1userwww.sfsu.edu/~gtarakji/engr801/wordoc/motivation.html
The authors based their research in order to answer the following question:
What actions, precisely, can managers take to satisfy the four drives and, thereby,
increase their employees overall motivation? 2
Drive
Organization level
Acquire
Reward System
Drive
Bond
Organization level
Culture
Employee Motivation A Powerful New Model by Nitin Nohria, Boris Groysberg, and Linda-Eling Lee
http://www.articlesbase.com/human-resources-articles/the-four-drive-theory-in-theworkplace-1650121.html
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Drive
Organization level
Comprehend
Job design
Drive
Defend
Organization level
Performance Management
Employee Motivation A Powerful New Model by Nitin Nohria, Boris Groysberg, and Linda-Eling Lee
http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Motivation#Four-drive_theory
Even if the article refers to the four drivers as independent and equally important in
order to reach motivation, I personally do not agree totally on this statement. In my
personal opinion there is one aspect that I would add to the theory: the weight that
each drive acquires according to personal characteristics of the worker. The drivers are
not equally considered by all the employees: increasing one of the drivers might have
different motivational effects depending on each workers range of values.
Therefor, values and needs make the difference when we take into account singular
workers motivation. My view takes inspiration from the Maslow's hierarchy of needs;
the theory is based on the pyramid of human needs, from the most essential like food
and breathing to the most refined, like morality and problem solving. 7
The experiment:
In order to sustain my theory, I have carried out a simple experiment. I have
addressed 10 workers, motivated by the fulfillment of the four drivers and holding
similar importance into different organizations, but they differ in personal
characteristics like age, social status and needs. I have divided the ten workers into
two groups according to similarities and I have created two average workers profiles
for each group. My hypothesis is that the two groups are mainly motivated by the
fulfillment of different drivers.
Profile A
Profile A, represents a worker that holds a
quite relevant and stable position in an
Average age
56
Sex
Male
Job position
Divisional Manager
Segment
Banking/Industry
Family
Yes
Average age
29
Sex
Male
Job position
Funcional Manager
Segment
IT/Marketing
Family
No
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs
The Question:
List in order of importance, and give percentage weights to the facts that would
motivate you the most in reaching a definite goal:
1. Higher payroll
2. Holding higher and definite role
3. Work in a friendly environment
4. Work in a transparent and fair environment
The Results:
Profile A
20%
34%
Higher Payroll
Holding higher and definite role
Work in a friendly environment
Work in a transparent and fair anvironment
22%
24%
Profile B
12%
30%
23%
Higher payroll
Holding higher and definite role
Work in a friendly environment
Work in a transparent and fair environment
35%
From the experiment I worked out, we can see that there is some sort of correlation
between motivation and worker personal characteristics.
Therefor the fulfillment on the four drivers in order to reach motivation within an
organization is for sure a valid theory, but in my opinion it can be integrated with
some more in detail studies.
It is noticeable that for workers belonging to profile B, working in a friendly
environment is much more important than for workers of profile A, an explanation
could be that a younger worker who has just moved to a new place, wants to find a
group of welcoming colleagues in his working environment. As a consequence,
stimulating the drive to bond in profile B would strongly increase his motivation.
Another significant comparison could be done taking into account the salary. For
workers of profile A a higher payroll is not the most important motivational factor, but
it is doubtlessly more relevant than for workers belonging to profile B. The most
outstanding reason stays in the higher costs that the family-worker has to face.
In fact profile A groups the 5 workers that have a family and have to face high costs
like schooling, vacations and bills.
Anyway we could also try to explain why both groups of workers feel less motivated
by financial rewards.
A plausible motive could be found in the Herzbergs Two-factors theory. 9 The theory
points out that individuals are not content with the satisfaction of lower-order needs
at work, i.e those associated with salary incentives or safe and pleasant working
conditions. Rather, individuals look for the satisfaction with achievement, recognition,
responsibility and job relevance and interest. 10
10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-factor_theory
8
4.Conclusion
Human resource management can be considered not only as an economic science, but
also as a phycological one, in fact it takes root from the study of human behaviours,
needs and values. The four-driver theory provides the necessary steps to link
phycology to economics and finally to the decision making process in order to increase
motivation. There are two other important theories that help the understanding of the
relationship between phycology and employee motivation:
Herzbergs two-factor theory
11
12
One theory does not exclude the other, instead they all contribute in finding strong
and effective ways to motivate employees through managing performance
management, job design, salary, rewards, relationships,fairness, etc.etc... from a
phycological point of view.
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image:http://www.intellegohealth.co.uk/upload/content/154-motivator_hygiene.jpg
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image:http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/teaching/whatareneeds.html
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