Persuasive Essay

Running Head : PERSUASIVE ESSAY

Motivation - Is it the Property of the person or

the Inherent Nature of the Job

Name of the Author

Abstract

Motivation can be defined in terms of some outward behavior . People who are motivated exert a greater effort to perform some task than those who are not motivated (Frohman , 1996 . A more descriptive definition of motivation would be the willingness to do something , where this something is conditioned by its ability to satisfy some need the individual (Vroom , 1964 . For instance , consider the amount of effort

br (willingness ) a student puts into a class he takes on a pass /fail basis Human nature tells us that the student exerts only enough effort to meet the minimum requirements necessary to pass . That effort is typically less than if the student attempted to get an A in the class . So , an individual 's level of effort should be considerably higher when the need is to earn an A , in contrast to merely passing . An individual need reflects some internal state that makes certain outcomes appear attractive . Although individual needs can be satisfied without the achievement of organizational goals (by , for example , winning a 5 million lottery , our purpose here is to focus only on those needs satisfied through work effort in an organization . The process of motivation begins with an unsatisfied need . Unsatisfied needs are anything that we desire , of which we are deprived . Whenever we are in a state of deprivation , having unsatisfied needs , result in tension Tension , as we 've come to know it , has a negative connotation . But some tension is absolutely necessary . Rather than group all forms of tension into one term , tension can be recognized both in the positive and negative forms - functional and dysfunctional tension . For motivation to occur , an individual must have functional tension . This essay tries to explore if motivation is the property of the person or the inherent nature of the job

Literature Review

Given that individuals are experiencing some unsatisfied needs and have the desire to change that , the functional tension they have will cause them to exhibit a particular behavior-in the model , called effort Effort is the outward action of individuals that focuses on a particular goal . These actions are performed so that the required goals can be achieved . If the efforts are successful in achieving our goal , then the needs remain satisfied . Satisfied needs reduce or eliminate the deprivation initially experienced by the individual . Therefore motivated employees are in a state of tension . To relieve this tension they engage in organizational activities . The greater the tension , the greater will be the drive to bring about relief . The problem , however is that this is a fragile process , one that requires the blending of many pieces of the puzzle ' If any of these linkages are missing , the willingness to exert energy will decrease

The best-known theory of motivation was proposed by Abraham Maslow (1954 . He hypothesized that within every human being there exists a hierarchy of five needs . These needs are , 1 ) Physiological : includes hunger , thirst , shelter , sex , and other bodily needs 2 ) Safety includes security and protection from physical and emotional harm 3 Love : includes affection , belongingness , acceptance , and friendship 4 Esteem : includes internal esteem factors such as self-respect , autonomy and achievement and external esteem factors such as status recognition , and attention 5 ) Self-actualization : the drive to become what one is capable of becoming includes growth , achieving one 's potential , and self-fulfillment . As each of these needs becomes substantially satisfied , the next need becomes dominant . From the standpoint of motivation , the theory would say that although no need is ever fully gratified , a substantially satisfied need no longer motivates . Maslow separated the five needs into higher and lower levels Physiological and safety needs were described as lower- needs , and love , esteem and self-actualization as higher- needs . The differentiation between the two s was made on the premise that higher- needs are satisfied internally , whereas lower- needs are predominantly satisfied externally (by such things as money , wages union contracts , tenure , and pleasant working conditions . In fact , the natural conclusion to be drawn from Maslow 's classification is that in terms of economic plenty , which has generally described the North American society since the mid-1940s , almost all permanently employed workers have had their lower- needs substantially met . But as the times changed , a renewed emphasis was revealed . As people become unemployed and their unemployment benefits ceased , their attention turned toward survival , a lower- need . Therefore , according to Maslow , when a lower-level need is unsatisfied , we revert to that level Maslow 's hierarchy of needs theory has received wide recognition particularly among practicing managers . This can be attributed largely to the theory 's intuitive logic and ease of understanding Unfortunately , research does not generally validate the theory . Maslow provided no empirical substantiation , and several studies that sought to validate the theory found no support (Lawler Suttle , 1972 Hall Nongaim , 1968

