Motivation AND Organizational Behaviour PDF

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BABCOCK UNIVERSITY ILISAN REMO OGUN STATE AN ASSIGNMENT IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE COURSE ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR (BSAD 841) TOPIC MOTIVATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE PREPARED BY NNOROM GOODLUCK KELECHI 07/0403 AND QUADRI TEMITAYO PG/13/0072 SUBMITTED TO DR. JOHN OBAMIRO OCTOBER 2013

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INTRODUCTION

Over time, organizations have been looking for ways and strategies for improving performance. This includes a thorough study and analysis of both human and material resources in the organization. In looking at the human resources, there is needed to look at the behavioral patterns of employees at work. This will help an organization to be able to manage its human resources effectively. One of the elements to look at in the analysis of employee behaviour is motivation. Motivation is a key element in organizational behavior because employee needs to be motivated in order to exhibit an attitude or behavior that will help achieve the goals and objectives of the organization and thereby improve performance over time. This paper will attempt to examine motivation, its definition, theories and how it improves employee performance as a determinant for achieving organizational performance. 1.1

MOTIVATION DEFINED

Motivation is a psychological feature that arouses an organism to act towards a desired goal and elicits, controls, and sustains certain goal-directed behaviors. It can be considered a driving force; a psychological one that compels or reinforces an action toward a desired goal. For example, hunger is a motivation that elicits a desire to eat. Motivation is the purpose or psychological cause of an action (Schater 2011 as cited in Wikipedia). This is the process by which a person wants and chooses to act in a particular way (Maund, 2001:440) as cited in (Opu, 2008 pp. 32). According to (Slocum and Hellriegel 2007), motivation represents the forces acting on or within a person that cause the person to behave in a specific, goal-directed manner. From the above definition, we could infer that because motives of employees affect their productivity, one of management’s jobs is to channel employee motivation effectively toward achieving organizational goal. Charles (2000, 427) defined motivation as psychological forces that determine the direction of a person’s behavior, a person’s level of effort, and a person’s level of persistence in the face of

obstacles. David (1996: 297) defines motivation as a need or desire that serves to energize behavior and to direct it towards a goal. Frederick (1993:132) defines it as what drives or induces a person to behave in a particular fashion, the internal forces which initiates, directs, sustains and terminates all important activities. It influences the level of performance, the efficiency achieved and the time spent on an activity. As all cited in (Emily, 2011), Motivation refers to “the reasons underlying behavior” (Guay, 2010, p. 712). Paraphrasing (Gredler, Broussard and Garrison, 2004) broadly define motivation as “the attribute that moves us to do or not to do something” (p. 106). Researchers often contrast intrinsic motivation with extrinsic motivation, which is motivation governed by reinforcement contingencies. Traditionally, educators consider intrinsic motivation to be more desirable and to result in better learning outcomes than extrinsic motivation (Deci, 1999). Many modern-day authors have also defined the concept of motivation. As all cited in the work of James (1998:2), Motivation has been defined as: the psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction (Kreitner, 1995); a predisposition to behave in a purposive manner to achieve specific, unmet needs (Buford, Bedeian, & Lindner, 1995); an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need (Higgins, 1994); and the will to achieve (Bedeian, 1993). For this paper, motivation is operationally defined as the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational goals. As we can conceive from the above definitions, they all refer to or talk about a stimuli that trigger or spur the motivational process.

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SOURCES OF MOTIVATION

Different sources of motivation exist and this can have either positive or negative results on a person. Various researches as have been conducted show that internal motivations are preferred in making a person to work towards the achievement of goals. However, external motivations still contribute to drive a person towards the achievement of organizational goals. Therefore we look at two sources of motivation below: 

Intrinsic motivation

According to (Carol, 2013) intrinsic motivation refers to the pleasure one gets from the task itself or from the sense of satisfaction in completing or even working on a task. Intrinsic motivation does not mean, however that a person will not seek to rewards; it is just that external rewards are not enough to keep such a person motivated. (Paul & Dale, 2013) defined intrinsic motivation as motivation to engage in an activity for its own sake. People who are intrinsically motivated work on task because they find them enjoyable. (Johnmarshall, 2013) has that intrinsic motivation is the innate propensity to engage one’s interests and exercise one’s capacities, and in doing so, to seek out and master optimal challenges. Intrinsic motivation is motivation that is animated by personal enjoyment, interest, or pleasure. As (Deci et al. 1999) observe, “intrinsic motivation energizes and sustains activities through the spontaneous satisfactions inherent in effective volitional action. It is manifest in behaviors such as play, exploration, and challenge seeking that people often do for external rewards” (p. 658).

