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motivates him/her, and very likely the answer will be "goals". Goal
Setting is extremely important to motivation and success. So what
motivates you? Why are you in college? If you are in college because
that's what your parents want, you may find it difficult to motivate
yourself. Sure, it's possible to succeed with someone else providing the
motivation for you. ("If you graduate from college, I'll give you a car!"
or worse "If you don't graduate from college, you won't get a car.") But
motivation that comes from within really makes the difference.
Certainly, you need some intelligence, knowledge base, study skills,
and time management skills, but if you don't have motivation, you
won't get far. Think about this analogy. You have a car with a full tank
of gas, a well-tuned engine, good set of tires, quadraphonic CD
system, and a sleek, polished exterior. There it sits. This car has
incredible potential. (Have you heard that before?) However, until a
driver sits behind the wheel, puts the key in the ignition, and cranks it
up, the car doesn't function. You guessed it; the KEY is MOTIVATION.
Interest is an important motivator for a student. So is a desire to
learn. When you link these two things together, you create success.
Often success in an endeavor leads to more interest and a greater
desire to learn, creating an upward spiral of motivation toward a goal
you have established.
So be honest with yourself. Are you genuinely interested in being in
college? Have you set realistic goals for yourself? How can you develop
the internal motivation that really counts? When it comes to
motivation, KNOWING is not as important as DOING.
Definition
The following definitions of motivation were gleaned from a variety of
psychology textbooks and reflect the general consensus that
motivation is an internal state or condition (sometimes described as a
need, desire, or want) that serves to activate or energize behavior and
give it direction (see Kleinginna and Kleinginna, 1981a).
Figure 1motivation
behavioral/external
social
biological
cognitive
affective
conative
spiritual
Theories of motivation
Many of the theories of motivation address issues introduced
previously in these materials. The following provides a brief overview
to any terms or concepts that have not been previously discussed.
Behavioral
Each of the major theoretical approaches in behavioral learning theory
posits a primary factor in motivation. Classical conditioning states that
biological responses to associated stimuli energize and direct behavior.
Operant learning states the primary factor is consequences: the
application of reinforcers provides incentives to increase behavior; the
application of punishers provides disincentives that result in a decrease
in behavior.
Cognitive
There are several motivational theories that trace their roots to the
information processing approach to learning. These approaches focus
on the categories and labels people use help to identify thoughts,
emotions, dispositions, and behaviors.
The first is cognitive dissonance theory which is in some respects
similar to disequilibrium in Piaget's theory of cognitive development.
This theory was developed by Leon Festinger (1957) and states that
when there is a discrepancy between two beliefs, two actions, or
between a belief and an action, we will act to resolve conflict and
discrepancies. The implication is that if we can create the appropriate
amount of disequilibrium, this will in turn lead to the individual
changing his or her behavior which in turn will lead to a change in
thought patterns which in turn leads to more change in behavior.
A second cognitive approach is attribution theory (Heider, 1958;
Weiner, 1974). This theory proposes that every individual tries to
explain success or failure of self and others by offering certain
"attributions." These attributions are either internal or external and are
either under control or not under control. The following chart shows
the four attributions that result from a combination of internal or
external locus of control and whether or not control is possible.
Internal
External
No Control
Ability
Luck
Control
Effort
Task Difficulty
Level of
Need
Growth
Definition
Properties
Satisfied by mutually
sharing thoughts and
Involve relationships with feelings; acceptance,
confirmation, underRelatedness significant others
standing, and influence are
elements
Existence
psychological desires
Growth
Other
(Relatedness)
Self
(Existence)
Introversion
Self-Actualization
(development of
competencies
[knowledge, attitudes,
and skills] and
character)
Extroversion
Transcendence
(assisting in the
development of others'
competencies and
character; relationships
to the unknown,
unknowable)
Personal identification
Value of person by
with group, significant
group (Esteem)
others (Belongingness)
Physiological,
Connectedness,
biological (including
security
basic emotional needs)
and that the individual can accomplish it) and self-regulation (the
establishment of goals, the development of a plan to attain those
goals, the commitment to implement that plan, the actual
implementation of the plan, and subsequent actions of reflection and
modification or redirection. The work of Ames (1992) and Dweck
(1986) discussed below is a major component of social cognitive views
on motivation.
Intrinsic
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Extrinsic
o
o
o
action
As a general rule, teachers need to use as much of the intrinsic
suggestions as possible while recognizing that not all students
will be appropriately motivated by them. The extrinsic
suggestions will work, but it must be remembered that they do
so only as long as the student is under the control of the teacher.
When outside of that control, unless the desired goals and
behaviors have been internalized, the learner will cease the
desired behavior and operate according to his or her internal
standards or to other external factors.
Your Intention
"Just as an archer requires a target before he can shoot his arrow, you need a target before you can get
motivated to achieve it."4
Your intention is a synergistic combination of three elements: desire, belief, and acceptance.
It determines your motivation and how successfully you attain your goals... More
Do what you love to do. Find your true passion. Do what you love to do a make a
difference! The only way to do great work is to love what you do... More
Discontent as a Motivator
Discontent, anxiety, and anger, if you use and harness it in a positive way, are some of the
most powerful motivations you can have. Use them if you're not happy with where you are
right now. Find an area of discontent, think things through, and take action.
Creative Visualization
Creative visualization helps you use your natural creative imagination in a more conscious
way to create a clear image, idea or feeling sense of what you really want and to achieve
your goal by focusing constantly on it and giving it your positive energy until it becomes
objective reality... More
Fear as a Motivator
You have two ways to go with fear. You can weaken the negative ones or strengthen the
empowering ones.4
Take in mind a goal that you wish to achieve. Be specific about what you want and why you
want it. Once you have your chosen goal in mind, it's time to create some fear. Imagine that
you lived the rest of your life never having
achieved your goal, and you never realized
your potential or what you were capable
of. Create as horrible a picture as you can about this possible future. Think about how you'll
feel about yourself, how others will feel about you, and how much it will hurt to know that
you'll never do the things you wanted to do. And most effective of all, you never became the person
you always knew you could be.
You now have fear working for you. Human beings will do most anything to avoid an intensely painful
situation. By using this to your advantage you will be motivated to achieve your goal and avoid the pain of
regret.4
If you think that if you follow your passion you will take too much time
away from your family, it is time to prioritize your priorities. Let go of less
important priorities so you can spend more time with your family at the
same time you achieve your goal(s).
4.) Hire an inner-coach who can help you not listen to the "nay-sayers," but
encourages you to seek out the advice and wisdom form people who have
achieved the goal(s) you are interested in achieving.
5.) Hire an inner coach who does not criticize effort, blame you for failures,
or who encourages you to give up when the going gets tuff. A good innercoach will help you to turn failures into learning experiences. Remember
that failure is a perquisite before true success can be achieved.
Are you interested in hiring an inner-coach? Where can you find a qualified
inner-coach to interview and possibly hire? Is there a certification board or
inner-coach school that you can call to obtain a list? No, there is no innercoach university.
The best inner-coach to hire is YOU! You are the best inner-coach you can
hire because who else knows your dream goals better than you do.
Unfortunately, we all have a number of types of inner-coaches within us,
and not all are there to help meeting our dream goal(s). Therefore, you will
need to only listen to the advice of the inner-coach who can meet the five
qualities that I have outlined, and fire any inner-coach who can't cut-it.
This diagram shows Maslow's hierarchy of needs, represented as a pyramid with the
more basic needs at the bottom.[1]
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by
Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation,[2]
which he subsequently extended to include his observations of
humans' innate curiosity.
