Motivation

  Motivation is the creation of stimuli, incentives and working environments that enable people to perform to the best of their ability. The heart of motivation is to give people what they really want most from work. In return managers should expect more in the form of productivity, quality and service

- Chartered Management Institute

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model of motivation proposes that there are five stages or states within the motivational hierarchy that an individual may progress through. The theory suggests that throughout the ‘journey’ the individual will remain motivated to progress until they have reached their set target.

Maslow’s Hierarchy is most often displayed as a triangle with the lower order/more basic conditions being set at the low levels and the higher attained states towards the top.

The first (low order) stage is titled ‘Physiological’ and is the beginning stage where an individuals basic needs will be set. The individual will be motivated towards creating the conditions in order to provide themselves with food and shelter. For instance making money.

The second stage of the hierarchy is titled ‘Safety’.

This stage is about the fundamental well being of the individual. The achievement of job security and situation stability will be key to achievement in this stage.

At the third stage the criteria for success is around social bonds and belonging.

This Social stage of the hierarchy entails the social life of the person at work and considers such things as how contented and motivated they are in the current situation. In a workplace sense this may entail friendship and social ties in the workplace. Involvement and contribution at social work gatherings such as Christmas parties may make a person feel more motivated to do well at work if they feel they are part of the crowd.

The fourth section of the hierarchy is ‘Ego/Esteem’, one of the higher orders of needs. When a person has reached the fourth section of the scale their basic motivation for attending work may not be as prominent as it was during the lower order of needs. Their need for basic survival has abated and they are now focussed on such things as how they feel about themselves and the position they have worked up to in their career. However the motivation to improve still remains within them.

The last remaining section of the hierarchy is ‘Self Actualisation’. It is said when a person achieves the state of self actualisation that they are no longer motivated to move up anymore within the job they have. They have achieved all the goals they set out to and can no longer gain anything from the job in terms of experience or titles. Self actualisation can be gained after receiving a promotion or pay raise or even a bonus or some time off work. Each person’s motivation can differ.

It should also be remembered that Maslow's model is conditional upon the situation or task. It can for instance be possible for an individual to be at various stages on the model concurrently pertaining to the situations ongoing in their life.

During my time working in Lloyds TSB Asset Finance (Work experience) I was given the opportunity to work among the Human Resource Management team. This entailed my participation in tasks and duties and I was given a real sense of what working in HR would be like.

This gave me the motivation to take the next step towards being able to work in HR. Applying to University has always been an exciting prospect for me and being able to have the chance to do a Degree Course which highly interests me was a huge motivational factor.

My motivation for the next three years will be the knowledge that when I finish my exams I will have a Human Resources Management degree and will be able to find a job which will allow me to work in a job that interests me. In addition I will be able to provide for myself and in this way secure the lower level Maslow theory needs that we have been discussing.

Having only commenced my University education a few short weeks ago, I feel that I am currently in the ‘Social’ stage of the hierarchy. After my basic needs were met e.g. feeling secure in my new flat and feeling comfortable with my surroundings I moved up to finding new friends and meeting new people. My motivation is to move onto feeling comfortable within my course and feeling at ease with the work load.

During my time in 6^th form, I felt highly demotivated in respect of the work set for me in class largely as a result of being progressively disinterested in the subjects I was being taught. It felt tedious and boring to me to attend school and I struggled greatly to put much effort in. I felt like this because I wasn’t happy with the situation I was in and wasn’t gaining from the subjects anything I wanted to and therefore I let my motivation drop and I became uninterested.

When reflecting on my lack of motivation I can see how it may apply to some of the theories discussed during our lecture. The ‘Needs Driven Motivation’ model for example allows us to look at two separate ideas of motivating a person when they are at work. The actions of your manager and the actions of the business itself can contribute to your performance. A person's intrinsic needs such as confidence boosting and the thought of achievement can be given to you by your manager. This is the role that teachers in school should have over their students. If they are not encouraging them to achieve then their motivation will be lost, much like mine was during my last two years in school. The Extrinsic needs such as the environment and the conditions of the workplace are left up to the business itself and when comparing this to school life, if the school look miserable and depressing it is harder to become motivated and feel like you can achieve a lot of you’re surrounded by a dull environment.

Aldefer’s ERG theory is about feeling part of a team and having friends. The motivation you gain from feeling part of a team can boost incredibly. This can lead onto growth of a person and developmental potential. 

I realised that I wanted to attend university and study a course I was actually interested in, so I began to apply myself and become motivated and worked hard at the subjects I was studying in school.

Looking back, if I were to do my two years in 6^th form again, I would try to motivate myself more to try harder in lessons and take the most from the subjects as I possibly could.

To conclude, I can see the firm truth in Maslow’s model. I can see how it applies to everyday life and to situations universally. When analysing deeper, we could consider our Stone Age ancestors- Their first needs were survival and food- then community, recognition and only then the higher needs. The model is equally applicable in modern circumstances for the University under graduate like me commencing a programme of study.

A very useful model that I am sure will have many applications in the coming months.


Referencing :


'Motivating Your Staff In A Time Of Change'  Checklist 068, Chartered Management Institute, March 2006.


L.J. Mullins Management & Organisational Behaviour (2010) 9th Edition.


www.lloydstsb.co.uk


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http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_alderfer_erg_theory.html

Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs


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