Motivation
Contents
Introduction
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Motivation was taken from the Latin word 'move' for the first time.
Motivation is the why of behavior. In other words, all human behaviors are
stimulated by a motivation or need. Human motivation, whether conscious or
unconscious, stems from his needs. Therefore, in defining motivation it can be
stated that motivation or need is an inner state and shortage or deprivation
which makes the individual to carry out something. In another definition,
motivation is the desire to make considerable effort in order to meet
organization objectives so that this effort is directed toward satisfaction of some
personal needs (Robbins, 1998).
One of the first duties of manager is to provide the grounds for motivation
of staffs in high levels of performance. That is to say, the manager must ensure
that employees are busy, attend the organization regularly, and possess a
positive share in the mission of organization. Job performance is associated with
ability, environment and motivation.
Motivation is a chain process which is initiated with the feeling of need,
shortage or deprivation. It is followed with desire and leads to tension and
action toward an objective whose outcome is the behavior of movement toward
objective. Continuity of this process may lead to the satisfaction of need.
Therefore, motivation encourages and persuades people to do something or to
show a behavior. However, motivation reflects a general desire. The position of
punishment and encouragement as strong motivations is clear in all studies. In
this regard, money is considered as a tool for giving rewards, but it is not the
only motivational factor.
One of the important responsibilities as the manager of an organization is
to find out the potential talents of staffs and to provide the context for their
growth and flourish which leads to the promotion of productivity. It is now
impossible to take steps toward sustainable development without taking
productivity level and effective factors on its increase into account. As humanbeing plays a key role in the development as its realization factor, eliminating
his mental and psychological needs is of vital importance. Therefore, one of
important duties of manager is to motivate his forces to achieve organization
objectives. Generally, motivation is categorized into physical, social and mental
motivation. Physical motivation is referred to the needs of individuals in work
environment like well-fare facilities (adequate work area, climate, light, etc.).
Those human needs which are associated with behavior of others and manager
in particular and satisfy social needs are referred to as social motivation. The
needs that lead to mental satisfaction are mental motivation.
The term motivation can be used in different ways, but in essence it refers
to any sort of general drive or inclination to do something. Cognition, which
has dominated psychological theory in recent decades, is ultimately just a tool
in service of motivation. That is, the reason evolution selected in favor of
increased powers of thought is that those increased powers enable people to get
what they want and need. If people did not have wants and needs, there would
be little or no reason to think. Human agency or the selfs executive function,
which includes active initiative, choice and self-regulation, is thus probably an
adaptation to facilitate motivated behavior.
Job Satisfaction
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Theories of motivation
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These are biological needs which consist of the need for oxygen, food, water,
and a relatively constant body temperature. They are the strongest needs
because if a person were deprived of all needs, it is these physiological ones that
would come first in the person's search for satisfaction.
2. Safety needs
When all physiological needs are met and are no longer controlling thoughts
and behaviors, the needs for security can become active. While adults have little
awareness of their security needs except in times of emergency or periods of
disorganization in the social structure (such as widespread rioting), children
often display the signs of insecurity and the need to be safe.
3. Needs for love, affection and belongingness
When the needs for safety and for physiological well-being are satisfied, the
next class of needs for love, affection and belongingness can emerge. Maslow
states that people seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and alienation. This
involves both giving and receiving love, affection and the sense of belonging.
4. Needs for esteem
When the first three classes of needs are satisfied, the needs for esteem can
become dominant. These involve needs for both self-esteem and for the esteem
a person gets from others. Humans have a need for a stable, firmly based, high
level of self-respect, and respect from others. When these needs are satisfied,
the person feels self-confident and valuable as a person in the world. When
these needs are frustrated, the person feels inferior, weak, helpless and
worthless.
5. Needs for self-actualization
When all of the foregoing needs are satisfied, then and only then are the needs
for self-actualization activated. Maslow describes self-actualization as a
person's need to be and do that which the person was "born to do." "A musician
must make music, an artist must paint, and a poet must write." These needs
make themselves felt in signs of restlessness. The person feels on edge, tense,
lacking something, in short, restless. If a person is hungry, unsafe, not loved or
accepted, or lacking self-esteem, it is very easy to know what the person
is restless about. However, it is not always clear what a person wants when
there is a need for self-actualization. The aforementioned theory may be applied
to the roles of organizational cultural and human resource management in
improving employees performance despite some criticism or limitations of the
theory.
Process theories (expectancy and goal) change the emphasis from needs to
the goals and processes by which workers are motivated. They attempt to
explain and describe how people start, sustain and direct behavior aimed at the
satisfaction of needs or reduction of inner tension. They place emphasis on the
actual process of motivation.
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Conclusion
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Bibliography
1. A. H. Maslow, A Theory of Human Motivation, 1943;
2. Nadia Ayub, The relationship betweenwork motivation and job
satisfaction, 2011, Department of Business Psychology Karachi;
3. Pamela A. Braden, McClellands Theory of Needs,2000,
Parkersburg University;
4. Fred C. Lunenburg, Expectancy Theory of Motivation: Motivating
by Altering Expectations, 2011, Sam Houston State University.
5. Nancy H. Shanks, Management and motivation, 2009, Jones and
Bartlett Publishers;
6. Weiner B., Graham S., Theories and principles of motivation,
1996, National Science Foundation;
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