Motivation in the work place

Analysis of Motivation in the Workplace

Motivation in simple words is a drive , which enables a person in accomplishment of a specified task in a befitting manner . In psychological terms , motivation is the purpose for striving towards a goal . It forces a person to adopt a required behavior that will ultimately guide and lead the person to the goal . This drive which we also call the motivation can be stimulated internally or influenced by some outside factors . The innate drives are mostly biological in nature and are initiated due to some deficiency

. Recent studies have depicted that humans tend to seek sensory stimulation , even without any anticipated goal . Various tools like brain scanning have been developed of late , which can illustrate neurological basis for motivation . In the world of business , motivated workforce helps organizations in achieving their tactical and strategic goals effectively . This essay will scrutinize few important motivational theories while analyzing importance of motivation in the corporate world , identifying reasons for low levels of motivation amongst workforce , and recognizing a need for new models of motivation in today 's changing workforce

Motivation is basically the reason for doing anything . It is the driving force behind all actions of human beings , animals , and even lower organisms . Various theories have evolved over the period of time explaining the process of motivation . There is in fact a jungle of theories of motivation . What ever the approach being adopted to give meanings to the word motivation , it in any case is the art of helping people to focus their minds and energies on doing their work as effectively as possible (Gellerman , 2002 . A critical appraisal of the motivational theories that focuses on the labels people use to identify thoughts , emotions , dispositions , and behaviors , traces its roots to the information processing approach to learning . The cognitive dissonance theory developed by Leon Festinger 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 theory implies that the amount of disequilibrium created in the mind of a person , will force an appropriate behavior to change thought patterns which will further lead to change in behavior . Another cognitive approach is the attribution theory which proposes that every person tries to justify success or failure of self and others by crediting (or discrediting ) it to either internal or external drives

Abraham Maslow is considered to be the leading researcher in the field of behavioral changes . Maslow 's hierarchy of needs stresses on satisfying each lower need before moving to the next higher level . The first three levels comprise of deficiency needs which arise due to some deficiency in the physiological , safety /security , and social /affiliation requirements of a human body . The top two on the Maslow 's hierarchy of needs are the self-esteem and self-actualization . Maslow categorized these as the growth needs ( Abraham Maslow ' 2007 . Then there are `Theory X and Theory Y ' developed by Douglas McGregor at the MIT...