Ways in Which Employees Express Motivation
Motivation is a process that introduces, directs, and maintains behaviors that are geared towards achieving set objectives. Motivation may be described as the reason as to why an individual does a certain activity (Mikkelsen, Jacobsen & Andersen, 2017). Employee motivation is among the major workplace concepts that managers should strive to achieve and maintain because employees have the potential to either make an organization succeed or fail. One way through which employees can express motivation is by supporting each other. In a work environment that allows for high motivation, the staff is likely to build a culture of supporting fellow staff in a joint effort of ensuring that they are working towards making their organization successful. Employees develop trust with each other. Another way through which employees express motivation is by minimizing absenteeism and cases of conflict in the workplace. Highly-motivated employees always report to work in time, and some may even decide to remain in their working places in late nights to complete projects. Since the employees are working together and they trust their fellows, chances of conflict are minimized.
Additionally, employees may express their motivation by making some recommendations on how to improve their organizations. Highly-motivated employees work towards excellence, and they want to be in a conducive environment, an environment that supports creativity and innovation. De Vito et al. (2018), states that the employees are likely to recommend to the management some ways of improving the organization like the use of modern technology and diversification strategies. Besides, highly motivated employees have personal drives. Such employees do not wait to be told to do certain things. Rather they make it a personal initiative to ensure that anything within their limits is progressing in the right direction. Managements of companies need to ensure that their staff is motivated to be guaranteed better results.
Application of Hull’s Theory
I chose Hull’s theory. Clark Hull developed his theory basing on the concept of homeostasis, and he argued that the human body progressively works towards maintaining a state of equilibrium (Walker, 2017). Hull argued that human being is faced with a state of tension, and this he referred to as drive. To minimize tension levels, living organisms identify ways to satisfy their biological needs. For instance, people take food when they are hungry. I once worked in an organization where the employees kept on striking due to salary issues. The employees were advocating for a salary increase. A salary increase is a secondary drive that can be reduced by the organization planning on a gradual increase in the employee’s salaries. In another organization, employees kept on complaining about the poor working environment like lack of protection and discrimination, and this was a secondary drive that could have been addressed through the secondary reinforcers of providing workers with handling equipment and respecting each employee.
Theoretical Models of Motivation
One of the theoretical models of motivation include Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which was developed by Abraham Maslow, and the model has been relevant in apprehending human motivation. According to Fallatah & Syed (2018), Maslow stated that there was an order for need satisfaction and grouped human needs as biological and physiological needs like food, safety needs like protection, social like affection, esteem needs like an achievement, and self-actualization needs like personal fulfillment. Every individual is motivated by needs, and human beings must start with the most basic, that is, the biological and physical needs to the least basic, self-actualization. Individuals can get out of their comfort zone to ensure that they satisfy their needs like food, protection. After an individual has satisfied one level of need, they are motivated to satisfy a higher level need. For instance, once an individual satisfies the needs, they become motivated to satisfy an esteem need of making a personal achievement.
Another model of motivation is Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, which was developed by Frederick Herzberg. The theory is based on a two-factor model; motivators and hygiene (Alshmemri, Shahwan-Akl & Maude, 2017). Motivators are the job feelings that result in satisfaction at the workplace, and they include promotion, training, and achievement, whereas hygiene is the factors that cause a lack of motivation, and they include insecurity, salary cuts, and supervision. The hygiene factors affect a person’s satisfaction because they feel that the organization is not respecting and recognizing them. The motivators like promotion increase motivation, and the individual has a high drive of working towards a higher position. McGregor’s participation theory is also among the motivation theories. Oluwakayode, Clinton, Stanley & Subi (2017), states that McGregor developed two concepts in his theory; theory X that represents negatives and theory Y that represents positives. In theory X, people are not ambitious and do not work towards achieving organizational goals, and this may hinder personal satisfaction because they are not likely to achieve more in life. In theory Y, people are ambitions and work towards achievement, and they are thus motivated.
References
Mikkelsen, M. F., Jacobsen, C. B., & Andersen, L. B. (2017). Managing employee motivation: Exploring the connections between managers’ enforcement actions, employee perceptions, and employee intrinsic motivation. International Public Management Journal, 20(2), 183-205.
De Vito, L., Brown, A., Bannister, B., Cianci, M., & Mujtaba, B. G. (2018). Employee motivation based on the hierarchy of needs, expectancy, and the two-factor theories applied with higher education employees. IJAMEE.
Walker, S. (2017). Learning theory and behavior modification. Routledge.
Fallatah, R. H. M., & Syed, J. (2018). A Critical Review of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Employee Motivation in Saudi Arabia (pp. 19-59). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Alshmemri, M., Shahwan-Akl, L., & Maude, P. (2017). Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Life Science Journal, 14(5), 12-16.
Oluwakayode, O., Clinton, E., Stanley, A., & Subi, J. (2017). A REVIEW AND APPLICATION OF MCGREGOR’S THEORY X & THEORY Y IN BUSINESS RESEARCH. Theme: “Entrepreneurship and the Knowledge Economy,” 245.