Chapter 5: Motivation

Job performance is a given requirement in any

organization. It is possible, however, if the following
conditions are met:

1. the capacity to perform

2. the opportunity to perform
3. the willingness to perform
The capacity to perform relates to the degree to
which the employee possesses skills, abilities,
knowledge and experiences relevant to his job.
If high performance is expected, the employee must
be fully trained and physically capable of doing his
job.
The opportunity to perform will depend on the
work environment provided to the employee.
One who works in an office that is hot, humid
and noisy cannot be expected to perform well.

The opportunity to perform is also diminished by

lack of equipment, lack of funds, and insufficient
authority.
The willingness to perform relates to the degree in
which an employee desires and is willing to exert
effort to achieve the goals assigned to him.

The willingness to perform is also alternately

called motivation.
 WHAT IS MOTIVATION?

People behave differently and one of the reasons is

that they are motivated differently. Some are
motivated by economic reasons, while some are
motivated otherwise. But even those who are
motivated by money will differ in terms of how much
they want.
Motivation may be defined as the process of
activating behavior, sustaining it, and directing it
toward a particular goal. Motivation moves people
to act and accomplish.

• In the workplace, motivation may be more

specifically defined as the set of internal and
external forces that cause a worker or employee to
choose a course of action and engage in a certain
behavior.
 KEY ELEMENTS OF MOTIVATION

Motivation consists of the following elements:

1. intensity

2. direction

3. persistence
Intensity refers to the level of effort provided by the employee in the
attempt to achieve the goal assigned to him. In simple terms, intensity
refers to how hard a person tries to do work.

Direction relates to what an individual chooses to do when he is

confronted with a number of possible choices.

Persistence is a dimension of motivation which measures how long a

person can maintain effort to achieve the organization’s goals.

In any case, the three elements complement each other. If the intensity
of motivation is insufficient, or the effort is not properly directed or
persistent enough, excellent performance is not just possible.
THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
There are various theories related to motivation. They may be
classified as either (1) content, or (2) process theories.

Content theories are those that focus on analyzing the wants

and needs of an individual. The four better known content
theories are the following:

1. Hierarchy of Needs Theory of Abraham Maslow

2. ERG Theory of Clayton Alderfer

3. Acquired Needs Theory of David McClelland

4. Two-Factory Theory of Frederick Herzberg
Process Theories explain how people act in response to the
wants and needs that they have. Classified under process
theories are the following:

1. Expectancy Theory of Victor Vroom

2. Equity Theory of J. Stacey Adams

“People can only bloom when the
circumstances are right.”
What do people need?

Well, it depends on the circumstances.

 The Hierarchy of Needs Theory

Abraham Maslow forwarded the idea that human

beings possess a hierarchy of five needs
(physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-
actualization).
The ERG Theory
The ERG theory is a need hierarchy theory of motivation that was
developed by Clayton Alderfer. He believed that in motivating people,
we are confronted by three sets of needs: existence (E), relatedness (R),
and growth (G).
These sets of needs may be briefly described as follows:
1. Existence – this refers to needs satisfied by such factors as
food, air, water, pay, and working conditions;

2. Relatedness – this refers to the needs satisfied by meaningful

social and interpersonal relationships; and

3. Growth – this refers to the needs satisfied by an individual making

creative or productive contributions.
Alderfer, like Maslow, also believed that individuals
progress up the hierarchy of needs as a result of the
satisfaction of lower needs. But he maintained, however,
that if a higher order need cannot be satisfied, a lower
need becomes dominant as a motivating factor.

Alderfer also thought that, unlike Maslow, more than one

need may be activated at the same time.
Acquired Needs Theory
Acquired needs theory was developed as a result of a research
made by David McClelland and his associates. They found out
that managers are motivated by three fundamental needs which
may be briefly described as follows:
1. need for achievement – this refers to the desire to do
something better or more efficiently, to solve problems, or to
master complex tasks;
2. need for affiliation – which refers to the desire to establish
and maintain friendly and warm relations with others;
3. need for power – which refers to the desire to control others,
to influence their behavior, or to be responsible for others.
McClelland believe that the foregoing needs are acquired over
time as a result of life experiences.
The Two-Factor Theory
Frederick Herzberg developed his two-factor theory that identifies job
context as a source of job dissatisfaction and job content as the source
of job satisfaction.
The job context or work setting relates more to the environment in which
people work. The factors associated with job context are called hygiene
factors which include the following: organizational policies, quality of
supervision, working conditions, base wage or salary, relationship with
peers, relationship with subordinates, status and job security.
According to the two-factor theory, improving any of the hygiene
factors will not make people satisfied with their work; it will only prevent
them from being dissatisfied.
The job content relates more to what people actually do in
their work. Those that are related to job content are called
motivator factors and they consist of the following:
1. achievement 4. responsibility
2. recognition 5. advancement
3. work itself 6. Growth
According to the two-factor theory, when the foregoing
factors are not present, there is low job satisfaction among
workers and there is lack of motivation to perform.
 Expectancy Theory
One of the process theories refers to the expectancy theory that
was developed by Victor Vroom. This theory sees people as
choosing a course of action according to what they anticipate will
give them the greatest rewards.
Vroom elaborated by explaining that motivation is a product of the
following factors:
1. valence – refers to the value or importance an individual gives
to an outcome like pay and promotion.
2. expectancy –refers to the individual’s belief that effort will lead
to performance – that if he tried hard, his performance will improve.
3. instrumentality – is the individual’s belief that his performance
will lead to the outcome – that if he worked harder, he will get more
rewards.
 Equity Theory
Equity theory is the second process theory presented in this
chapter. It may be defined as a theory that individuals
compare job inputs and outcomes with those of others and
then respond to eliminate inequities.

