WHAT IS MOTIVATION

 Contemporary Theories of Motivation: Motivation is a process that account for an individual’s intensity, direction and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal. It is generally divided into Traditional and Contemporary Theories.  Traditional motivation theories were that of Maslow’s, Theory X and Theory Y, Herzberg’s two factor theory. But the Contemporary motivation theories can be summed up as follows:

1.      ERG Theory:  To bring Maslow’s need hierarchy theory of motivation in synchronization with empirical research, Clayton Alderfer redefined it in his own terms. His rework is called as ERG theory of motivation. The ERG Theory of Clayton P. Alderfer is a model that appeared in 1969 in a Psychological Review article entitled “An Empirical Test of a New Theory of Human Need”. Alderfer classifies needs into three categories. They are:

i.        The existence category: It provides our basic material existence requirements such as food, clothing and shelter.

ii.      Relatedness category that provides relationship and social status. It is relating to a person’s interpersonal needs.

iii.    Growth category: It refers to personal development.

2.      McClelland’s Theory of Needs: This Theory mainly focuses on three needs such as (i) Achievement (ii) Power and (iii) Affiliation. To this Theory, all people have all these needs, but the predominant need drives them. They can be summed up as follows:

A.    Need for Achievement: The predominant factor in this need derive satisfaction from reaching goals. People with a high need for achievement seek to excel and thus tend to avoid both low-risk and high-risk situations.

B.     Need for Power:   A person’s need for power can be one of two types such as personal and institutional. Those who need personal power want to direct others. The persons who need institutional powers want to organize the efforts of others.

C.     Need for Affiliation: Those with a high need for affiliation need harmonious relationships with other people and need to feel accepted by other people. They perform well in customer service and client interaction situation.

3.      Cognitive Evolution Theory: It deals with internal or external, called intrinsic or extrinsic, motivation as related to the level of competence that people feel. Some people do not get motivated by extrinsic rewards.

4.       Goal Setting Theory: This theory proposes that challenging goals produce a higher level of output. It is kinked to task performance.

5.       Reinforcement Theory: It was proposed by BK Skinner. It states that individual’s behavior is a function of its consequences.

6.       Equity Theory: According to this theory developed by Adams, employees make comparisons of their job inputs and outcomes relieve to those of others.

7.       Expectancy Theory: To this theory of Victor Vroom, people believe that they will be rewarded for their work and for that they should have an expectation, and their actions are based on their expectations.

 Motivational Language Theory: To Sullivan, it is language that motivates people through talks, explanations and instructions