Maslow studied what he called exemplary people such as Albert
Einstein, Jane Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Frederick Douglass
rather than mentally ill or neurotic people, writing that "the study of
crippled, stunted, immature, and unhealthy specimens can yield only a
cripple psychology and a cripple philosophy."[3] Maslow also studied the
healthiest one percent of the college student population. In his book,
The Farther Reaches of Human Nature, Maslow writes, "By ordinary
standards of this kind of laboratory research... this simply was not
research at all. My generalizations grew out of my selection of certain
kinds of people. Obviously, other judges are needed." [4]
Contents
[hide]
1 Representations
2 Deficiency needs
o 2.1 Physiological needs
o 2.2 Safety needs
o 2.3 Social needs
o 2.4 Esteem
3 Aesthetic needs
4 Self-transcendence
5 Success of offspring
6 Criticisms
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
[edit] Representations
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is predetermined in order of importance. [5]
It is often depicted as a pyramid consisting of five levels: the first
lower level is being associated with Physiological needs, while the top
levels are termed growth needs associated with psychological needs.
Deficiency needs must be met first. Once these are met, seeking to
satisfy growth needs drives personal growth. The higher needs in this
hierarchy only come into focus when the lower needs in the pyramid
are met. Once an individual has moved upwards to the next level,
needs in the lower level will no longer be prioritized. If a lower set of
needs is no longer being met, the individual will temporarily reprioritize those needs by focusing attention on the unfulfilled needs,
but will not permanently regress to the lower level. For instance, a
businessman at the esteem level who is diagnosed with cancer will
spend a great deal of time concentrating on his health (physiological
needs), but will continue to value his work performance (esteem
needs) and will likely return to work during periods of remission.
Breathing
Homeostasis
Water
Sleep
Food
Excretion
Sex
Personal security
Financial security
Health and well-being
Safety net against accidents/illness and the adverse impacts
Friendship
Intimacy
Having a supportive and communicative family
[edit] Esteem
All humans have a need to be respected, to have self-esteem, selfrespect, and to respect. Also known as the belonging need, esteem
presents the normal human desire to be accepted and valued by
others. People need to engage themselves to gain recognition and
have an activity or activities that give the person a sense of
contribution, to feel accepted and self-valued, be it in a profession or
hobby. Imbalances at this level can result in low self-esteem or an
inferiority complex. People with low self-esteem need respect from
others. They may seek fame or glory, which again depends on others.
It may be noted, however, that many people with low self-esteem will
not be able to improve their view of themselves simply by receiving
fame, respect, and glory externally, but must first accept themselves
internally. Psychological imbalances such as depression can also
prevent one from obtaining self-esteem on both levels.
[edit] Self-transcendence
Near the end of his life Maslow revealed that there was a level on the
hierarchy that was above self-actualization: self-transcendence [6].
"[Transcenders] may be said to be much more often aware of the
[edit] Criticisms
While Maslow's theory was regarded as an improvement over previous
theories of personality and motivation, it had its detractors. For
example, in their extensive review of research which is dependent on
Maslow's theory, Wahba and Bridgewell[8] found little evidence for the
ranking of needs Maslow described, or even for the existence of a
definite hierarchy at all. Conducted in 2002, a recent study forwards
this line of thought, claiming that "the hierarchy of needs is nothing
more than a fool's daydream; there is no possible way to classify everchanging needs as society changes."[9][unreliable source?]Chilean economist
and philosopher Manfred Max Neef has also argued fundamental
human needs are non-hierarchical, and are ontologically universal and
invariant in nature - part of the condition of being human; poverty, he
argues, is the result of any one of these needs being frustrated, denied
or unfulfilled.
Click Here to view the rest of this month's featured Employee Motivation Articles.
There may be thousands of techniques, principles, and ideas about effective and efficient
management, but one method still stands above the rest. Every great manager, coach, and
parent knows the secret and puts it to use every moment of every day.
This method not only trains but also inspires others to achieve greater result. With today's
business world in dire need of quick and effective training methods, this is one technique you
don't want to be without.
Lead by example.
As Emerson once wrote, 'Who you are speaks so loudly I can't hear what you're saying.' It doesn't
matter what you want others to do if you are not willing to set the example first.
This presents a definite problem for managers and supervisors who would rather have people 'do
as they say and not as they do,' but if you're really interested in improving the performance and
experience of the people you rely on, the changes have to come from the head down.
NEW EXAMPLE, NEW RESULTS
When Douglas Freimark was named the new head of the sales department, he had his work cut
out for him. The results in that department had been slowly decreasing, and the drop in results
was crippling the company's ability to improve and expand.
Before he stepped into his new role, he was given a quick overview of the problem. In essence,
he was told the sales force was failing to meet expectations. If things didn't improve fast, he was
to remove the current employees and hire a new team.
Douglas understood motivation and the power of example enough to see through his supervisor's
words. Working within the company before his latest promotion, Douglas was aware of the
previous sales manager. He knew that the problem stemmed less from the sales force and more
from a lack of leadership.
By acting in a way that he wished others to act, Douglas quickly improved the moral of the team.
He let them know that he would never ask more of them than he did of himself. Douglas showed
up early, worked with focus and intent, and stayed late. He was the example and the employees
followed his lead.
In only a few weeks the sales force looked like a completely different group of people. They were
excited about their work, about their goals, and about their future. Results quickly improved and
were on their way to breaking company records.
While most would have replaced the 'problem' with a new set of faces, Douglas realized what the
sales department was missing wasn't talented employees but the right example to follow.
The employees hadn't changed - their example and expectations did. Examine not what you say
to your people but who you are and what you communicate with your own behavior. Be the
example of what you wish to see in others.
Some of the most successful advancements made within the world's largest companies have
come from lower-level employees who were given the chance to be heard. If you create an
atmosphere in which 100% success is demanded at every stage of the game, you will scare away
future success and achievement.
Recalling our example from above, you not only get more ideas when you allow for short- term
failure but also the specifics to success. When an employee fails, and takes steps to learn from
that failure, you are benefited with new and powerful information. When you know how something
doesn't work, you will eventually discover exactly how it does work.
Let it be known throughout your company, department, or team that failure is an option. Think of
the countless ideas that are sitting patiently in the minds of your people - now is the time to let
them out.
but upon returning to their companies, the ideas are soon forgotten. The investment was a waste.
You have to create an atmosphere in which the new ideas your people learn are valued and
shared. You have to gather your people together and ask them about what they're learned and
how they feel their ideas could improve the company.
Don't let the information you or your company just spent a great deal of money on be lost. If you
don't make use of the ideas, you are simply wasting you and your employee's time. There is
success in new information, but you are the one who has to bring it to the surface.
PUT THE IDEAS INTO ACTION
The last stage is action. While not every new idea or gem of information will pan out, recognize
and test the ideas that you feel may improve the company. This is important for two reasons.
First, the company will profit through new ideas. This is the most obvious benefit of educated
employees, but it doesn't end here. While the company will improve in the short-term because of
the new information, it will succeed in the long-term because of the type of employees constant
education creates.
When an employee feels that he or she is needed, productivity will skyrocket. Think about how
you would feel if you went to a seminar on reducing employee turnover and returned to your
company without once being asked about what you learned. You were excited about the chance
to grow, learned some really useful ideas that would fit well with your company, and then poof everything you have done is wasted.
What a different situation it would be had the boss or supervisor eagerly awaited your return,
anxious to tap your mind and hang on your every word. You would feel needed, important, and
like an integral part of your company.
