This style limits the
creativity of the working staff to try new things.
That's not to say that the style may not be appropriate in certain situations. For example, you can dip into an
autocratic leadership style when crucial decisions need to be made on the spot, and you have the most
knowledge about the situation, or when you're dealing with inexperienced and new team members and there's
no time to wait for team members to gain familiarity with their role.

2. Authoritative Style: - The phrase most indicative of this style of leadership (also known as "visionary") is
"Follow me." The authoritative leadership style is the mark of confident leaders who map the way and set
expectations, while engaging and energizing followers along the way.
In a climate of uncertainty, these leaders lift the fog for people. They help them see where the company is going
and what's going to happen when they get there.
Unlike autocratic leaders, authoritative leaders take the time to explain their thinking: They don't just issue
orders. Most of all, they allow people choice and latitude on how to achieve common goals.

3. Pacesetting Style: - "Do as I do!" is the phrase most indicative of leaders who utilize the pacesetting style.
This style describes a very driven leader who sets the pace as in racing. Pacesetters set the bar high and push
their team members to run hard and fast to the finish line.
While the pacesetter style of leadership is effective in getting things done and driving for results, it's a style that
can hurt team members. For one thing, even the most driven employees may become stressed working under
this style of leadership in the long run.

4. Democratic Style: - Democratic leaders are more likely to ask "What do you think?" They share information
with employees about anything that affects their work responsibilities. They also seek employees'
opinions before approving a final decision.
There are numerous benefits to this participative leadership style. It can engender trust and promote team spirit
and cooperation from employees. It allows for creativity and helps employees grow and develop. A democratic
leadership style gets people to do what you want to be done but in a way that they want to do it.

5. Coaching Style: - When you having a coaching leadership style, you tend to have a "Consider this"
approach. A leader who coaches views people as a reservoir of talent to be developed. The leader who uses a
coach approach seeks to unlock people's potential.
Leaders who use a coaching style open their hearts and doors for people. They believe that everyone has power
within themselves. A coaching leader gives people a little direction to help them tap into their ability to achieve
all that they're capable of.

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6. Affiliative Style: - A phrase often used to describe this type of leadership is "People come first." Of all the
leadership styles, the affiliative leadership approach is one where the leader gets up close and personal with
people. A leader practicing this style pays attention to and supports the emotional needs of team members. The
leader strives to open up a pipeline that connects him or her to the team.
Ultimately, this style is all about encouraging harmony and forming collaborative relationships within teams.
It's particularly useful, for example, in smoothing conflicts among team members or reassuring people during
times of stress.

7. Laissez-Faire Style: - The laissez-faire leadership style is at the opposite end of the autocratic style. Of all
the leadership styles, this one involves the least amount of oversight. You could say that the autocratic style
leader stands as firm as a rock on issues, while the laissez-faire leader lets people swim with the current.
On the surface, a laissez-faire leader may appear to trust people to know what to do, but taken to the extreme, an
uninvolved leader may end up appearing aloof. While it's beneficial to give people opportunities to spread their
wings, with a total lack of direction, people may unwittingly drift in the wrong direction—away from the
critical goals of the organization.

Trait Theory
According to trait leadership theory, effective leaders have in common a pattern of personal characteristics that
support their ability to mobilize others toward a shared vision. These traits include dimensions of personality
and motives, sets of skills and capabilities, and behavior in social relationships.

Leaders’ Traits
Following studies of trait leadership, most leader traits can be organized into four groups:
1. Personality: Patterns of behavior, such as adaptability and comfort with ambiguity, and dispositional
tendencies, such as motives and values, are associated with effective leadership.
2. Demographic: In this category, gender has received by far the most attention in terms of leadership;
however, most scholars have found that gender is not a determining demographic trait, as male and
female leaders are equally effective.
3. Task competence: This relates to how individuals approach the execution and performance of tasks.
Hoffman groups intelligence, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and emotional stability into
this category.
4. Interpersonal attributes: These relate to how a leader approaches social interactions. According to
Hoffman and others (2011), traits such as extroversion and agreeableness are included in this category.

Path-Goal Theory
The Path-Goal model is a theory based on specifying a leader’s style or behavior that best fits the employee and
work environment in order to achieve a goal. The path-goal theory can best be thought of as a process in which
leaders select specific behaviors that are best suited to the employees’ needs and their working environment so
that they may best guide the employees through their path in the obtainment of their daily work activities
(goals).

