Motivation Case

Motivation is defined as a process used to direct, intensify, and provide guidance to stimulate human behavior in an effort to achieve an organization goal (Board, 2014, p. 135). There are several theories that surround the need to motivating employees to do well or exceed at their job. Many organizations put great thought into how they will motivate their employees and what will motivate the different personality types on their teams. Recognition programs are put into place to help employees use those motivations to succeed and move forward with the company.

The Hierarchy of Needs was developed by psychologist Abraham Maslow. It places human needs into five categories ranging from basic survival needs like food and shelter to the need for self-actualization (Joseph, 2014). The hierarchy of needs is shown in the order of psychological needs, safety needs, the need to love and /or belong, self-esteem, and self-actualization. Managers need to know at what level an employee is excelling in order to understand what motivates that employee. One example of determining what will motivate an employee is one who has been with the company for a while and is concerned about their advancement. These employees will normally seek out the tasks that challenge them. On the other hand, take a person who may have been unemployed for an extended period of time and their mind set is that they are collecting a paycheck and are able to pay their bills. The longer they are with the company, the need of survival on the job is gratified and that enables them to advance and want to move up the ladder. The weakness of the theory is that it assumes that all people experience the stated needs in the same order when in reality; these needs can be based on both cultural and individual needs. The advantage of the theory is that managers can better understand the behavior of their employees and how monetary and non-monetary rewards affect their motivation.

The next theory we explore is Vroom's Expectancy theory which states that an individual may have an issue staying motivated on the job, and they will perform at the lowest level and only satisfy the minimum requirements (Board, 2014, p. 138). He believed that an employee's performance is based on different types of personalities, their knowledge and skills, and their experience and abilities. There are people who ask if they are putting forth every effort to succeed at their position, will they be recognized for that effort? The hard work that they put forth may not be recognized in the way that they feel it needs to be seen. If they see others being rewarded for something but they do not see the effort that person has put in, they may not be as motivated to excel. Many organizations reward employees based on their performance but they also reward and recognize those who may do things that are not part of their normal position. The expectancy theory also assumes that people may not agree or like the reward that is bestowed upon them by the organization Managers need to be able to understand that people are individuals and want to rewarded as such and not lumped in with their counterparts. That can be a weakness to the theory, as many companies have rewards that