THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

We have a hierarchy of needs that ranges from “lower” to “higher”. As lower needs are
fulfilled, there is a tendency for other higher needs to emerge. Maslow’s theory maintain that a
person does not feel a higher need until the needs of the current level have been satisfied.
This theory posits that a person must first satisfy his Physiologic Needs in order for him
to thrive in his daily life. A person needs air to breathe, food to eat, water to drink, and other
bodily needs in order for him to live. As he maintains his living, his needs elevate to another level.
Safety Needs become the next priority a person. His being alive needs to be maintained
and flourished by securing his body in a shelter free from harm. As soon as a person feels
physically secure and safe, he now strives to level up his needs and seek for Love and
Belongingness where a person affiliates himself with another for friendship, or for sexual
intimacy, or for family.
As soon as a person passed the first few needs, he is now geared to aim for a higher need
which cannot be attained if not for the completion of the aforementioned needs. An individual is
now longing for Self Esteem where he builds himself worthy of respect from others. When an
individual ultimately achieves all his goals in life without stagnation nor despair, it is said to be
that he had attain the level of a Self-Actualized person.

Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory

This theory studies the variables which were responsible for the level of satisfaction of
employees, in particular, which motivated the employees in their organization. Hygiene Factors
refers to the indirect factors which affect the motivation of employees in their job, while
Motivational Factors refers to the direct factors which have a positive effect on the functioning
of the employees in their organizations.
A person is motivated when he acquires Achievement in his workplace and such
achievement is reciprocated accordingly with Recognition by his superiors. A person is
motivated further when he undergoes the desired Advancement in his work, to facilitate his
motivation on the Work-itself. Throughout his career, a person feels driven to go further when
he feels the Possibility of Growth in his field, in view of the achievement, recognition,
advancement, and work that he went through. Once these mentioned motivational factors are
increased, a person is motivated to seek for Responsibility in his workplace.
It is deemed that in order for motivation to continuously flow, there must no breakage on
any of the six mentioned factors above.

McClelland’s Three-Need Theory

Specific needs of individual are acquired over a period of time and gets molded with one’s
experience of the life.
This theory posits that the person’s level of effectiveness and motivation is greatly
influenced by his: (1) Need for Power; (2) Need for Affiliation; and (3) Need for
Achievement.
People most often have needs for achievement. But in order for them to achieve
something, they must need to lead the pack. In their journey to lead the pack, they must hone
themselves in order to develop and handle the consequences of such achievement. First, they
must have the Need for Power. Power is the ability to induce or influence the behavior of others.
People with high Power Needs tend to seek high-level positions in the organizations so as to
exercise influence and control over the others. Generally, they are outspoken, forceful,
demanding, practical, realistic, not sentimental, and like to get involved in the conversations.
In relation to their habit of being involved in conversations, their Need for Affiliation arises.
People with high need for affiliation derives pleasure from being loved by all and tend to avoid
the pain of being rejected. Since human beings are social animals, they like to interact and be
with others where they feel people accept them.

Vroom’s Expectancy Theory

An individual selects a certain behavior over the other behaviors with an expectation of
getting results the one desired for. This theory posits that, more effort will result in success.
This theory is commonly observed among the working class. Working individuals have a
default mindset that the higher the effort they exert, the closer they are to success. Hence, most
of the people strive hard in their careers with the hope that their undying efforts will be
reciprocated with unwavering success in life.

Adam’s Equity Theory

People maintain a fair relationship between the performance and rewards in comparison
to others. Simply put, an employee gets de-motivated by the job and his employer in case his
inputs are more than the outputs.
This theory posits that an individual compares his input and outcomes with those of others
and try to correct the inequality. An individual is said to be highly motivated if he perceives to be
treated fairly. To illustrate, an employee presented business proposals to his boss but neither one
of it was accepted, while another employee only presented a single business proposal but was
immediately accepted by the boss. In view of this illustration, the first scenario involved numerous
input but none was considered as output, while the second scenario involved a 1:1 input-output
ratio. It can be gleaned that the first employee may feel unfair treatment which may ensue to
de-motivation due to inequity.

Reinforcement Theory
The behavior of people is largely determined by its consequence. Actions that tend to
have positive or pleasant consequence tend to be repeated more often in the future, while those
actions that tends to have repeated negative or unpleasant consequences are less likely to be
repeated again.
This theory suggests that managers should try to structure the contingencies of rewards
and punishments on the job in such a way that the consequences of effective job behavior are
positive while the consequences of ineffective work behavior are negative or unpleasant.