Section 5
Key Topics
Briefing: Motivation Theories
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Define the term motivation:
 Psychological forces that prompt an individual to act in a certain way
 The process of getting employees to strive to achieve management’s
objectives because they want to achieve them
Define the term needs and explain the impact of needs on motivation.
 Needs:
o Things that a person lacks and feels compelled to attain
o Desires that a person feels compelled to satisfy
 Motivation is “the result of the interaction of a person’s needs, his or her
ability to make choices about how to meet those needs, and the
environment created by management that allows these needs to be met
and the choices to be made” (CliffsNotes.com, Defining motivation)
Distinguish between primary and secondary needs.
 Primary needs: Desires for things that the body cannot live without
o Desires that are biologically necessary for survival
o Examples: Air, food, water
 Secondary needs: Desires for things that the body can live without
o Learned desires
o Examples: Power, achievement, acceptance
Explain why supervisors focus on employees’ secondary needs.
 After employees’ primary needs are met, their actions at work are driven
primarily by secondary needs such as financial security, respect and
recognition by others, achievement, and the need to interact with others. If
supervisors create an environment in which employees can satisfy these
needs, employees are much more likely to be motivated to work hard at
their jobs and to achieve organizational goals.
Discuss Maslow’s hierarchy of needs motivational theory and its
implications for supervisors.
 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory proposes that individuals are
motivated by multiple unsatisfied needs that can be arranged in five levels:
physiological, safety/security, social, esteem/status, and self-fulfillment.
 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory is based on two principles:
o Deficit principle:
 Individuals act to satisfy unattained needs.
 Satisfied needs do not motivate an individual’s behavior.
o Progression principle:
 The five levels of needs are hierarchical.
 To satisfy a higher level need, needs at all lower levels
must be attained.
 Maslow’s five levels of needs, listed from lowest level to highest level, are:
o Physiological needs
 Required for human survival
 Examples: Food, sleep, water
 To satisfy employees’ physiological needs, supervisors
should provide reasonable work hours, rest breaks,
comfortable work environment, etc.
o Safety/security needs
 Related to an individual’s desire for predictability and
orderliness (versus injustice and chaos) in life
Section 5
Briefing: Motivation Theories
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
o
o
o
Examples: Job security, personal security, financial
security
 To satisfy employees’ safety/security needs, supervisors
should provide safe working conditions, reasonable
compensation, benefits, etc.
Social needs
 Related to an individual’s desire for emotionally-based
relationships
 Examples: Friendship, love, family
 To satisfy employees’ social needs, supervisors should
provide friendly coworkers, interaction with customers, etc.
Esteem/status needs
 Related to an individual’s need to be respected and
accepted
 Examples: Respect by others, recognition, self-respect,
confidence
 To satisfy employees’ esteem/status needs, supervisors
should provide promotions, praise and recognition,
important responsibilities, etc.
Self-fulfillment needs
 Focused on reaching one’s full potential
 Example: Self-actualization
 To satisfy employees’ self-fulfillment needs, supervisors
should provide creative and challenging work.
Describe Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation.
 Based on two sets of factors that affect employee motivation:
o Hygiene factors
 Focus on avoiding pain, discomfort, and unrest in the
workplace
 Include job security, compensation, working environment,
supervision, etc.
 Do not directly motivate employees
 Can cause employee dissatisfaction if missing
o
Satisfiers or motivators
 Prompt a person to take some kind of action
 Include achievement, recognition, responsibility, growth,
etc.
 Are essential for motivation and job satisfaction
Explain how supervisors can use Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation.
 To increase employee motivation, managers should provide necessary
hygiene factors and then build satisfiers/motivators into employees’ jobs.
Describe Alderfer’s ERG (Existence, Relatedness, Growth) theory of
motivation.
 Suggests that needs can be divided into three categories:
o Existence needs
 Desires for “physiological and material well-being”
(CliffsNotes.com, Motivation theories: Individual needs)
 Similar to Maslow’s physiological and safety/security
needs
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Briefing: Motivation Theories
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o


Relatedness needs
 Desires for relationships with others
 Similar to Maslow’s social needs
o Growth needs
 Desires that compel persons to make creative or
productive efforts for themselves
 Similar to Maslow’s esteem/status and self-fulfillment
needs
Proposes that “unsatisfied needs motivate behavior, and . . . as lower-level
needs are satisfied, they become less important. Higher-level needs,
though, become more important as they are satisfied . . .”
