Essay: Evaluating theories of motivation for the workplace

Motivation is the word derived from the word ’motive’ which means needs, desires, wants or drives within the individuals. It is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals. In the work goal context, the psychological factors stimulating the people’s behaviour can be –

• desire for money
• success
• recognition
• job-satisfaction
• team work, etc 

One of the most important functions of management is to create willingness amongst the employees to perform in the best of their abilities. Therefore, the role of a leader is to arouse interest in performance of employees in their jobs. The process of motivation consists of three stages: –

1. A felt need or drive

2. A stimulus in which needs have to be aroused

3. When needs are satisfied, the satisfaction or accomplishment of goals. (Managementstudyguide.com, 2018)

Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals.
This emotional commitment means engaged employees actually care about their work and their company. They don’t work just for a paycheck, or just for the next promotion, but work on behalf of the organization’s goals.
When employees care—when they are engaged—they use discretionary effort. (Forbes.com, 2018)
Motivation plays a vital role in driving employees towards accomplishing the goals of themselves, an organization and the nation. There are numerous theories of motivation that provides the outcomes of employees’ engagement. There are three main theory categories, namely content theories, process theories and contemporary theories (Saif, Nawaz, Jan & Khan, 2012). Generally speaking, these theories include Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene (or two-factor) theory, Alderfer’s Existence, Relatedness and Growth theory, and McClelland’s needs theory.
((M. Badubi, 2017) Here are the theories that helps to increase the workplace productivity:
1. Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
This theory, also called the Motivation-Hygiene Theory or the dual-factor theory, was penned by Frederick Herzberg in 1959.
he developed the theory that people’s job satisfaction depends on two kinds of factors. Factors for satisfaction (motivators/satisfiers) and factors for dissatisfaction (hygiene factors/ dissatisfiers).
Performance, recognition, job status, responsibility and opportunities for growth all fall under motivators/ satisfiers.
Hygiene factors/dissatisfiers are about salary, secondary working conditions, the relationship with colleagues, physical work place and the relationship between supervisor and employee.
In his theory, Herzberg claims these factors function on the same plane. In other words, satisfaction and dissatisfaction aren’t polar opposites. Taking away an employee’s dissatisfaction – for example by offering a higher salary – doesn’t necessarily mean the employee will then be satisfied. The employee is just no longer dissatisfied.
4 different combinations can exist at work:

1: High hygiene and high motivation

This is the ideal situation. Employees are very motivated and barely have any complaints.

2: High hygiene and low motivation

Employees have few complaints, but they’re not really motivated, they see their work simply as a pay check.

3: Low hygiene and high motivation

Employees are motivated, their job is challenging, but they have complaints about salary or work conditions.

4: Low hygiene and low motivation

This is the worst possible situation, employees are not motivated and have a lot of complaints.

How to apply the Two Factor Theory?
Take away the dissatisfaction
To do this, it’s important to figure out all the important factors first. What are the complaints about, what’s going on, how do the employees interact with each other?
Generally speaking, the following aspects are important:

• Work on the bureaucracy within the organisation
• Make sure there’s supportive and effective supervision
• Create a work environment where all employees are respected
• Pay an honest salary
• Make sure all employees do worthwhile work to build up the status of their functions
• Give job guarantees 

When the dissatisfaction is taken away, the organisation can focus on motivating its employees effectively.
Create conditions for satisfaction
For motivation within the organisation, think about:

• Creating conditions for good performance
• Appreciating your employees’ contributions
• Tailoring the work to your employees’ talents and abilities
• Giving each team as much responsibility as possible
• Offering opportunities for growth within the organisation
• Offering training and development opportunities 