Motivation Theory Today

Although the early motivation theories offer insights into motivation no single one offers a valid explanation for why some people exert a high level of effort on their job while others do not . What is needed is an integrative theory-one that recognizes the importance of needs and their satisfaction but also considers the contingency aspects relevant to particular people in particular situations . Such a theory has been formulated and , though it has not been immune from attack (Heneman III Schwab , 1972 Reinharth Wahba , 1975 , it is currently the clearest and most valid explanation we have of individual motivation . This has reference to expectancy theory (Vroom , 1964 . Let us assume that Jill Jones , an employee of an organization desires to buy a new home Successful job performance should then ideally lead her toward that goal . If Jones perceives that her efforts will result in successful job performance , which , if rewarded by a significant pay raise , can satisfy her desire for a new home , we can expect her to be highly motivated . The key to the expectancy model therefore is the understanding of an individual 's goals , and the linkage between effort and performance between performance and rewards , and , finally , between rewards and individual-goal satisfaction . The expectancy theory is a contingency model . It recognizes that there is no universal method for motivating people . Because we understand what needs an employee seeks to satisfy does not ensure that the employee herself perceives high job performance as necessarily leading to the satisfaction of these needs . If Beth Brown desires greater group acceptance , it is possible that more money , or even higher work performance , will not be important . More money cannot necessarily satisfy her social needs , and if the group norm reinforces low or moderate productivity , high productivity could be very detrimental to Brown 's attaining greater group acceptance

To conclude , assessing personality types of both the employee and the job is becoming increasingly popular in today 's organizations . With more focus being placed on making the environment at the work site more conducive to productive work , placing individuals in jobs that match their make up and fulfilling the basic premise of tailoring rewards to each individual will inevitably produce a motivated employee . Even though this process seems logical and is becoming popular we do not find that this or other motivational processes are being properly implemented . If organizations were widely practicing the theories of Maslow (1954 , McGregor (1960 , Herzberg (1966 , and McClelland (1961 we should expect to see extensive implementation of participative decision making , creation of autonomous and challenging jobs , and workers with greater responsibility in planning and controlling their work . Generally speaking , this is not the case . Managers still rely heavily on money as a motivator . Similarly , personnel departments tend to emphasize wages , hours and working conditions - all hygiene factors Thus we could conclude that though motivation outwardly seems to be like the property of the person , yet it is triggered off by the nature of the job too . For a job to be successful the person has to be motivated internally and simultaneously , the job has to offer motivators that would satisfy the needs of the person . For example , if a person 's needs are beyond achievement , and he feels dissatisfied and does not want to work , then no manager can motivate him with any kind of rewards . To be precise , a person working as a daily wager may have needs to achieve a company accommodation and he might feel dissatisfied without that Under such circumstances , he has to work hard and achieve this . No reward could make him satisfied . Thus both the person and the job have equal share in producing the motivation . Motivation is the property of the person as well as the inherent nature of the job

References

Hall , Douglas T Nongaim , Khalil E . 1968 . An Examination of Maslow 's Need Hierarchy in an Organizational Setting ' Organizational Behavior and Human Performance , pp .12-35

Frohman , Mark A . 1996 . Unleash

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Heneman III , Herbert G Schwab , Donald

. 1972 . Evaluation of Research on Expectancy Theory Prediction of Employee Performance Psychological Bulletin , July , pp .1-9

Herzberg , Frederick . 1966 . Work and the Nature of Man , New York : World Publishing

Lawler , Edward E Suttle , Lloyd J . 1972 . A Casual Correlation Test of the Need Hierarchy Concept , Organizational Behavior and Human Performance , pp .265-87

Maslow , Abraham . 1954 . Motivation and Personality , New York : Harper and Row

McClelland , David C . 1961 . The Achieving Society , New York : Van Nostrand Reinhold

McGregor , Douglas . 1960 . The Human Side of Enterprise , New York : McGraw Hill

Reinharth , Leon Wahba , Mahmoud A . 1975 . Expectancy Theory as a Predictor of Work Motivation , Effort Expenditure , and Job Performance Academy of Management Journal , September , pp .520-37

Vroom , Victor H . 1964 . Work and Motivation , New York : John Wiley

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