(CliffsNotes.com, Motivation theories: Individual needs)
Incorporates the frustration-regression principle:
o When an individual’s higher-level needs are not met, that person
may revert back to focusing on more easily satisfied lower-level
needs.
o For example, if an employee is not challenged enough mentally by
his/her work responsibilities (i.e., her/his growth needs are not
satisfied), s/he may fall back on relatedness and existence needs
(e.g., socializing with coworkers).
Explain the implications for supervisors of the ERG theory of motivation.
 To encourage employee motivation, managers should provide
opportunities for employees to satisfy their higher-level needs.
Discuss McClelland’s acquired needs theory of motivation.
 Identifies three types of socially acquired needs which underlie behavior:
o Need for achievement
 Desire to do something better and more efficiently than it
has been done before
 Desire to excel
o Need for power
 Desire to have impact, to be influential, or to control others
o Need for affiliation
 Desire to be with people regardless of whether anything
else is gained
 Desire to avoid conflict
Explain how supervisors can use McClelland’s acquired needs theory of
motivation.
 To motivate high achievers, supervisors should give them personal
responsibility for projects and tasks, frequent feedback, and goals that
involve a moderate amount of risk.
 To motivate power-hungry employees, supervisors should place them in
competitive situations and give them the opportunity to influence others.
 To motivate employees with the need for affiliation, supervisors should
place them in cooperative (rather than competitive) situations and give
them the opportunity to form working relationships with others.
Discuss the equity theory of motivation.
 The equity theory suggests that people compare potential rewards to the
effort that they must put forth to earn the rewards.
Section 5
Briefing: Motivation Theories
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If employees perceive that the potential rewards are appropriate for the
effort required, then they will be motivated to put forth the effort to receive
the rewards.
If employees perceive that the potential rewards are not appropriate for the
work required, they may become unmotivated and dissatisfied with their
jobs.
Describe how supervisors can use the equity theory of motivation.
 Supervisors should:
o Anticipate employee reaction to rewards so that perceived
inequities (i.e., rewards that do not equal required effort) can be
minimized
o Offer rewards that will be perceived as being appropriate to the
effort required
o Explain potential rewards to employees and detail the effort
required to earn the rewards
Discuss the expectancy theory of motivation and how supervisors can use it.
 The expectancy theory states that motivation is the result of the outcomes
an individual desires and his/her estimate of the prospect of attaining
those desired outcomes.
 Employee motivation is highest when employees believe that:
o Their effort will lead to positive work evaluations
o Positive work evaluations will lead to rewards
o These rewards will help employees to satisfy their needs and
goals
 To increase employee motivation, supervisors should:
o Let employees know that their efforts are appreciated and
worthwhile
o Communicate expectations for work performance
o Select rewards that are appropriate for effort required
o Offer rewards that employees consider to be desirable
Discuss the reinforcement theory of motivation.
 The reinforcement theory:
o Focuses on the individual’s environment and its consequences for
the person
o Assumes behavior is learned from the environment rather than
from one’s inner needs
Explain how supervisors can use the reinforcement theory to motivate
employees.
 Supervisors can motivate employees and modify employee behavior using
one of the following four techniques:
o Positive reinforcement: Giving something pleasant (e.g., pay
raise, promotion, bonus, etc.) to encourage a desired response or
behavior
o Avoidance: Showing employees the consequences of
inappropriate behavior
o Extinction: Withholding reinforcement in order to change
employee behavior
 Should be used only when the behavior is not serious
Section 5
Briefing: Motivation Theories
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o Punishment: Applying negative consequences (e.g., threats,

suspension, etc.) to eliminate undesirable behavior
Supervisors should:
o Tell employees both what they are doing right and what they are
doing wrong
o Explain in detail how employees can earn positive reinforcement
o Deliver positive reinforcement as soon as possible after have
employees have earned it
o Understand that failing to provide positive reinforcement to those
employees who have earned it may cause the employees’
motivation to decrease
Describe the implications for supervisors of the goal setting theory of
motivation.
 The goal-setting theory is based on the belief that employee motivation
increases when employees work toward specific goals.
 In order for goals to motivate employees, the employees must:
o Be committed to the goals
o Believe that they are capable of reaching the goals
 In order for goals to motivate employees, supervisors should:
o Involve employees in the goal-setting process
o Explain what must be done to reach the goals
o Provide feedback to employees on their progress toward goals