Criticism
The Two Factor Theory is widely used, but there are a few points issues with it. One issue is the fact that humans tend to look at the aspects of their work that they like and project them onto themselves when things are going well. When times are bad, external factors seem to play a larger part.
Another point of criticism is that the Two Factor Theory assumes that job satisfaction equals higher productivity. There are plenty of reasons to disagree, like external factors that might influence productivity. Herzberg didn’t take this into account while researching and coming up with his theory. (ToolsHero, 2018)
2. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
It was Abraham Maslow who thought that human needs that spark off an activity can be arranged in a hierarchy of pre-potency and probability of occurrence. Maslow based his theory that a need that is not satisfied dominates the behaviour sparking off an activity for its satisfaction. This need, when satisfied, in its turn activates the higher need. This sequence can be denoted as under.
(Wisdom Jobs, 2018)
CRITICISM
1. He has overemphasized on the subjective side of motivation but failed to spell out clearly the objective side of motivation.
2. The theory does not mention the proportion of need that must be satisfied to move to a higher need.
3. The strength of needs varies in between individuals. In one individual social needs may predominate while in another actualization needs may be strongest.
4. Maslow provided conflicting images of the self-actualized man.
5. Maslow has over-emphasized the subjective side of motivation but he has failed to spell out clearly the objective side of motivation.
6. Needs do not always follow a hierarchy, especially after lower level needs are satisfied.
7. The upward movement of needs results from upward career changes and not from the satisfaction of lower-order needs.
In almost all groups satisfaction of needs is definitely more or less insufficient. (iEduNote.com, 2018)
3. Gregor’s X and Y Theories
Mc Theory X and Theory Y were first explained by McGregor in his book, “The Human Side of Enterprise,” and they refer to two styles of management – authoritarian (Theory X) and participative (Theory Y).
If you believe that your team members dislike their work and have little motivation, then, according to McGregor, you’ll likely use an authoritarian style of management. This approach is very “hands-on” and usually involves micromanaging people’s work to ensure that it gets done properly. McGregor called this Theory X.
On the other hand, if you believe that your people take pride in their work and see it as a challenge, then you’ll more likely adopt a participative management style. Managers who use this approach trust their people to take ownership of their work and do it effectively by themselves. McGregor called this Theory Y.
The approach that you take will have a significant impact on your ability to motivate your team members. So, it’s important to understand how your perceptions of what motivates them can shape your management style.
Theory X
This style of management assumes that workers:

• Dislike their work.
• Avoid responsibility and need constant direction.
• Have to be controlled, forced and threatened to deliver work.
• Need to be supervised at every step.
• Have no incentive to work or ambition, and therefore need to be enticed by rewards to achieve goals. 

According to McGregor, organizations with a Theory X approach tend to have several tiers of managers and supervisors to oversee and direct workers. Authority is rarely delegated, and control remains firmly centralized. Managers are more authoritarian and actively intervene to get things done.
Theory Y
Theory Y organizations also give employees frequent opportunities for promotion.
This style of management assumes that workers are:

• Happy to work on their own initiative.
• More involved in decision making.
• Self-motivated to complete their tasks.
• Enjoy taking ownership of their work.
• Seek and accept responsibility, and need little direction.
• View work as fulfilling and challenging.
• Solve problems creatively and imaginatively. 