According to (James 1998), intrinsic motivation is choosing to do an activity for no compelling reasons, beyond the satisfaction derived from the activity itself- it’s what motivates us to do something when we don’t have to do anything. Furthermore in the work of (Deci and Richard 1985), intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that source comes from inside an individual rather than from any external or outside rewards or punishments. The motivation comes from the pleasure one can get from the task itself, completing the task or just working on a task. However, it doesn’t mean that one will not seek for a reward. Terry (2013) defines intrinsic motivation as motivation that stems directly from the act itself, rather than something beyond it. Intrinsic rewards: tend to give personal satisfaction to individual

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Information / feedback

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Recognition

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Trust

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Relationship

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Empowerment

Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation is related to tangible rewards such as salary and fringe benefits, security, promotion, contract of service, the work environment and conditions of work. Extrinsic motivation is related to tangible rewards such as salary and fringe benefits, security, promotion, contract service, the work environment and conditions of work.

According to (Nnaji 2013), extrinsic motivation, sometimes financial, are the tangible motivations given to employees by managers, such as pay raises, bonuses, and benefits. They are called “extrinsic” because they are external to the work itself and other people control their size and whether or not they are granted. In contrast, he has it that intrinsic motivations are psychological motivations that employees get from doing meaningful work and performing it well. Extrinsic motivation played a dominant role in earlier eras, when work was generally more routine and bureaucratic, and when complying with rules and procedures was paramount. This job offered workers few intrinsic motivations, so that extrinsic motivations were often the only motivational tools available to organizations. Extrinsic rewards: concrete rewards that employee receive •

Bonuses

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Salary raise

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Gifts

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Promotion

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Other kinds of tangible rewards

Extrinsic motivation remains significant for workers, of course. Pay is an important consideration for most workers in accepting a job, and unfair pay can be a strong de-motivator. However, after people have taken a job and issues of unfairness have been settled, we find that extrinsic motivation are now less important, as day-to-day motivation is more strongly driven by intrinsic motivations.

1.3

IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL MOTIVATION

Motivation is one of the most important factors determining organizational efficiency. All organizational resources and facilities will get waste in absence of motivated employees to utilize these resources effectively. Every superior in the organization must motivate its subordinates for the right types of behaviour. The performance of human beings in the organization is dependent on the ability embedded in motivation. A management figure Rensis Likert referred to motivation as “the cost of the management” motivation is an effective instrument in the hands of management in inspiring the workforce. Motivation increases the willingness of the workers to work, thus increasing efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. 

Best utilization of resources: motivation ensures best and efficient utilization of all types of resources. Utilization of resources is possible to its fullest extent employees are induced to contribute their efforts towards attaining organizational goals. Thus people should be motivated to carry out the plans, policies and programmes laid down by the organization.

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Will to contribute: there is a difference between “capacity to work” and “willingness to work”. One can be physically and mentally fit to work, but he may not be willing to work. Motivation results in feeling of involvement to present his better performance. Thus, motivation bridges the gap between capacity to work and willingness to work.

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Reduction in Labour Problems: all the members try to concentrate their efforts to achieve the objectives of the organization and carryout plans in accordance with the policies and programme laid down by the organization if the management introduced

motivational plans. It reduces labour problems like labour turnover, absenteeism, indiscipline. Grievances, etc. because their real wages increase by motivational plans. According to (Onukwofor &Ugwu 2013:3), below are some of the benefits or importance that can be accrued from a good organizational motivation: 

Increased rate of output and quality of output. When the employees are motivated, it leads to increase in the quantity and quality of output produced. This is because the motivation results in greater personal effort and devotion on the part of the employees.

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Reduced Turnover. Employee motivation reduces the rate of employees exit and absenteeism in the organization. This is because motivation leads to job satisfaction and causes the employees to be loyal to their employers, which minimizes management problems.

Furthermore on the importance of motivation, it will not be out of place to say that motivated employees are needed in our rapidly changing workplaces. Motivated employees help organizations survive. Motivated employees are more productive. The behaviour and attitudes of motivated employees cannot be underestimated and this helps to contribute to the tone of positive organizational behaviour. To be effective, managers need to understand what motivates employees within the context of the roles they perform. Of all the functions a manager performs, motivating employees is arguably the most complex. This is due, in part, to the fact that what motivates employees changes constantly (Bowen & Radhakrishna, 1991) as cited in (James, 1998). Research suggests that as employees' income increases, money becomes less of a motivator (Kovach, 1987). Also, as employees get older, interesting work becomes more of a motivator.

