Motivation – A Success Factor in Organization
The desire of every firm is to achieve their goal, since success is tied to performance and performance is also tied to motivation, it becomes imperative for employers of labour to identify these factors that either make an organization to achieve their objective, in other words, it is simply the yield of resources utilized in the production process, from the foregoing, we now ask ourselves how then do we achieve success factors with the availability of human resources? The major weapon is motivation.
WHAT IS MOTIVATION?
The term “motivation” has been used in numerous and most often in contradicting ways. However, there seems to be some consensus that the critical factor that distinguishes motivation from the other, is that it is goal-oriented behaviour. In his contribution, Swift (1967) defined motivation as goals that are sought for an ability to work towards an objective. It is an action that springs up from a result-oriented urge. Every human being has an ambition in life and the drive to work relentlessly towards realizing the objective serves as motivating factor. In Boores contribution (1974) he described “motivation” as whatever occurs in operation of human drives, implied that it is an effective factor which enables an employee to determine the direction of behaviour to an end or desired goal. It used to be thought that a good and successful manager was:
(i) The one who stood above his men and shouted orders on the to obey.
(ii) Men who decided for his men not only know what to do, but how it should be done.
(iii) They must conform, otherwise they would either be disciplined or dismissed out rightly.
(iv) He was the slave-driver and bulldozer.
(v) He needs not consult his men as they had no idea to put forward.
(vi) He know what was good for them and did it since he is the boss, his assumption is that only him can do it better, not knowing that the ability to allow some people take initiative even when it results to mistakes serves as a motivation.
Gibson in his contribution (1973) citing Bindra (1959) believed that the ore of motivating an individual lies in the goal-directed of behaviour. An employee would be much more motivated if he is aware of the task ahead of him and how he would go about achieving the desired result. No matter the amount of motivation given to an employee if he does not know how to execute the task given to him, it is a waste of time and resources.
In his own contribution, Dunnettee (1976) called “motivation” a label for the determination of choice to initiate effort, such choice is to expand certain amount of effort as well as the choice to persist expanding effort over a period of time to achieve a given performance objective.
Durojaiye (1976) explained “Motivation” as a state of organism by which energies are mobilized selectively towards the attainment of a given goal. Brooks in his own view (1975) accepted that it is only a degree of incentives for desires and encouragement which varies from people in particular situations. Ozigi et al (1979) described “motivation” as a technical term that is used to denote a certain kind of movement in individual real life situation.
It is infact what makes an individual take an interest in a particular thing rather than another example that which can make a child sing or dance rather than study his books, Campbell in his perception (1970) considered it as something that ahs to do with a set of independent/dependent variable relationship that explains relation aptitude and persistence on individual behaviour that constantly holds the effort of skills, understanding of task, aptitudes as well as the constraints operating in the environment. Thus, the stimulus response model of behaviour though conceptualizes motivation in terms of relationship between motives and action yet the role of wants and needs determines control of action and thought in (1967).
Robert noted that motivation is an outward or inner manifestation which gives an individual a sense of enjoyment or accomplishment in the performance of a job. This of course brings into focus the extrinsic and intrinsic connotation of motivation. It is explained as happiness which one derives from a job.
Schneda (1935) claimed that it is a state of the mind that springs chiefly from efficiency in attainment of aims or objectives. This is why motivation can make one to be active and then direct the behaviour of one’s organism towards certain marked out goals.
MOTIVATION AND ORGANIZATION PERFORMANCE
In a work place, employee have different arms and aspirations. They mainly work to meet their needs and personal goals, some workers might have the aim of showing appearance in the office and would not like to be usefully engaged, the summary is that some employee if left alone will not contribute to the organizational performance.
MC Gregor’s theory X assumptions about managers behaviour support the ideas that men are lazy with little ambition, also workers inherently dislike work and when possible will avoid it. Therefore, because of workers attitudes to their work, managers need to motivate the workers to achieve organizational performance.
Motivation is one of the management functions in organizational performance, Dubin sees motivation as the complex forces stating and keeping a person at work in an organization.
VARIOUS THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
Various theories have been advanced by scholars to explain motivation and individual behaviour in the organization. There are two popular theories in the area of organizational behaviour that deal with content factors of motivating individuals. They are; Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation and Herzberg’s motivation theory.
ABRAHAM MASLOW THEORY
This theory of motivation stresses two fundamental premises:
- Man is a wanting animal whose needs depends on what he already has. Then, it is only needs not yet fulfilled that can influence behaviour and adequately fulfilled need is not a motivator.
- Man’s needs are arranged in a hierarchy of importance or priorities once one need is fulfilled another emerges and demands fulfillment. Maslow presented five classes of it needs in the order of their dominance. And what is a need? A need is accompanied by a state of drive or tension that results in a behaviour being directed toward a goal that will satisfy the needs and thus reduce the drives or tension. These needs according to Maslow are:
(i) Physiological needs (Biological)
(ii) Safety
(iii) Social (belongingness) needs
(iv) Self actualization
1. PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS
Biological needs
The common factor in the biological need is that they must satisfied if the organization is to survive. To the extent that man is an animal that must satisfy his biological needs which include such innate needs as muscle activities oxygen, food, water, rest and sleep. It is obvious that all men share the need to eliminate waste and avoid bodily damage. These needs arise because man, in common with animals, receives his energy from outsides resources. When the body has exhausted its own internal resources, it develops pressing demands for supplies because of issues and requirements in order that a relatively constant internal environment may be maintained. Whenever the self-regulating apparatus of the body cannot handle a threat of the constant internal environment by adequately dealing with the outside environment, the human organization experiences a stirred up state which is called a survival need. Other writers use biological or body needs for this state. This means that the other needs higher up in the hierarchy cannot be satisfied as long as the physiological needs remain unsatisfied. That a hungry man is an angry man is not an understatement, therefore, for an employee or individual to bring out the best in him, he must be well satisfied.
2. SAFETY NEEDS
When physiological needs have been satisfied safety needs include protection from physical harm, ill-health, economic disaster, danger of the unexpected. At this stage, a person would want job, security, which implies creating an environment devoid of threats or dismissal or termination of appointment and a good. Manager should try to guarantee his employees in this respect for example, people want protection of their lives and properties by the police from armed robbers, many housewives would want security in marriage by embarking on church or court wedding until recently, university graduates preferred the security of job which the civil service provides, the fear of one losing one’s job is even ore pronounced at the lower level where many of the workers are without any marketable skill, the fear of job insecurity can thereby create adverse effects on the performance.
3. SOCIAL (BELONGINGNESS) NEEDS
These are the needs for companionship people want to belong to certain group of people and want to love and be loved by others. This need of motivation sees people as motivated primarily by their social needs. Historically, the initiators of this approach were the Author researchers. This view also forms part of socio technical systems theory as propounded by first and Bomforth (19510 as THEIR STUDY of British Coalminers at work acceptance of this view by managers implies a close attention to peoples social needs with less emphasis on task consideration.
—This article is not complete———–This article is not complete————
This article was extracted from a Project Research Work/Material Topic
“MOTIVATION: A SUCCESS FACTOR IN ORGANIZATION
(A CASE STUDY OF ANAMMCO NIGERIA LIMITED).”
Click Here To get the full Project Research Work/Material
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