Feelings like these would drive every employee to do whatever they could to make the company
better.
If your employees already have the opportunity to grow on a consistent basis, keep it going
strong and follow the latter two steps. If not, get started today. The faster you satisfy the needs of
your employees, the faster they will work to satisfy yours.
Perhaps your favorite meal is a thick and juicy hamburger. If you're actually preparing and
cooking a hamburger, you're right on track. But what if you're dealing with ice cream sandwiches.
How well do you think throwing some ice cream onto a grill would work? Trying to flip it so both
side get evenly cooked?
THE GREATEST MANAGEMENT MISTAKE
Preparing and cooking ice cream in the same manner as a hamburger would obviously result in
failure. You can't treat all ingredients and meals as the same thing - they are all different, requiring
different methods and techniques to achieve their particular result.
The greatest management mistake should becoming painfully clear: many managers treat all
employees as the same assortment of ingredients trying to motivate them toward greater success
using one cookie-cutter approach.
Just as failure results from throwing ice cream on a grill, so too will a manager fail in inspiring his
people if he attempts to do so using a single method.
The people on your team are as different as baked beans and apple pie. They each work from a
unique set of motivators, responding to some with excited action and others with boredom or
even anger.
It's up to you to discover what drives each one of your team members. What elements excite
them? What elements turn them off? It may take a little time and concerted effort on your part, but
uncovering the powerful motivators that drive your people will be the best thing you can do for
you and your team.
Remember, you may respond to financial rewards or incentives, but that doesn't mean everyone
on your team will share your sentiments. Listen to your people. Recognize and utilize their
motivators. You are dealing with a wide assortment of ingredients, and following this principle will
allow you to prepare each one with amazing success.
Increase Motivation
August 23rd, 2007 by John Jorgensen
If you want to make things happen the ability to motivate yourself and
others is a crucial skill. At work, home, and everywhere in between,
people use motivation to get results. Motivation requires a delicate
balance of communication, structure, and incentives. These 21 tactics
will help you maximize motivation in yourself and others.
Motivation
1. Consequences - Never use threats. Theyll turn people against
you. But making people aware of the negative consequences of not
getting results (for everyone involved) can have a big impact. This one
is also big for self motivation. If you dont get your act together, will
you ever get what you want?
2. Pleasure - This is the old carrot on a stick technique. Providing
pleasurable rewards creates eager and productive people.
3. Performance incentives - Appeal to peoples selfish nature. Give
them the opportunity to earn more for themselves by earning more for
you.
4. Detailed instructions - If you want a specific result, give specific
instructions. People work better when they know exactly whats
expected.
5. Short and long term goals - Use both short and long term goals
to guide the action process and create an overall philosophy.
6. Kindness - Get people on your side and theyll want to help you.
Piss them off and theyll do everything they can to screw you over.
7. Deadlines - Many people are most productive right before a big
deadline. They also have a hard time focusing until that deadline is
looming overhead. Use this to your advantage by setting up a series of
mini-deadlines building up to an end result.
8. Team Spirit - Create an environment of camaraderie. People work
more effectively when they feel like part of team they dont want to
let others down.
9. Recognize achievement - Make a point to recognize
achievements one-on-one and also in group settings. People like to see
that their work isnt being ignored.
11. Personal stake - Think about the personal stake of others. What
do they need? By understanding this youll be able to keep people
happy and productive.
11. Concentrate on outcomes - No one likes to work with someone
standing over their shoulder. Focus on outcomes make it clear what
you want and cut people loose to get it done on their own.
13. Trust and Respect - Give people the trust and respect they
deserve and theyll respond to requests much more favorably.
14. Create challenges - People are happy when theyre progressing
towards a goal. Give them the opportunity to face new and difficult
problems and theyll be more enthusiastic.
15. Let people be creative - Dont expect everyone to do things
your way. Allowing people to be creative creates a more optimistic
environment and can lead to awesome new ideas.
16. Constructive criticism - Often people dont realize what theyre
doing wrong. Let them know. Most people want to improve and will
make an effort once they know how to do it.
17. Demand improvement - Dont let people stagnate. Each time
someone advances raise the bar a little higher (especially for yourself).
18. Make it fun - Work is most enjoyable when it doesnt feel like
work at all. Let people have fun and the positive environment will lead
to better results.
19. Create opportunities - Give people the opportunity to advance.
Let them know that hard work will pay off.
20. Communication - Keep the communication channels open. By
being aware of potential problems you can fix them before a serious
dispute arises.
21. Make it stimulating - Mix it up. Dont ask people to do the same
boring tasks all the time. A stimulating environment creates
enthusiasm and the opportunity for big picture thinking.
Master these key points and youll increase motivation with a bit of
hard work.
motivational theory
employee motivation theory - team building activities,
workshops, inspirational quotes, and the power of
positive experience
Alignment of aims, purpose and values between staff, teams and
organization is the most fundamental aspect of motivation. The better
the alignment and personal association with organizational aims, the
With thanks to
people even more so. The key words are the ones which say thanks
and well done for doing a great job, especially where the words
recognise each person's own special ability, quality, contribution,
effort, whatever. People always appreciate sincere thanks, and they
appreciate being valued as an individual even more. When you next
have the chance to thank your team or an individual team-member,
take the time to find out a special thing that each person has done and
make a point of mentioning these things. Doing this, the praise tends
to carry even greater meaning and motivational effect.
motivational quotes
"We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that
created them." (Albert Einstein)
"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the
credit." (President Harry S Truman)
"In the midst of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an
invincible summer." (Albert Camus, 1913 - 1960, French author &
philosopher)
"If you're not part of the solution you must be part of the problem."
(the commonly paraphrased version of the original quote: "What we're
saying today is that you're either part of the solution, or you're part of
the problem" by Eldridge Cleaver 1935-98, founder member and
information minister of the Black Panthers, American political activist
group, in a speech in 1968 - thanks RVP)
"A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a
deadline." (Harvey Mackay - thanks Brad Hanson)
"I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the
position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles overcome
while trying to succeed." (Booker T Washington, 1856-1915, American
Educator and African-American spokesman, thanks for quote M Kincaid,
and for biography correction M Yates and A Chatterjee)
"Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out
they've got a second. Give your dreams all you've got and you'll be
amazed at the energy that comes out of you." (William James,
American Philosopher, 1842-1910 - thanks Jean Stevens)
"Whatever you can do - or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has
genius, power and magic in it." (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German
writer, 1749-1832 - thanks Yvonne Bent)
"A dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than the
giant himself." (Didacus Stella, circa AD60 - and, as a matter of
interest, abridged on the edge of an English 2 coin)
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." (Sir
Isaac Newton, 1676.)
"The most important thing in life is not to capitalise on your successes
- any fool can do that. The really important thing is to profit from your
mistakes." (William Bolitho, from 'Twelve against the Gods')
So if we know these things does it not make good sense to offer these
opportunities to them, because we know that doing so will have a
motivational effect on them, and also encourage them to work on
opportunities that are likely to produce increasing returns on their
efforts? Of course. So do it.
If you are managing a sales team try (gently and progressively)
exploring with the team how they'd like to develop their experience,
responsibilities, roles, status, value, contribution, within the business.
Include yourself in this. Usually far more ideas and activity come from
focusing on how the people would like to develop their roles and value
(in terms of the scale and sophistication of the business that they are
responsible for), rather than confining sales people to a role that is
imposed on them and which is unlikely to offer sustainable interest and
stimulation.
All businesses have many opportunities for new strategic growth
available. Yours will be no different.
