Week 6 Assignment:
Employee Motivations
Dawn M. Morris
Trine University
LDR 5043: Organizational Systems & Culture
Anne Johnson
October 3rd, 2021
Abstract
There are several factors to consider when evaluating employee performance, including motivation, ability, and environment. Abraham Maslow created a theory on what motivates the behavior of people that starts with the most basic needs and grows to the most self-fulfilling needs as lower needs are satisfied. Creating an inclusive positive organizational culture can assist an organization in identifying and satisfying the needs of employees. The socializing within this organizational culture allows for an employee’s motivations to become apparent. Once the employee’s motivation has been discovered management will be better able to assist the employee in reaching their full potential, while satisfying their needs.
One of the first notable researchers to explore what motivated human behaviors was Abraham Maslow. Maslow spent decades researching motivational behaviors until he developed his theory on the hierarchy of needs. This research was just laying the groundwork for many more decades of research exploring what motivates people, and even what motivates them to be successful employees. Throughout this paper a few theories on motivation will be discussed, as well as how it correlates into the workplace. What follows should disprove the assumption that a standardized organizational system will effectively motivate all types, while proving to effectively manage people organizations need to adapt to the differing motivators of employees.
Motivational Assumptions
Motivation may not be the only reason employees lack performance. There are three factors that link into overall employee performance; motivation; ability; and environment ("Theories of Motivation", 2012). This means there are essentially three main factors that influence employee performance, and motivation is only one of the three components.
Of course, when evaluating employee performance, motivation is one of the first aspects evaluated. This primarily might be due to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which will we evaluate in depth later in this paper; however, it is not correct to assume that performance is specifically linked to personal motivation. By assuming that employee performance is primarily linked to the employee’s personal motivations fails to consider external factors, such as environmental factors, which could have an impact on the employee’s motivation. For instance, there may be an employee who is motivated to complete the tasks he is assigned, so he may keep his employment and receive a paycheck, but does so at a standard performance level, not an exceptional one.
Furthermore, employee motivation can also be linked to manager performance and motivation. For example, one study linked the effects of manager performance and satisfaction directly to employee performance, which means that employee performance can be directly impacted by their managers performance (Netemeyer et al., 2010). This link is important to consider when evaluating an employee’s motivation and performance level, since it considers outside contributing factors.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Employees
Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theoretical framework based on psychological evaluations of patients in a clinical setting. The hierarchy framework consists of five levels, where the general thought is that once the most important need is satisfied the next need becomes relevant. The most important and largest need, which is the base of all needs in this framework, is physiological needs. Physiological needs are the most basic needs for existence, such as food, water, and reproduction ("Theories of Motivation", 2012). The basic motivation at this level is to exist or survive. After the physiological needs are met a person moves on to ensuring their safety needs are met, which then is followed by meeting social, esteem, and finally self-actualization needs. The overall concept is that once one need is met the person lacks motivation to fulfil that needs, since they are satisfied, and this move them on to the next need level.
It is important to note that in Maslow’s original research paper on the theory of human motivations he pointed out several problems that were not considered in his hierarchy research: for example, selfishness, the relationship between needs and cultural patterns, and the motivational effects of habits and conditioning (Maslow, 1943). Since not mentioned in the original research paper, it can be assumed that other ideas not considered were those of organizational culture and employee motivation. Depending on the depth that one follows the Hierarchy of Needs, will determine if the order satisfies employee needs. Overall, it could be concluded that at the very basic definitions of the needs, the particular order could relate to the needs of employees. An employee would need to have basic needs such as food and security met for them to then move up to being socially acquainted and motivated to become a high-performing employee.
Satisfying Employee Needs
Following the basic need structure formulated my Maslow, an organization can create a structure and culture that focuses on meeting employee needs. To start with an employee will usually need monetary compensation to meet their first two needs, which are physiological and safety. Outside of the workplace, they will need to be able to provide food and shelter for themselves, which will take money. While at the workplace, the organization would want to possible provide mealtimes, access to food or snacks, and a safe work environment.
Next, an organization that is has a good culture will more than likely be able to satisfy an employee’s social needs, as well as their esteem needs. When an organization has a good culture, the employees will have better communication, which will allow for them to establish a good working group that is inclusive and efficient. Naturally, once the employees are able to maintain excellent communication and a positive culture, they will begin to fulfill the esteem needs of one another. The organization can emphasize the employees esteem needs by including the stakeholders needs in the organizational culture framework, since research has shown a positive link between establishing a goal of creating stakeholder value and satisfying the psychological needs of employees (Parmar et al., 2019). Finally, once the employee is fully motivated and feels the connection to the organization, they will begin to strive to satisfy the highest need, self-actualization. During this phase, is when they will become high-performers, and work towards their highest potential. While Maslow’s theory is one of the most well-known on behavioral motivation, there are others that organizations can utilize.