Theory Y has become more popular among organizations. This reflects workers’ increasing desire for more meaningful careers that provide them with more than just money.
Theory X and Theory Y in the Workplace
Most managers will likely use a mixture of Theory X and Theory Y. You may, however, find that you naturally favour one over the other. You might, for instance, have a tendency to micromanage or, conversely, you may prefer to take a more hands-off approach.
Although both styles of management can motivate people, the success of each will largely depend on your team’s needs and wants and your organizational objectives.
You may use a Theory X style of management for new starters who will likely need a lot of guidance, or in a situation that requires you to take control such as a crisis.
But you wouldn’t use it when managing a team of experts, who are used to working under their own initiative, and need little direction. If you did, it would likely have a demotivating effect and may even damage your relationship with them.
However, both theories have their challenges. The restrictive nature of Theory X, for instance, could cause people to become demotivated and non-cooperative if your approach is too strict. This may lead to high staff turnover and could damage your reputation in the long term.
Conversely, if you adopt a Theory Y approach that gives people too much freedom, it may allow them to stray from their key objectives or lose focus. Less-motivated individuals may also take advantage of this more relaxed working environment by shirking their work. (Mindtools.com, 2018)
Critical evaluation
Five Important Limitations about Theory X & Theory Y:
1. Theory X style of management fosters a very hostile and distrustful atmosphere- An authoritarian organization requires many managers just because they need to constantly control every single employee, and the method of control usually involves a fair amount of threat and coercion.
At times, an employer that is overly threatening will lead to dissatisfaction among employees, or they might even attempt to blame each other in order to save themselves from the threats.
Conversely, Coercion might work better with the prospects of bigger rewards for more, but employees might purposely try to cheat or attempt to hide the truth itself. Also, employees might try to sabotage the efforts of each other in order to make it easier for them to achieve the rewards.
2. Theory Y style of management is tough to uphold in reality- The core belief of Theory Y, is that with the right support and the right environment, self-directed employees will be able to perform their jobs well. However, because every individual is different from one another, creating an environment which fits all does not sound very practical in the current era of organizations.
3. Theory X and Theory Y is very hard to be used with each other- Just because we think that utilizing different theories in order to accommodate different types of employees does not mean that it would be beneficial to the companies. In the end, the human labour of the company might be improved, but at the cost of creating monetary loses as well as inefficient allocation of resources.
For example, a company decides to use both theories together. So, in order to accommodate the need of employees who are managed based on Theory X, more employers will need to be hired and paid.  The company also needs to pay and to create a comfortable environment for employees that are self-motivated based on a theory Y concept. It costs a small fortune for the company to cater to the different tastes of so many employees. It is estimated that the company spending would be high enough based on these factors alone.
Therefore, it might just be more beneficial for the company to utilize a single theory and hire employees that can be consistently managed with that theory alone.
4. Theory X and Theory Y makes employment harder- Previously, I’ve said that companies should only use a single theory at once. The theory that should be used is the one that can effectively manage all employees within the organization.
However, this in turn causes a problem during the employment process, because it is likely that a company will reject an applicant solely because he/she is not consistent with the theory that the company uses.
Therefore, if companies actually follow these theories closely, it will be harder for potential candidates to get a job just because the company cannot handle their characteristics within the workplace and may give candidates that the company discriminates heavily upon its applicants.
5. Theory X and Theory Y work on assumptions- I think organizations should be careful, and not rely too heavily on Theory X and Theory Y because there are a lot of assumptions.
The workforce is changing nowadays, and the workplace is a dynamic mix of employees from different backgrounds, races and genders. Also, employees might have completely different motivations and goals for choosing to work within an organization.
Nowadays, an employee from Generation X might come into the workforce from his/her previous retirement, and Generation Y employees might be wrongly perceived as ‘slackers’ for relying more on technology to manage their meetings and make their jobs easier.
There are so many other factors that influence the employee behaviour within an organization in this current era, so Theory X and Theory Y may even be slightly obsolete. (Communicatesmart.blogspot.com, 2018)
4. Hawthorne Effect
The Hawthorne effect (also referred to as the observer effect) refers to a phenomenon whereby individuals improve or modify an aspect of their behaviour in response to their awareness of being observed. In other words, it refers to an increase in worker productivity produced by the psychological stimulus of being singled out and made to feel important.
Hawthorne effect concludes:

• The aptitudes of individuals are imperfect predictors of job performance. Although they give some indication of the physical and mental potential of the individual, the amount produced is strongly influenced by social factors.
• Informal organization affects productivity. The Hawthorne researchers discovered a group life among the workers. The studies also showed that the relations that supervisors develop with workers tend to influence the manner in which the workers carry out directives.
• Work-group norms affect productivity. The Hawthorne researchers were not the first to recognize that work groups tend to arrive at norms of what is a fair day’s work; however, they provided the best systematic description and interpretation of this phenomenon.
• The workplace is a social system. The Hawthorne researchers came to view the workplace as a social system made up of interdependent parts. 

For decades, the Hawthorne studies provided the rationale for human relations within the organization. Then two researchers (Franke, Kaul, 1978) used a new procedure called time-series analyses. Using the original variables and including in the Great Depression and the instance of a managerial discipline in which two insubordinate and mediocre workers were replaced by two different productive workers, with one who took the role of straw boss; they discovered that production was most affected by the replacement of the two workers due to their greater productivity and the effect of the disciplinary action on the other workers. The occurrence of the Depression also encouraged job productivity, perhaps through the increased importance of jobs and the fear of losing them. Rest periods and a group incentive plan also had a somewhat positive smaller effect on productivity. These variables accounted for almost all the variation in productivity during the experimental period. Early social sciences may have readily to embrace the original Hawthorne interpretations since it was looking for theories or work motivation that were more humane and democratic. (Magazine, 2018)
Criticism
The Hawthorne studies have received considerable criticism. They have been criticized on the following grounds:

1. The procedures, analysis of findings, and the conclusions reached were found to be questionable. Critics felt that the conclusions were supported by little evidence.