Most employees are capable of working at a far higher strategic level,
developing ever greater returns on their own efforts.
Performance improvement is generally found through enabling people
and teams to discover and refine more productive and strategic
opportunities, which will lead to more productive and motivating
activities.
For example: reactive sales people are generally able to be proactive
account mangers; account managers are generally able to be major
accounts developers; major accounts developers are generally able to
be national accounts managers; national accounts mangers are
generally able to be strategic partner and channel developers;
strategic partner and channel managers are generally able to be new
business sector/service developers, and so on...
Again include yourself in this.
If necessary (depending on your organisational culture and policies
seek approval from your own management/executives for you to
embark on this sort of exploration of strategic growth. (If you are
unable to gain approval there are many other organisations out there
who need people to manage sales teams in this way....)
Obviously part of the approach (and your agreement with your people the 'psychological contract') necessarily includes maintaining and
meeting existing basic business performance target levels. This is
especially so since strategic growth takes time, and your business still
needs the normal day-to-day business handled properly. But people
can generally do this, ie., maintain and grow day-to-day performance
while additionally developing new higher-level strategic areas,
because genuinely motivated people are capable of dramatic
achievements. The motivation and capacity to do will come quite
naturally from the new responsibility and empowerment to operate at a
higher level.
N.B. The principles described above generally apply to most other job
roles. People are motivated by growth and extra responsibility, while at
the same time the organisation benefits from having its people focus
on higher strategic aims and activities. Be aware however that people
in different roles will be motivated by different things, and particularly
will require different types of support and guidelines when
being encouraged to work at a higher strategic level. For
example, engineers require more detail and clarification of
expectations and process than sales people typically do;
administrators are likely to require more reassurance and support in
approaching change than sales people typically do.
For sure your should encourage and enable people to develop their
roles, but make sure you give appropriate explanation, management
and support for the types of people concerned.
The use of this material is free provided copyright (see below) is acknowledged and
reference or link is made to the www.businessballs.com website. This material may
not be sold, or published in any form. Disclaimer: Reliance on information, material,
advice, or other linked or recommended resources, received from Alan Chapman,
shall be at your sole risk, and Alan Chapman assumes no responsibility for any errors,
omissions, or damages arising. Users of this website are encouraged to confirm
information received with other sources, and to seek local qualified advice if
embarking on any actions that could carry personal or organisational liabilities.
Managing people and relationships are sensitive activities; the free material and
advice available via this website do not provide all necessary safeguards and checks.
Please retain this notice on all copies.
Basic principles of motivation exist that are applicable to learning in any situation.
1. The environment can be used to focus the student's attention on what
needs to be learned.
Teachers who create warm and accepting yet business-like atmospheres will
promote persistent effort and favorable attitudes toward learning. This
strategy will be successful in children and in adults. Interesting visual aids,
such as booklets, posters, or practice equipment, motivate learners by
capturing their attention and curiosity.
2. Incentives motivate learning.
Incentives include privileges and receiving praise from the instructor. The
instructor determines an incentive that is likely to motivate an individual at a
particular time. In a general learning situation, self-motivation without
rewards will not succeed. Students must find satisfaction in learning based on
the understanding that the goals are useful to them or, less commonly, based
on the pure enjoyment of exploring new things.
3. Internal motivation is longer lasting and more self-directive than is
external motivation, which must be repeatedly reinforced by praise or
concrete rewards.
Some individuals -- particularly children of certain ages and some adults -have little capacity for internal motivation and must be guided and reinforced
constantly. The use of incentives is based on the principle that learning occurs
more effectively when the student experiences feelings of satisfaction.
Caution should be exercised in using external rewards when they are not
absolutely necessary. Their use may be followed by a decline in internal
motivation.
4. Learning is most effective when an individual is ready to learn, that is,
when one wants to know something.
Sometimes the student's readiness to learn comes with time, and the
instructor's role is to encourage its development. If a desired change in
behavior is urgent, the instructor may need to supervised directly to ensure
that the desired behavior occurs. If a student is not ready to learn, he or she
may not be reliable in following instructions and therefore must be supervised
and have the instructions repeated again and again.
5. Motivation is enhanced by the way in which the instructional material is
organized.
In general, the best organized material makes the information meaningful to
the individual. One method of organization includes relating new tasks to
those already known. Other ways to relay meaning are to determine whether
the persons being taught understand the final outcome desired and instruct
them to compare and contrast ideas.
None of the techniques will produce sustained motivation unless the goals are
realistic for the learner. The basic learning principle involved is that success is more
predictably motivating than is failure. Ordinarily, people will choose activities of
intermediate uncertainty rather than those that are difficult (little likelihood of
success) or easy (high probability of success). For goals of high value there is less
tendency to choose more difficult conditions. Having learners assist in defining goals
increases the probability that they will understand them and want to reach them.
However, students sometimes have unrealistic notions about what they can
accomplish. Possibly they do not understand the precision with which a skill must be
carried out or have the depth of knowledge to master some material. To identify
realistic goals, instructors must be skilled in assessing a student's readiness or a
student's progress toward goals.
1. Because learning requires changed in beliefs and behavior, it normally
produces a mild level of anxiety.
This is useful in motivating the individual. However, severe anxiety is
incapacitating. A high degree of stress is inherent in some educational
situations. If anxiety is severe, the individual's perception of what is going on
around him or her is limited. Instructors must be able to identify anxiety and
understand its effect on learning. They also have a responsibility to avoid
causing severe anxiety in learners by setting ambiguous of unrealistically high
goals for them.
2. It is important to help each student set goals and to provide informative
feedback regarding progress toward the goals.
Setting a goal demonstrates an intention to achieve and activates learning
from one day to the next. It also directs the student's activities toward the goal
and offers an opportunity to experience success.
3. Both affiliation and approval are strong motivators.
People seek others with whom to compare their abilities, opinions, and
emotions. Affiliation can also result in direct anxiety reduction by the social
acceptance and the mere presence of others. However, these motivators can
also lead to conformity, competition, and other behaviors that may seem as
negative.
4. Many behaviors result from a combination of motives.
employee morale when people work long hours? How does your reward and recognition
system contribute to or deflate employee motivation, positive morale and retention? Answers
are here.
Employee Recognition (18) Humor and Inspiration (60) Employee Retention (22) Employee
Surveys (10) Inspirational Quotations @ Managers and Motivation (12) Success (26)
Top Ten Ways to Be Happy at Work
Working at Google sounds very cool. I'd be the first to tout Google as a motivating employer:
free food, fun ... Google and other top 100 employers provide best workplaces. But, perks that
enable employees to spend all their time at work exploit people and destroy life balance. So,
even the best employer may not be best for everyone. These are the factors that will help you
find happiness at work.
About What Employees Want From Work: Employee Motivation
Every person has different reasons for working. The reasons for working are as individual as
the person. But, we all work because we obtain something that we need from work. The
something obtained from work impacts morale, employee motivation, and the quality of life.
To create positive employee motivation, treat employees as if they matter - because
employees matter. These ideas will help you fulfill what people want from work and create
employee motivation.
Motivation Job Interview Questions
The following sample job interview questions about motivation enable you to assess what
motivates the candidate you are interviewing. Feel free to use these job interview questions in
your own candidate interviews.
Motivation Center
Every person is motivated. The challenge at work is to create an environment in which people
are motivated about work priorities. Find out how at the Motivation Center.
Use Training and Development to Motivate Staff
Want to keep your staff motivated about learning new concepts? The quality and variety of the
training you provide is key for motivation. The structure of your training programs brings 'em
back for more. Learn more.