Motivational Theory: Acquired-Needs Theory
There are several motivational theories which explain why people exhibit certain behaviors. David McClelland’s motivational theory, acquired-needs theory, is extremely useful in explaining a person’s behavior. The acquired-needs theory consists of three needs, achievement, affiliation, and power; however, the dominate need will vary between people based on their life experiences ("Theories of Motivation", 2012). This theory is more useful in explaining why people behave a certain way since it takes into account the differences between people based on their experiences. It’s important to understand the different motivators between people, as well as their dominate needs, if you want to tailor a leadership or coaching plan to propel their motivation towards being successful. For example, during employee performance reviews, if the motivational factors were evident, then management would be able to create a more efficient employee action plan to enable them to be successful.
Two-Factor Theory
While the acquired-needs theory does an exceptional job determining a person’s dominant need based on their personal experiences, there are other theories that attempt to explain behavioral motivation. Frederick Herzberg’s two-factor theory groups several needs and motivators into two factors: hygiene factors, and motivators. Hygiene factors (company policy, working conditions, salary, security, supervision and relationships) are factors that can cause worker dissatisfaction and they relate to how the job is performed, while the motivators (recognition, interesting work, advancement and growth, achievement, and increased responsibility) are what will cause an employee to become a high performer ("Theories of Motivation", 2012).
Overall, this basic theory that creates a distinction between an employee’s needs and motivations. Each factor and motivator are accurately placed, except for one hygiene factor that might also act as a motivator. An employee’s salary is often linked to advancement and achievement; for example, an employee might receive merit raises in conjunction with their achievement and recognition for a job well done, or a promotion. Therefore, it might be more accurate to include salary under both hygiene factors and motivators depending on how the salary is being described or viewed.
Achievement Motivation Advice
For people who are primarily motivated by achievement once they reach the levels of management, they must adapt to maintain satisfaction. Prior to being in a management position a person who is achievement orientated, would be striving to constantly improve themselves to meet goals that were provided to them, and gain the recognition of the managers above them, and to obtain promotions. Once they themselves are the management, their focus now might be on setting the goals for a team to achieve the organizations goals.
Some of the best advice to managers who are motivated by achievement is to adapt the way they determine success; for example, instead of reaching a personal goal, now their goal might be to create a team that together can reach a goal. Furthermore, they can challenge themselves in their role by setting expectations for each employee under them, and then developing the most effective action plan for each employee based on their personal abilities and motivators. This establishes the manager as a coach who provides direction, advice, and feedback to employees to increase the employee’s self-awareness, while simultaneously leading the entire team to accomplish their goals.
Final Thoughts
To conclude, there is no one way to motivate all the employees in an organization. Effectively motivating employees requires for management and leadership to understand what motivates each individual. This is why organizational culture plays a vital role since it encourages socialization and interaction between employees. When setting goals for employees, managers will be able to create more effective team goals, and individual coaching plans if they understand what motivates each employee on their team. By learning an understanding, the various motivational theories, the job that management plays in motivating and creating successful employees will be easier to accomplish.
References
Maslow, A. H. (1943, July 1). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-396. Retrieved October 2021, from https://web-a-ebscohost-com.tuproxy.palni.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=6c518bae-d1eb-40a3-95db-a2afeb72281d%40sdc-v-sessmgr03
Netemeyer, R. G., Maxham III, J. G., & Lichtenstein, D. R. (2010, May). Store Manager Performance and Satisfaction: Effects on Store Employee Performance and Satisfaction, Store Customer Satisfaction, and Store Customer Spending Growth. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(3), 530-545. Retrieved October 2021, from https://web-b-ebscohost-com.tuproxy.palni.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=74a5d729-31ce-4718-b031-aca5979be4c1%40sessionmgr101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=2010-09357-008&db=pdh
Parmar, B. L., Keevil, A., & Wicks, A. C. (2019, January). People and Profits: The Impact of Corporate Objectives on Employees' Need Satisfaction at Work. Journal of Business Ethics, 154(1), 13-33. doi:10.1007/s10551-017-3487-5
"Theories of Motivation". (2012). In Organizational Behavior (pp. 162-176). Saylor. Retrieved September 2021, from https://resources.saylor.org/wwwresources/archived/site/textbooks/Organizational%20Behavior.pdf
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