Equity theory assumes that employees are motivated by a

desire to be equitably treated at work. Equity exists when
employees perceive that the ratios of their inputs (or efforts)
to their outputs (or rewards) are equivalent to the ratios of
other employees. Inequity exists when these ratios are not
equivalent.
Inequity leads to the experience of tension, and tension
motivates a person to act in a manner to resolve the
inequity. The person, however, will be confronted with
any of the two types of inequity:
1. over rewarded; or
2. under rewarded
Employees who feel over rewarded will think there is an
imbalance in their relationship with their employer. They will
seek to restore the balance through any of the following:

1. they might work harder

2. they might discount the value of the rewards
3. they could try to convince other employees to ask for
more rewards; and
4. they might choose someone else for comparison
purposes.
When employee feel under rewarded, they will seek to
reduce their feeling of inequity through any of the following:

1. they might lower the quality or quantity of their

productivity
2. they could inflate the perceived value of the rewards
received;
3. they could find someone else to compare themselves;
4. they could bargain for more rewards; and
5. they might quit.
 Chapter 6: Stress and Well Being
Gibson, et. al (1988) defined stress as a “persons adaptive response to a
stimulus that places excessive psychological or physical demands on
that person”.
Stress is not necessary bad in and of itself. Although it is typically
discussed in negative context, it also has a positive value (Robbins and
Judge, 2009). Stress is of two types, these are:
Eustress –is a good type of stress as it comes from “good things”.
Distress – is a bad type of stress as it comes from “bad things”.

Stress is triggered by a stressor or demand.

How a person adapts to stress is described by Dr. Hans Selye as
the General Adaptation Syndrome (G.A.S.). it has three stages:

1. Alarm stage – when a person experience a

stressor or demand

2. Resistance stage – when a person resists the

negative effects of the stressor

3. Exhaustion stage – when a person literally gives up

for he/she can no longer handle the stressor.
 Alarm Stage. In this phase, the initial reaction of the body to stress is
that it labels the stressors as a threat or danger to balance, that is
why it immediately activates its fight or flight response system, and
releases the “stress” hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline
and cortisol. These hormones enable you to perform activities that
you don’t usually do.

For instance, when one’s house is on fire, his body shifts to the alarm
stage, his stress hormones released (particularly adrenaline) and then
he lifts a very heavy appliance outside the burning house. But there’s a
catch—your blood pressure starts to rise after a minute or less, which
can predispose you to damage of the brain and heart’s blood vessels,
putting you at risk to stroke or heart attack. The muscles you’ve utilized
might also become painful due to tissue damage.
 Resistance stage. After the body has responded to the stressor, it is
more likely that the stress level has been eradicated, or simply
reduced. What happens next to the fight or flight response is that
your body’s defenses becomes weaker, as it needs to allocate
energy to the repair of damaged muscle tissues and lower the
production of the stress hormones.

 Although the body has shifted to this second phase of stress

response, it remains on-guard, particularly when the stressors persist
and the body is required to fight them continuously, although not
as stronger as it could during the initial response.
 Exhaustion Stage. During this phase, the stress has been
persistent for a longer period. The body starts to lose its ability
to combat the stressors and reduce their harmful impact
because the adaptive energy is all drained out. The
exhaustion stage can be referred to as the gate towards
burnout or stress overload, which can lead to health problems
if not resolved immediately.
Stress is difficult to define because it is so different for each
of us. A good example is afforded by observing passengers
on a steep roller coaster ride. Some are hunched down in
the back seats, eyes shut, jaws clenched and white
knuckled with an iron grip on the retaining bar. They can’t
wait for the ride in the torture chamber to end so they can
get back on solid ground and scamper away. But up front
are the wide-eyed thrill seekers, yelling and relishing each
steep plunge who race to get on the very next ride. And in
between, you may find a few with an air of nonchalance
that borders on boredom. So, was the roller coaster ride
stressful?
The roller coaster analogy is useful in explaining why the
same stressor can differ so much for each of us. What
distinguished the passengers in the back from those up
from was the sense of control they had over the event.
While neither group had any more or less control their
perceptions and expectations were quite different.
Many times we create our own stress because of faulty
perceptions.

While everyone can’t agree on a definition of stress, all

of our experimental and clinical research confirms that
the sense of having little or no control is always distressful
– and that’s what stress is all about.
Potential Source of Stress

There are three categories of potential stressors:

environmental, organizational, and personal. Below is a
Model of Stress showing the potential sources of stress and
their possible consequences (Robbins and Judge, 2009).
Burn-Out

Leonard Moss (1981) defined burn-out as “a general feeling of

exhaustion that may develop when an individual simultaneously
experience too much pressure and too few sources of satisfaction.”

Driven individuals who have high aspirations and strong motivation to

accomplish tasks are more prone to burn-out. They are especially
vulnerable when the organization frustrates their aspirations while at the
same time pressuring them to meet organizational demands. This results
to stress, fatigue, and helplessness causing their aspirations to go down,
their motivation to fizzle out and their confidence to suffer. Then,
psychological withdrawal follows and eventually, burn-out sets in which
is manifested in Monday morning blues, delayed reports, irritability and
physical exhaustion.
Stress Management
An organization should be involved in actively managing stress for its
own sake and employees. The table below shows a summary of the
two sets of strategies in managing stress.
Individual Coping Organizational Coping
Strategies Strategies
Exercise and relaxation Institutional Programs (e.g.
properly designed jobs,
Time Management flexible work schedules,
mandatory vacations)
Role Management
Collateral Programs (e.g.
Support Groups Health promotions and
career development