Managing Millennials
The millennials joining your workforce now were born between 1980 and 2000. Unlike the
Gen-Xers and the Boomers, the Millennials have developed work characteristics and tendencies
from doting parents, structured lives, and contact with diverse people. Learn more about
millennials.
Top Ten Ways to Retain Your Great Employees
Key employee retention is critical to the long term health and success of your business.
Managers readily agree that their role is key in retaining your best employees to ensure
business success. If managers can cite this fact so well, why do many behave in ways that so
frequently encourage great employees to quit their job? Here are ten more tips for employee
retention.
Inspirational Quotes for Business: Motivation
Looking for an inspirational quote or a business quotation for your newsletter, business
presentation, bulletin board or inspirational posters? These motivation quotes are useful to
help motivation and inspiration. These quotes about employee motivation will help you create
success in business, success in management and success in life.
Elan at Work
Are you capturing the ardor and the spirit of your work force? You want to maximize
contributions from people. You want to fuel excitement. You want people to fulfill dreams,
plans and needs. You want to be the chosen, valued employer. Find out how!
The Most Important Management Secrets
Your expectations of people and their expectations of themselves are the key factors in how
well people perform at work. Known as the Pygmalion Effect and the Galatea Effect,
respectively, the power of expectations cannot be overestimated. These are the fundamental
principles you can apply to performance expectations and performance improvement at work.
Learn more.
Celebrate Annual Holidays for Motivation and Team Building
Traditions are important in companies just as they are in families. And, nothing is more
important than the annual traditions work places establish around the celebration of seasonal
holidays. A holiday celebration builds positive morale which results in increased employee
motivation. Motivation contributes to team building and productivity. Productive teams are
responsible for your success.
Use Affirmations as Passwords
What do you type over and over on a daily basis if you use your computer to access email or
the web? Your password, of course. If you're a road warrior, you use this access code even
more frequently. Why not make the password user-friendly? Why not make the password an
affirmation?
What Brings You Joy?
What brings you great joy in the workplace? I know what brings me joy. Perhaps we share
meaning about joyful events and circumstances? I trust that in sharing mine, I remind you of
yours. It's easy to get so bogged down in the day-to-day busy that we forget to cherish the
best moments. What motivates the motivators? Here are some of mine.
Employee Motivation in a Time of Change
In today's turbulent, often chaotic, environment, commercial success depends on employees
using their full talents. Yet in spite of the myriad of available theories and practices, managers
often view employee motivation as something of a mystery. Learn more about employee
motivation and get a motivation checklist.
What People Want From Work: Employee Motivation
Some people work for love; others work for personal fulfillment. Others like to accomplish
goals or feel as if they contribute to something larger than themselves. Whatever your
personal motivation for working, the bottom line, however, is that almost everyone works for
money. Find out the latest thinking and research about what people want from their work employee motivation.
How to Gift the Boss or a Special Co-worker
It's an age-old dilemma and it comes up every year. What do you do for that valued boss or
co-worker on a special occasion? Gift-giving opportunities are endless - and endlessly
challenging. Help is here. These gifts are appreciated and cherished.
Top Picks: Posters That Reinforce and Sustain Your Culture
Your culture is a result of the values, experiences, and behaviors shared by your employees.
You can see your culture live in your language, symbols, stories, and work practices.
Emphasize the values and culture you desire with motivational prints.
Motivation and Morale Resources
These sites explore motivation and morale including philosophies, how to's, effective actions,
and more.
Promote Self-Discipline!
You can create a work environment in which people choose to practice self-discipline and thus,
minimize the need for supervisory disciplinary action. Intriguing? Find out more.
Help People Thrive at Work: Employee Motivation
How to recruit, retain, reward, and motivate staff currently tops your interest list. Doing these
well is the most important strategic role of a manager or business owner. Find out more.
Tips for Minimizing Workplace Negativity
Minimize workplace negativity by not allowing it to get started in the first place. Use these tips
from Susan Heathfield, the HR SiteGuide, to keep negativity from gaining a foothold in your
organization.
Cures for Negativity
Despite your best efforts, your workplace is a hotbed of negative feelings, comments, and
actions. What can you do to stop the negativity and keep it from spreading to all staff? Your
About HR Guide, Susan Heathfield, has ideas for you to implement!
Index to Articles About Motivation, Retention, Coaching, and Training
Looking for information about any aspect of human resources, motivation, coaching, training
or education for your business or organization? You've found the right resource. Here are all
the resources you'll need to effectively start, manage and develop your human resources
department and all aspects of your business. Find information motivation, coaching, training or
education.
About HR Site Recognition
Kudos to the About HR site from readers, raters, and other Web sites. Make my day! Thank
you!
Passion Pays!
"People who are passionate about their work do a better job." I believe it! Check out
Management Guide, John Reh's take on being happy at work.
Laughing Your Way to Organizational Health
Workplace wellness is a serious issue. With stress-related-illness and burnout becoming
household words, you are increasingly looking for ways to keep your workforce happy, healthy
and productive. David Granirer's humor insights tell you how.
Meaning at Work
The Meaningful Workplace site presents the 22 keys to helping people find meaning in their
work place. Author and consultant, Tom Terez, provides information you can use immediately
on at his Web site.
What's Most Important to Employees Today?
Employees want to like what they do and have fun. They want to feel they are fairly
compensated. Increasingly, they seek a balance between life and work and family. Take a look
at the article to find out the rest of the morale and motivation issues important to employees.
However large or small a company or business is, it is employees at all levels that can make or
break it. This holds true not only for the people we hire on a regular basis, but also for temporary
and contracted workers. It is as important to research and study the needs, drives, and
expectations of people we hire or employ, and aim at responding to and satisfying those, as it is
with regard to customers.
In actual fact, considering the role each "employee" plays in a company's success, analyzing and
planning an adequate response to employees' motivations deserves first place in the order of
business.
Before going any further, let us shift our approach from grouping people under the generic
category of "employee" to individual human beings and term them as "hired workers" or "working
partners". This is what they are. We must acknowledge them as human beings with individual
needs, drives, characteristics, personalities, and acknowledge their contribution to the business
success.
Though each person has specific needs, drives, aspirations, and capabilities, at varying degrees
of intensity, people's basic needs are the same, as illustrated by Abraham Maslow in the
following model:
SelfActualization
Ego
Social Needs
Safety Needs
Physiological Needs
MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Maslow explains the Hierarchy of Needs as applied to workers roughly as follows:
Physiological Needs
basic physical needs: the ability to acquire food, shelter, clothing and other basics to survive
Safety Needs
a safe and non-threatening work environment, job security, safe equipment and installations
Social Needs
contact and friendship with fellow-workers, social activities and opportunities
Ego
recognition, acknowledgment, rewards
Self-Actualization
realizing one's dreams and potential, reaching the heights of one's gifts and talents.
It is only when these needs are met that workers are morally, emotionally, and even physically
ready to satisfy the needs of the employer and the customers.
Worker motivation must also be viewed from two perspectives:
1. Inner drives
2. Outer (external) motivators.
A person's inner drives push and propel him/her towards an employer, a particular job, career,
line of study, or other activity (such as travel or recreation). It is these drives that Maslow
delineates in his hierarchy of needs, and which we must understand and internalize, use as
guidelines in our efforts to help employees feel motivated.
The outer (external) motivators are the mirror image the employer or outside world offers in
response to the inner drives. In order to attract the "cream of the crop" of available workers, same
as in his/her dealings with customers, the employer not only tries to satisfy these basic needs, but
to exceed them - taking into consideration additional extraordinary needs individual workers have.
