Understanding Motivation
The concept of motivation can be explained as a process of behavioural and cognitive approach which induces an employee’s inclination to accomplish his individual and overall organisational goals (Håvold and Håvold, 2019). As a means of encouraging people to take action and achieve organisational objectives, motivation is regarded as a key element of workplace behaviours (Ololube et al., 2013). The inputs that would create, direct, and support a person's behavioural attitude towards the desired result are referred to as "motivation" (Pinder, 1998).
The Psychological Core of Motivation
Motivation is a psychological component that demonstrates the rationale behind a person's attitude towards incentives, according to Nahavandi et al. (2013). According to Timm and Peterson (2000), motivation comes from a person’s needs, demands, desires and yearnings. Buford et al. (1995) define motivation as a predilection to act in a more resolute way to satisfy unmet wants. An employee's passion and desire to work towards achieving both personal and organisational goals is referred to as employee motivation (Robbins and Coulter, 1996).
Combining extrinsic and intrinsic elements that influence work behaviours and regulate their duration and direction is known as work motivation (Rusu and Avasilcai, 2014). The psychological process that gives behaviour direction and purpose (Kreitner, 1995); a propensity to act in a purposeful way to fulfil particular unmet needs (Buford, Bedeian, & Lindner, 1995); an internal drive to fulfil an unmet need (Higgins, 1994); and the will to achieve (Bedeian, 1993) are some definitions of motivation.
According to Islam and Ismail (2008), employee motivation is the amount of zeal, vigour, dedication, and inventiveness that a worker contributes to the company. According to Pinder (2008), "work motivation is a collection of energetic forces that come from both inside and outside of a person's body and that are used to start work-related behaviour and to decide its form, direction, intensity, and duration."
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation: Striking the Right Balance
As per Bedeian (1993), motivation is what propels people to succeed. Both extrinsic (external) and intrinsic (internal) variables can inspire employees. Alshamemri (2017).
Early research revealed that intrinsic motivation for an activity decreased if a person indulged in it freely (out of interest) and then received an external incentive for doing so, such as cash (Deci 1971) or points (Lepper et al. 1973). Despite the controversy surrounding these early findings, which questioned operant theories of behavioural reinforcement, a later meta-analysis confirmed that extrinsic rewards do, in fact, reduce intrinsic motivation for an activity when they are tangible and expected (Deci et al. 1999). Reward contingencies are what control extrinsic motivation. 1999; Deci et al.
The below video (Video 02) describes how to motivate employees in an organisation and the two ways of motivating employees with examples.
• Alshmemri, M, Shahwan-Akl. L and Maude. P (2017). Hersberg’s Two Factor Theory. Life Science Journal 2017;14 (5). pp:12-16.
• Bedeian, A. G. (1993). Management (3rd ed.). New York: Dryden Press.
• Buford, J. A., Jr., Bedeian, A. G., & Lindner, J. R. (1995). Management in Extension (3rd ed.). Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University Extension.
• Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychologi-cal Bulletin, 125(6), 627.
• Deci, E. L. (1971). Effects of externally mediated rewardson intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality andSocial Psychology, 18, 105–115.
• Håvold, J. and Håvold, O. (2019) ‘Power, trust and motivation in hospitals’, Leadership in Health Services, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp.195–211.
• Higgins, J. M. (1994). The management challenge (2nd ed.). New York: Macmillan.
• Islam, R and Ismail, A. Z. H “Employee Motivation: A Malaysian Perspective,” International Journal of Commerce & Management, Vol. 18, No. 4, 2008, pp. 344-362.
• Kreitner, R. (1995). Management (6th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
• Lepper, M. R., Greene, D., & Nisbett, R. E. (1973). Undermining children’s intrinsic interest with extrinsicreward: A test of the “overjustification”hypothesis.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 28(1),129–137.
• Nahavandi, A., Denhardt, R.B., Denhardt, J.V. and Aristigueta, M.P. (2013) Organizational Behaviour, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, California.
• Ololube, N.P., Nwokolo, J.O., Onyekwere, L.A. and Kpolovie, P.J. (2013) ‘Fringe benefits and employee motivation in selected banks in Delta State of Nigeria’, African Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp.27–51.
• Pinder, G. (1998) Work Motivation in Organizational Behaviour, Prentice-Hall, London.
• Robbins, S.P. and Coulter, M. (1996) Management, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
• Rusu, G. and Avasilcai, S. (2014) ‘Linking human resources motivation to organizational climate’, Procedia-Social and Behavioural Sciences, Vol. 124, No. 1, pp.51–58.
• Timm, P.R. and Peterson, B.D. (2000) People At Work: Human Behaviour in Organizations, South-Western College Publication, Cincinnati, USA.