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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTIVATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL

BEHAVIOR Again the work of (Onukwofor & Ugwu 2013) is being considered here as they provided very important strategies on how to improve the performance of employees. In order to improve employees’ performance in an organization, they have to be motivated to show interest in their jobs, employers need to be motivated through the following strategies:

1. Regular payment of wages and salaries: The employees may be motivated to perform their jobs more effectively when the payment of their wages and salaries is constant. A situation where the employee is not sure of when to receive the next income is most discouraging to the employees. The discontentment is most pronounced when the employee is owed for about two to five months. Teachers in some states of the Nigerian federation are the worst victims of irregular payment of salaries and this has adversely affected the educational sector of the Nigerian economy in the form of strikes and lack of devotion to duty. 2. Increase in salary: Employees may be motivated when their salaries are increased. This is because increase in salary will mitigate the current economic hardship being encountered by many employees in Nigeria. The economic hardship could be attributed to the recent withdrawal of petroleum subsidy by the Federal government of Nigeria. Hence, productivity in Nigeria may increase if employees are extrinsically motivated with salary increase. It may enhance economic security in the country as the workers may be happy to put in their best. 3. Adequate job selection and placement based on attitude, interest, ability and skills. The manager plays a significant role in selection and placement of employees based on aptitude, interest, ability and skills. In a situation where employees are recruited and placed based on the

stipulated characteristics, it makes the job more exciting and less cumbersome. This leads to increase in productivity and enhances economic security of the establishment and that of the country. 4. Sufficient rewards for spectacular performances through bonuses, honours, promotions and commendations: If the employees are reinforced for excellent performance through the stipulated processes they tend to be motivated and perform even more exceptionally. The above is based on Skinner’s theory which states that employee’s behaviours that lead to positive outcomes will be repeated and behaviours that lead to negative outcomes will not be repeated. 5. Provision of training facilities to improve employee’s knowledge and performance in the establishment: If in-service training is provided for employees, it helps them to increase their skills on the job which leads to increase in productivity in the organization and contribute towards economic security. Employees feel motivated when they received free training from their employers. 6. Participation of employees in goal-setting and decision-making process of the establishment: If the employees are involved in goal-setting and decision-making process of an organization, it enables the employees to be committed towards the achievement of such goals. 7. Provision of enabling working environment: Employees will feel motivated to work if their working environment is conducive. Thus air-conditioners and latest technologies should be provided in offices. Offices should be well furnished and painted. Necessary tools required for production processes in factories should as well be provided. 8. Provision of incentives: Employees feel motivated in their place of work if they are provided with fringe benefits such as: vehicle loans, free medical facilities, free accommodation or

suitable allowance for it, free transport through payment of transport allowance or provision of staff bus. 9. Provision of recreational facilities and canteen services. There is the aphorism that “all work without play makes Jack a dull boy”. Thus it becomes imperative for employers to be counselled on the need to provide entertainment such as table tennis, lawn tennis and more importantly, canteen services should be provided, if not free, at a highly subsidized rate. Canteen services where they could go for a lunch break energizes the employee for additional productivity. 10. Scholarship for employee’s children: The employees may be further motivated if their children are offered scholarship up to the University level by their employers. 11. Provision of information and communication network: Since the world is a global village, it becomes imperative that computer and internet facilities be provided for employees to enhance their communication to the outside world. 12. Travelling: Travel could be considered as part of the ways to motivate an employee for excellent performance. The travel could be provided at the expense of the organization for two weeks of relaxation. 13. Interesting work: Employees are motivated with interesting work. This makes them to like doing the job. When the above strategies are considered and put in place, it will serve as a way of improving the performance of employees and thus this will affect organizational behaviour and performance positively.

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THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The theories to be considered here are the Human Relations theories of management because these theories deal solely with all that has to do with motivation and how workers respond to work and other related issues in the organization. 1. MASLOW'S NEED-HIERARCHY THEORY According to Maslow, employees have five levels of needs (Maslow, 1943): physiological, safety, social, ego, and self- actualizing. Maslow argued that lower level needs had to be satisfied before the next higher level need would motivate employees. Maslow described human needs in the form of hierarchy ascending from the lowest to the highest need. The provision of these needs changes people’s behavior or employee’s behaviour in working towards achieving organizational objectives. He pointed out that when a need or set of needs is satisfied, it can no longer motivate someone. 

Physiological needs: this has to do with human needs food water and emotional satisfaction for sustaining human life. Satisfaction with these basic needs enables the individual to survive and the employee’s behaviour is directed at satisfying the needs on the next level.

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Safety needs: these are needs for freedom from fear, threat or danger. They are also need from job security in workplace.

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Social needs: These are concerned with establishing and maintaining relationship with others. These represent the need for love friendship affection or to belong to a group and being accepted by one’s peers.

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Esteem needs: this refers to the need for self-respect, self-confidence, recognition and respect from others

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Self-Actualization: these are the highest order needs which refers to the desire for selffulfillment of potentials and personal goals both in work area and life in general.

Basic assumptions of Maslow’s hierarchy: 

individuals have multiple needs

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needs are ordered into levels, creating a ‘hierarchy’

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a need, once satisfied, is no longer a need

To be of use, Maslow’s basic theory needs qualification to include the individual as a determining factor in motivation and behaviour. These include: 

Levels in the hierarchy are not rigidly fixed; boundaries between them are indistinct and overlap.

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There are individual exceptions to the general ranking of the hierarchy. Some people never progress beyond the first or second level (for example, many inhabitants of the third world), others are so obsessed with the higher needs that lower ones may go largely unnoticed.