Most workers need to:
1. Earn wages that will enable them to pay for basic necessities and additional luxuries such
as the purchase of a home, or travel
2. Save for and enjoy old age security benefits
3. Have medical and other insurance coverage
4. Acquire friends at work
5. Win recognition
6. Be acknowledged and rewarded for special efforts and contributions
7. Be able to advance in life and career-wise
8. Have opportunities for self-development
9. Improve their skills, knowledge, and know-how
10. Demonstrate and use special gifts and abilities
11. Realize their ideal(s).
The employer responds to those needs by offering and providing:
1. Employment
2. Adequate pay
3. Assistance to workers for their special needs (such as child care arrangements,
transportation, flexible work schedules)
4. Job security (to the degree possible)
5. Clear company policies
6. Clear and organized work procedures
7. A stable, just and fair work environment
8. A safe work environment
9. Medical coverage and other benefits
10. An atmosphere of teamwork and cooperation
11. Social activities
12. Reward and recognition programs
13. Incentive programs
14. Open lines of communication (formal and informal)
15. Systematic feedback
16. Training and development programs
17. Opportunities for promotion
18. Company/ business information
19. Information on customer feedback
20. Sharing of company goals and objectives
21. Information on the market situation and industry
22. Future expectations
23. Plans for the future
24. Guidance and mentoring.
It is important that the employer discover other extraordinary needs applicants have before hiring
them and know beforehand whether he/she can satisfy those needs or not. An employee may
have:
Heavy financial responsibilities which he/she can meet only by working at two jobs,
leading to exhaustion, "sick leave", and deficient work performance
A desperate financial need for additional overtime and weekend remuneration
Premature expectations of swift promotions.
Some other needs the employer can expect, for which company policies should be planned
accordingly:
If the company is in a remote location, all employees will have a need for more social
activities
Many single people look for dates and spouses at work
Some women may not be ready to work late shifts unless the employer provides
transportation back home
Some workers may have a problem with drug or alcohol abuse.
In addition to needs and drives, adult workers have expectations from their employer - they
expect:
Business owners and managers are under constant scrutiny by the people they hire. Adult
workers care beyond the salary - they care to know to whom they entrust their fate, reputation,
and security. They consider their work as a major factor that shapes their lives and the lives of
those dear to them. Hence the scrutiny. Once they feel confident that the employer and their
place of work is what they wished for and expected, they are ready to contribute above and
beyond "the call of duty".
Most of these needs, expectations and aspirations are unexpressed - it is up to the employer to
develop a good system of company communications, employee relations, training and
development that will lead to an environment of openness, cooperation, teamwork, and
motivation that will benefit all the parties involved.
Thank you for visiting. We hope you will find value in the free online information provided in our
"how to" articles.
Copyright 1997 Claire Belilos - All Rights Reserved
This article is not to be sold or distributed in any form or manner without the author's written
permission
Losing Motivation
4/10/2006
Business literature is packed with advice about worker motivationbut sometimes
managers are the problem, not the inspiration. Here are seven practices to fire up the
troops. From Harvard Management Update.
by David Sirota, Louis A. Mischkind, and Michael Irwin Meltzer
Most companies have it all wrong. They don't have to motivate their
employees. They have to stop demotivating them.
The great majority of employees are quite enthusiastic when they start
a new job. But in about 85 percent of companies, our research finds,
employees' morale sharply declines after their first six monthsand
continues to deteriorate for years afterward. That finding is based on
surveys of about 1.2 million employees at 52 primarily Fortune 1000
companies from 2001 through 2004, conducted by Sirota Survey
Intelligence (Purchase, New York).
Equity: To be respected and to be treated fairly in areas such as pay, benefits, and
job security.
Achievement: To be proud of one's job, accomplishments, and employer.
Camaraderie: To have good, productive relationships with fellow employees.
But security is just the beginning. When handled properly, each of the
following eight practices will play a key role in supporting your
employees' goals for achievement, equity, and camaraderie, and will
enable them to retain the enthusiasm they brought to their roles in the
first place.
Achievement related
1. Instill an inspiring purpose. A critical condition for employee
enthusiasm is a clear, credible, and inspiring organizational purpose: in
effect, a "reason for being" that translates for workers into a "reason
for being there" that goes above and beyond money.
Every manager should be able to expressly state a strong purpose for
his unit. What follows is one purpose statement we especially admire.
It was developed by a three-person benefits group in a midsize firm.
Benefits are about people. It's not whether you have the forms filled in or whether the
checks are written. It's whether the people are cared for when they're sick, helped when
they're in trouble.
This statement is particularly impressive because it was composed in a
small company devoid of high-powered executive attention and
professional wordsmiths. It was created in the type of department
normally known for its fixation on bureaucratic rules and procedures. It
is a statement truly from the heart, with the focus in the right place:
on the endspeoplerather than the meanscompleting forms.
To maintain an enthusiastic
Stating a mission is a powerful tool. But equally
workforce, management must important is the manager's ability to explain
meet all three goals.
and communicate to subordinates the reason
behind the mission. Can the manager of stockroom workers do better
than telling her staff that their mission is to keep the room stocked?
Can she communicate the importance of the job, the people who are
relying on the stockroom being properly maintained, both inside and
outside the company? The importance for even goods that might be
considered prosaic to be where they need to be when they need to be
there? That manager will go a long way toward providing a sense of
purpose.
2. Provide recognition. Managers should be certain that all
employee contributions, both large and small, are recognized. The
motto of many managers seems to be, "Why would I need to thank
someone for doing something he's paid to do?" Workers repeatedly tell
us, and with great feeling, how much they appreciate a compliment.
They also report how distressed they are when managers don't take
the time to thank them for a job well done yet are quick to criticize
them for making mistakes.
Receiving recognition for achievements is one of the most fundamental
human needs. Rather than making employees complacent, recognition
reinforces their accomplishments, helping ensure there will be more of
them.
A pat on the back, simply saying "good going," a dinner for two, a note
about their good work to senior executives, some schedule flexibility, a
paid day off, or even a flower on a desk with a thank-you note are a
few of the hundreds of ways managers can show their appreciation for
good work. It works wonders if this is sincere, sensitively done, and
undergirded by fair and competitive payand not considered a
substitute for it.
3. Be an expediter for your employees. Incorporating a commandand-control style is a sure-fire path to demotivation. Instead, redefine
your primary role as serving as your employees' expediter: It is your
job to facilitate getting their jobs done. Your reports are, in this sense,
your "customers." Your role as an expediter involves a range of
activities, including serving as a linchpin to other business units and
managerial levels to represent their best interests and ensure your
people get what they need to succeed.
How do you know, beyond what's obvious, what is most important to
your employees for getting their jobs done? Ask them! "Lunch and
schmooze" sessions with employees are particularly helpful for doing
this. And if, for whatever reason, you can't immediately address a
particular need or request, be open about it and then let your workers
know how you're progressing at resolving their problems. This is a
great way to build trust.
4. Coach your employees for improvement. A major reason so
many managers do not assist subordinates in improving their
performance is, simply, that they don't know how to do this without
irritating or discouraging them. A few basic principles will improve this
substantially.
First and foremost, employees whose overall performance is
satisfactory should be made aware of that. It is easier for employees
to accept, and welcome, feedback for improvement if they know
Equity related
5. Communicate fully. One of the most counterproductive rules in
business is to distribute information on the basis of "need to know." It
is usually a way of severely, unnecessarily, and destructively restricting
the flow of information in an organization.