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Origins & Theory
The Path-Goal theory, inspired by the work of Martin G. Evans (1970),[1] can best be thought of as a process by
which leaders select specific behaviors that are best suited to their employees’ needs and their working
environment, so that leaders may best guide their employees through their path in the obtainment of their daily
work activities (goals) (Northouse, 2013).
The theory argues that leaders will have to engage in different types of leadership behavior depending on the
nature and the demands of a particular situation. It is the leader’s role to assist employees in attaining goals and
to provide the direction and support needed to ensure that their individual goals are in concert or compatible
with the organization’s goals.

Path-Goal’s Four Styles

The Path-Goal model is a theory based on specifying a leader’s style or behavior that best fits the employee and
work environment in order to achieve a goal. The goal is to increase an employee’s motivation, empowerment,
and satisfaction so they become a productive member of the organization. Employee satisfaction is contingent
upon the leader’s performance as both a facilitator and coach and rewards their employees for effective
performance. The original Path-Goal theory identifies achievement-oriented, directive, participative,
and supportive leader behaviors rooted in four (4 styles)

The Four Styles:

1. The directive path-goal clarifying leader behavior refers to situations where the leader lets employees
know what is expected of them and tells them how to perform their tasks. The theory argues that this
behavior has the most positive effect when the employees’ role and task demands are ambiguous and
intrinsically satisfying.
2. The achievement-oriented leader behavior refers to situations where the leader sets challenging goals
for employees, expects them to perform at their highest level, and shows confidence in their ability to
meet this expectation. Occupations in which the achievement motives were most predominant were
technical jobs, sales persons, scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs.
3. The participative leader behavior involves leaders consulting with employees and asking for their
suggestions before making a decision. This behavior is predominant when employees are highly
personally involved in their work.
4. The supportive leader behavior is directed towards the satisfaction of employees’ needs and
preferences. The leader shows concern for the employees’ psychological well-being. This behavior is
especially needed in situations in which tasks or relationships are psychologically or physically
distressing.

Blake Mouton-Managerial Grid

Definition: Robert Blake and Jane Mouton have developed the Managerial Grid, also called as a leadership
grid. According to them, the leadership styles can be identified on the basis of manager’s concern for people
and production.

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Here, concern for people means the degree to which an individual is committed towards the goal achievement,
maintaining self-esteem to workers and satisfying interpersonal relationships. Whereas, the concern for
production means an attitude of superiors towards the quality of procedures and policies, creativeness of
research, effectiveness of staff, work efficiency and
volume of output.

The managerial grid identifies five leadership styles

based on two behavioral dimensions as shown in the
figure below

In the figure, there are 81 possible categories where

the leader’s style may fall.
1. Impoverished Management (1,1): The
managers with this leadership style exert
minimum effort to get the work done by the
subordinates. They have minimal concern for
both the people and production, and they
function merely to preserve their jobs and
seniority. Therefore, the disharmony, dissatisfaction, disorganization arises within the organization.
2. Task Management (9,1): Here, the leader is more concerned with the production and lay less emphasis
on the personal needs of his subordinates. This leadership style is also called as a dictatorial or perish
style, where the subordinates are required to perform the task as directed by the superiors. In this
leadership style, the output in the short run may increase drastically, but due to stringent rules and
procedures, there could be a high labor turnover.
3. Middle of the Road (5,5): The manager with this style tries to keep a balance between the
organizational goals and the personal needs of his subordinates. Here, the leader focuses on an adequate
performance through a balance between the work requirements and satisfactory morale. Both the people
and production needs are not completely met, and thus the organization land up to an average
performance.
4. Country Club (1,9): Here, the leader lays more emphasis on the personal needs of the subordinates and
give less attention to the output. The manager adopts this style of leadership with the intent to have a
friendly and comfortable working environment for the subordinates, who gets self-motivated and work
harder on their own. But however, less attention to the production can adversely affect the work goals
and may lead to the unsatisfactory results.
5. Team Management (9,9): According to Blake and Mouton, it is the most effective leadership style
wherein the leader takes both people and production hand in hand. This style is based on McGregor’s
Theory Y, where the employees are believed to be committed towards the goal achievement and need
not require manager’s intervention at every [Link] leader with this style feels that empowerment, trust,
respect, commitment helps in nurturing the team relationships, which ultimately results in the increased
employee satisfaction and overall production of the organization.
6. Thus, the managerial grid is a graphical representation of different leadership styles that manager adopts
while dealing in the industrial settings.

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