 2. The relationship made between the satisfaction or happiness of workers and their productivity was too simplistic.

3.  These studies failed to focus attention on the attitudes of employees at the workplace. (Bresky, 2011)

5. The equity theory
The Equity Theory of Motivation proposes that high levels of employee motivation in the workplace can only be achieved when each employee perceives their treatment to be fair relative to others. Employees will compare themselves to other groups both inside and outside of the organization. In doing so, they will compare the total of all inputs against the total of all outputs. If they perceive unfairness, they will adjust their inputs to compensate, working more or working less, depending on if their situation is positive or negative relative to the group or person being compared.
(Expert Program Management, 2018)
Criticism of the equity theory of motivation
1. Since every organization has some structure, so it is not easy for the managers to have equity in the whole organization.
2. If managers will keep workplace equity, then it means that there will be no distinction among employees and everything will be same. Since, every employee gets motivation on the basis of salary and other factors and if they remove all these from the organization, motivation among the employees will be removed.
3. Financial Solvency- An organization without clearly defined roles means all employees should be equally compensated. In a workplace with total equity, there is no delineation between roles and therefore no distinction that separates management roles from support roles. The result is that all employees would be classified as equal and paid as such, regardless of an employee’s actual job function. (Myassignmenthelp.net, 2018)
Importance of Motivation in the Workplace
Motivation can emanate from with an employee with a passion and desire to work and produce results. This kind of motivation is self-driven by an employee in order to elevate his feelings to accomplish. However, in extrinsic motivation, an external factor such as a reward is used to boost the employee’s moral and desire to work. As is a normal case, employees work in exchange for compensation for their hard labour but how far they go depends on how motivated they are. According to Perry and Hondeghem (1999), the individuals desire to perform, and provide services to customers, with the mandate to do good is enough factor to motivate. Performance at work is related to the employees pay of which the employee may not have control of that reward as it is external. Apart from rewards, there are other factors that are external such as promotion at work, security of the job, salary increment that may give meaning to employees’ motivation. Therefore, for organizations to continue existing and retaining its workforce, they must keep on working on strategies that can help in motivating its employees. Motivated employees have a sense of belonging and loyalty to the organization and always work hard to be associated with the results of their labour. Motivation have effect on employees as individuals to achieve and as well as ability to be innovative because they believe in themselves which will benefit the organization to succeed (Yang Jie, 2010). A motivated worker is easy to be retained hence saving the organization finances of replacing workers, also it encourages workers to always achieve more on daily productions as they are having a sense of security of their work. Management will have time to attend to other important issues because their motivated workforce can build teams that can help with the supervision and production of work. (M. Badubi, 2018)
Conclusion
Motivation is very much needed for employees in an organisation to be productive, and management or leadership style has an important role to play. Motivation is not always based on financial rewards, but non-financial rewards methods can also be used to derive the best out of employees. Although individuals have their expectations, it is the leadership’s responsibility to develop and align with theories that are suitable to bring job satisfaction to their employees. However, there is no single reliable theory to be used, a mixture of them can be utilized. In terms of empowering workforce, employees should be encouraged and given a platform to voice out their concerns on how they can be motivated. Rewards and promotions following performance appraisals maybe used to boost employee’s moral as well as feedback. All employees should understand the company’s vision and goals and work together towards those. In some organizations, workers perform their duties in an assembly whereby if a certain section of employees is affected it will affect the whole plant. Employees perform their duties diligently if they are inspired and motivated as the results will always be positive with efficient production. Organizations which are results oriented will go all the way to motivate their employees for them to reach their goals. A further qualitative research on motivation strategies and theories is recommended. (M. Badubi, 2018)
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