A command-and-control style Workers' frustration with an absence of
is a sure-fire path to
adequate communication is one of the most
demotivation.
negative findings we see expressed on
employee attitude surveys. What employees need to do their jobs and
what makes them feel respected and included dictate that very few
restrictions be placed by managers on the flow of information. Hold
nothing back of interest to employees except those very few items that
are absolutely confidential.
Good communication requires managers to be attuned to what
employees want and need to know; the best way to do this is to ask
them! Most managers must discipline themselves to communicate
regularly. Often it's not a natural instinct. Schedule regular employee
meetings that have no purpose other than two-way communication.
Meetings among management should conclude with a specific plan for
communicating the results of the meetings to employees. And tell it
like it is. Many employees are quite skeptical about management's
motives and can quickly see through "spin." Get continual feedback on
how well you and the company are communicating. One of the biggest
communication problems is the assumption that a message has been
understood. Follow-up often finds that messages are unclear or
misunderstood.
Companies and managers that communicate in the ways we describe
reap large gains in employee morale. Full and open communication not
only helps employees do their jobs but also is a powerful sign of
respect.
6. Face up to poor performance. Identify and deal decisively with
the 5 percent of your employees who don't want to work. Most people
want to work and be proud of what they do (the achievement need).
But there are employees who are, in effect, "allergic" to workthey'll
do just about anything to avoid it. They are unmotivated, and a
disciplinary approachincluding dismissalis about the only way they
can be managed. It will raise the morale and performance of other
team members to see an obstacle to their performance removed.
Camaraderie related
7. Promote teamwork. Most work requires a team effort in order to
be done effectively. Research shows repeatedly that the quality of a
group's efforts in areas such as problem solving is usually superior to
that of individuals working on their own. In addition, most workers get
a motivation boost from working in teams.
Whenever possible, managers should organize employees into selfmanaged teams, with the teams having authority over matters such as
quality control, scheduling, and many work methods. Such teams
Okay, you have convinced me! I will not try to motivate employees by
giving them extra vacation or benefits. My company does offer
employees free use of the company car on weekends, a bimonthly
drawing for a designated parking spot, and even a free pizza every Friday
afternoon. Will these activities provide the company with highly
motivated employees? Unfortunately no, the above activities are called
employee morale boosters. They are designed to raise the morale of
employees so that they feel good about the company they work for.
1001 Ways to Reward
Employees
Morale boosters do not increase motivation because they are not directly
(20%
Off)
tied to an increase in performance. An employee with good morale is not
necessary a motivated employee. For example, an employee that comes to
Hot Software
work and spends one or two hours each day socializing may have great
morale, but will also have the worst production levels of any employee in
the department.
If a great benefit package will not motivate an employee, and a designated
parking spot with their name stencilled in gold will not motivate an
employee, what will? Okay, let me provide you with some good news, but
before I do so, answer this question. In order to motivate your employees
do you change the employee or the organization in which the employee
works?
(1)
Statistics are from the book Super Motivation by Dean Spitzer, 1995.
Home Page
Search
EmployerEmployee.com
ISSUES
A series of papers highlighting recent developments
in research and practice in educational management
&
TRENDS
ERIC CLEARINGHOUSE ON EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT
University of Oregon, 1787 Agate Street, Eugene, Oregon 97403. (503) 346-5043
February 1992
Foreword
Every educator needs to be concerned about
motivation. It is a quality that students, teachers,
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
A Look Ahead
Are Principals Themselves Motivated to Excel?
Motivation and School Culture
Corporate Cultures and School Culture
The Effect of School Leadership on Motivation and Achievement
Motivation and School Restructuring
Motivation and Age-Related Changes in Levels of Motivation
The Challenge of School Restructuring
Some Recent Theories of Motivation
Motivation as a Personal Trait
Motivation in Response to Situations
Motivation and the Concept of Self
The Complexity of Motivation
Conclusion
Bibliography
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Introduction
Literature is filled with images of schoolchildren
joyfully hurrying away from school. A
long line of writers, including such notables as
Blake and Shakespeare, have frequently described
unhappy students at their desks and
vividly portrayed their delight at escaping the
boredom of the classroom. Fiction, poetry, and
other forms of art provide us with literally hundreds
of other similar images that, taken together,
establish a long cultural tradition: learning is a
profoundly boring activity.
Fortunately, our received opinion about
education as reflected in our cultural tradition can
differ greatly from our actual experience of
classroom learning. Anyone who has participated
in or closely observed the educational
process has doubtlessly experienced and witnessed
firsthand the excitement and joy that can
be derived from learning or discovering something
new. While we cannot expect these experiences
to occur every day, they are nevertheless
meaningful and powerful experiences, and they
provide us with a basis for our conviction that
education can, on the whole, be a valuable,
interesting, and pleasurable activity. Ultimately,
because we know from experience that such
moments exist, we can acquire a strong motivation
to learn, a trait that offers lifelong rewards.
Perhaps the primary job of principals,
teachers, parents, and other educational stakeholders
is to help students experience these
moments as frequently as possible in an atmosphere
where they can discover for themselves
the pleasure of acquiring new knowledge. The
goal of helping students acquire the self-motivation
that leads to a perpetual desire to learn
should be foremost in every educators mind.
A Look Ahead
2
motivation and improve their academic performance.
Perhaps the most obvious place for principals
to begin addressing the problem of inadequate
student motivation is to examine the role
of motivation in their own lives. What is it that
motivates an educational leader to desire better
academic performance on the part of his or her
students? Does it spring from an altruistic desire
to improve students lives? Is it a result of
having a strong work ethic? Does it stem from
the sense of self-esteem gained from knowing
that one is doing ones job well? Does it originate
in a desire to be successful professionally, to
win greater respect from ones colleagues, to
command a higher salary, to establish a reputation
in the community as a first-rate educational
administrator?
All of these are possible explanations for
wanting to see improved educational performance,
and all of them are acceptable, legitimate
reasons for desiring greater motivation and better
academic achievement at ones school. However,
the most important lesson to be learned from a
self-analysis of the role of motivation in ones
life is in the discovery that the reasons for the
presence or absence of motivation among students
may be as infinitely varied and complex as
the reasons for its presence or absence among
school leaders.
One other point should be kept in mind
when considering student motivation. It may be
just as difficult for students to sustain motivation
in their educational lives as it is for principals to
sustain motivation in their professional careers.
Students face many of the same difficulties, real
or perceived, that principals face. If school
leaders are equipped with the wisdom that comes
from humility, sensitivity, and a constant reflection
on the way that motivation functions in their
own lives, it will probably be much easier for
them to find ways to motivate their students.
3
An atmosphere or environment that nurtures
the motivation to learn can be cultivated in the
home, in the classroom, or, at a broader level,
Maehrs Psychological
Environment
In their book The Motivation Factor: A
Theory of Personal Investment, Maehr and
Braskamp (1986) focus extensively on motivation,
or personal investment, as they term it, in
organizational settings, especially as it functions
among adults in the workplace. They conclude
that there is a relationship between organizational
culture and personal investmentthat
knowing something about the cultural facets of
an organization allows us to predict employees
job satisfaction and organizational commitment
(p. 153).
Recently, Maehr (1990) has turned his
attention to the relationship between motivation
and the organizational culture of schools. His
work centers on what he terms the psychological
environment of the school. School administrators,
he asserts, are in the best position to shape a
schools psychological environment. Drawing
parallels between the school environment and the
classroom environment, Maehr points to the
similarities between teachers and principals
leadership roles, as shown in figure 2 on page 7.
The dimensions Maehr includes in his model
of the psychological environment of the school
include:
AccomplishmentEmphasis on excellence and
pursuit of academic challenges
PowerEmphasis on interpersonal competition,
social comparison, achievement
RecognitionEmphasis on social recognition
for achievement and the importance of school
for attaining future goals and rewards
AffiliationPerceived sense of community,
good interpersonal relations among teachers and
students
Strength/SaliencyThe perception that the
school knows what it is about and that students
know what is expected.
7
Figure 2: Parallel Leadership Roles Extant in Schools
TEACHER
(Goals>Behavior)>Classroom Context>Student Motivation & Personal
Investment
Source: Maehr (1990)
PRINCIPAL
(Goals>Behavior)>School Context>Student/Staff Motivation & Personal
Investment
fourth, sixth, eighth, and tenth grades in 800
public schools in Illinois. He attempted to
determine whether several variables, including
psychological environment and school leadership,
had an impact on student motivation. His
findings indicated that goals that stressed motivation
and achievement did have an impact, and
that school leadership qualities did have an
influence on a schools psychological environment.
Maehr concluded that goal stresses associated
with the school environment seem to relate
systematically to student motivation and
achievement (p. 46), and he reported that the
psychological environment of the school is a
measurable variable, a variable of some importance
in predicting motivation and achievement
of students (p. 52).
The influence of school culture as a conduit
for motivating students toward academic excellence
has perhaps been underestimated. Teachers
11
Boss-teachers and administrators constantly
lament that students are not motivated, but what
they are actually saying is that they do not know
how to persuade students to work. And as long
as they continue to believe in coercion, they
never will. (p. 39)
Motivation as a Personal
Trait
According to Maehr and Braskamp (1986),
McClelland and his colleagues set out to systematize
the study of motivation by designing assessment
procedures that would help identify the
characteristics associated with highly motivated
personalities. One stream of McClellands research
sought to identify the motives related to
achievement behavior. Certain individuals, he
found, could be characterized by their desire to
be successful. These individuals demonstrated
specific behaviors that identified them as
achievers (McClelland 1961, 1985).
The source of this trait was the subject of a
second, broader area of McClellands research,
one that is of special importance to educators.
McClelland investigated the possibility that
differences in child-rearing practices in various
societies and cultures accounted for differences in
the development of motivation in individuals. He
found that child-rearing practices that emphasize
independence training and mastery produce
people who are high in achievement motivation
Motivation in Response to
Situations
In a review of research on motivation as it is
exhibited in specific contexts or situations, Maehr
and Braskamp (1986) offer a counterbalancing
perspective to McClellands focus on personality
as a cause of motivation. Maehr and
Braskamp conclude that perhaps more than we
realize, we are what we are expected to be and
we do what the task and our significant others
allow and demand (p. 35).
A useful taxonomy for the study of situations
that affect motivation is shown in figure 3.
Several of the sectors in the taxonomy are
especially important in school settings. Normative
expectations apply to all group members;
each member is expected to adhere to the established
norms of the group. Such expectations can
exist in very basic social units, including the
family, clubs, and schools. Because individuals
are influenced by these social groups quite early
in life, they can acquire at young ages basic
attitudes about what is worth achieving and how
it can be achieved.
Another important category is individualized
Expectations
15
and self-determination.
Self-Consistency
This concept involves an individuals proclivity
to behave in a manner consistent with his
or her self-image. Once a self-image has been
formed, an individual begins to perceive circumstances
and respond to them in a way that reinforces
that self-image.
Because the opinions of significant others
are especially powerful at various critical stages
in a persons life, self-image is often formed
during the early stages of an individuals development
and can be very difficult to overcome.
This plays an obvious role in educational settings,
where a student might well appear to be unmotivated
in order to maintain a sense of consistency
with a self-image shaped by the experience of
having been labeled as a failure. As Maehr and
Braskamp conclude,
People do try to square their thoughts with what
they see happening to them. Inconsistencies in
thought are motivating. We can tolerate some
inconsistency some of the time, but apparently
we can tolerate only so much. (p. 37)
Self-Confidence
Researchers have often confirmed the notion
that a persons sense of self-confidence is a
critical variable in achieving success and in
becoming motivated to attempt certain tasks
(Atkinson and Feather 1966, Vroom 1964). Like
the little train that could, individuals develop
preconceived notions about their chances for
success or failure based upon their level of selfconfidence.
Experiments by Weiner (1979, 1983, 1984)
demonstrated that when individuals with a low
sense of self-confidence succeeded in carrying
out a task, they often attributed their achievement
to luck or to the lack of difficulty of the task
rather than to their own skill. On the other hand,
individuals with a high level of self-confidence
usually took full credit for accomplishing the task
successfully.
As an extension of self-image, levels of selfconfidence
are often established in the early
stages of a persons development. Studies have
shown that significant others also play an extremely
important role in shaping an individuals
The Complexity of
Motivation
The various theories that have sprung from
research on motivation indicate the complexity of
the problem of determining the possible interactions
among the many componentsindividual
differences, situational differences, social and
cultural factors, and cognition. In concluding
their review of motivation theory, Maehr and
Braskamp (1986) suggest how an individuals
level of motivation can be derived from one or
more of these sources:
When we boil down the antecedents of motivation
and personal investment to their simplest
16
form, we are inclined to suggest that people do
what they believe they can do and what they
believe is worth doing. Judgments of opportunity
to perform and the value to the person in
performing sum up most of what we need to
consider in discussing motivation. The former
involves not only the personal sense of competence
but also perceptions of options. The latter
involves not only the norms people live by as the
result of sociocultural groups in which they
participate but the individualized goal they hold
for themselveswhat they are and what they
hope to become.
Perceived
Options
Personal
Incentives
Sense of
Self
Information Sociocultural Context
Performance
Situation
Personal
Experiences
17
1. People invest themselves in certain activities
depending on the meaning these activities
have for them.
2. Meaning involves three interrelated categories
of cognition: personal incentives, sense of
self, and perceived options.
Conclusion
A recent survey of 1,879 students listed in
Whos Who Among American High School
Students, three-fourths of whom had A averages,
indicated that their level of motivation was not
particularly high. More than half of them reported
that they studied no more than seven hours
each week, and three-fourths of them indicated
that they would not increase their study time even
if a proposed national achievement test became a
reality. The lack of enthusiasm for learning
among the student respondents lead Paul Krouse,
publisher of Whos Who, to ask, What is wrong
with our educational system that our best and
brightest students are so unmotivated? (Column
One 1991).
There are no easy answers to Mr. Krouses
question, but that does not mean that we should
give up trying to answer it. Just as we want our
students to remain motivated to learn, we must
remain motivated to find a solution to an admittedly
difficult problem. Like most problems, the
lack of motivation among students today is
probably the result of several causes, some within
our immediate control, some not.
Each of the preceding chapters has suggested
a different approach to improving motivation
in educational settings: cultivating a school
Bibliography
Many of the items in this bibliography are indexed in ERICs monthly catalog Resources in Education
(RIE). Reports
in RIE are indicated by an ED number. Journal articles indexed in ERICs companion catalog, Current
Index to Journals
in Education, are indicated by an EJ number.
Most items with an ED number are available from ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS), 7420
Fullerton
Square, Suite 110, Newington, VA 22153-2836.
To order from EDRS, specify the ED number, type of reproduction desiredmicrofiche (MF) or paper
copy (PC), and
number of copies. Add postage to the cost of all orders and include check or money order payable to EDRS.
For credit card
orders, call 1-800-443-3742.
22
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