Definitions of Employee Motivation

Motivation is one of the central themes discussed in the social sciences, and employee motivation plays a correspondingly central role in organizational behavior. Employee motivation has received as much intensive theoretical development as any topic in organizational behavior. As with other major concepts, such as power, leadership and attitude, researchers have extensively debated the proper definition of motivation and reported thousands of studies on the topic (Golembiewski, 2000).

The term “motivation” comes from the Latin word movere, which means to move (Kreitner & Kinicki, 1998). The origin of the term “motivation” can be traced back to the early 1880s, before that time the term "will" was used by well-known philosophers as well as prominent social theorists when they talk about motivated human behavior (Forgas, et al., 2005). According to them, it is believed that motivation is an entity that compelled one to action. Recently, many researchers have provided specific definitions of motivation.

Herzberg, et al., (2017) defines employee motivation as performing a work-related action because you want to, further he defined it as a management process that encourages people to perform better in order to achieve a goal towards the betterment of the organization by providing them with incentives that are based on their unmet needs.

Motivation represents those psychological processes that cause excitement, direction and constancy of voluntary actions, which are goal oriented (Mitchell, 1982).

Buford, et al., (1995) defines motivation as a predisposition to behave in a purposeful way to achieve specific, unmet needs while Higgins (1994) describes it as an internal desire to satsify an unsatisfied need.

Motivation, according to the definition provided by Robbins (1993) is the willingness to make great efforts to achieve the goals of the organization, due to the ability of efforts to satisfy some individual needs. A need in this context is an internal state that makes certain outcomes attractive. An unsatisfied need creates tension that stimulates urges within a person. These urges then generate search behaviors to find goals that, if met, will satisfy the need and lead to stress relief  (Robbins , 1993).  

 The below mentioned Figure 1 illustrates the Motivation Process as outlined by Robbins (1993).

Figure 1: The Motivation Process

Source: Adapted from Robbins (1993)

In conclusion most theorists agree that motivation requires the desire to act, the ability to act, and the presence of an objective. The management personnel of contemporary organizations need to be able to motivate their employees if they desire to get the necessary results achieved. Therefore, organizations need to clearly identify what factors makes an employee motivated. In hindsight there is more to motivating employees than remuneration, good working conditions and other similar factors.


References

Buford, J. A., Bedeian, A. G. & Linder, J. R., 1995. Management in Extension. 3rd ed. Columbus : Ohio State University Extension.

Forgas, J. P., Williams, K. D. & Laham, S. M., 2005. Social motivation. Conscious and Unconscious Processes. Cambridge: Cambridge university press.

Golembiewski, R. T., 2000. Handbook of Organizational Behavior, Revised and Expanded. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.

Herzberg, F., Mausner, B. & Snyderman, B. B., 2017. Motivation to Work. reprint ed. s.l.:Taylor & Francis Group.

Higgins, J. M., 1994. The Management Challenge. 2nd ed. New York : Macmillan.

Kreitner, R. & Kinicki, A., 1998. Organizational Behavior. 4th ed. Boston : Irwin McGraw-Hill.

Mitchell, T. R., 1982. Motivation: New Direction for Theory, Research, and Practice. Academy of Management Review, p. 81.

Robbins , S., 1993. Organizational Behavior. 6th ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

Comments

  1. Virosha AriyawanshaAugust 29, 2022 at 8:51 AM

    Agree with you Reshan.
    Every business depends on a variety of things for it to succeed, but its employees have by far the biggest influence. A company can easily accomplish its objectives if its staff members are driven by organizational goals. Different organizations and people have different employee motivation strategies, which may also be a key consideration in determining whether an employee will stay with the company or depart. Theory and practice of motivation are two distinct and challenging topics that affect every aspect of any company (Varma, 2017).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reshan FernandoSeptember 3, 2022 at 6:36 AM

      Yes Virosha, As Kalimullah (2010) suggested, a motivated employee has his or her goals aligned with the goals of the organization and aims his/her efforts in that direction. In addition, these organizations are more successful, because their employees are continuously looking for ways to improve their work. Bringing employees to reaching their full potential at work under stressful conditions is a difficult challenge, but it can be achieved through motivating them.

      Delete
  2. Isuri PinnaduwaSeptember 2, 2022 at 8:37 AM

    Yes, Reshan. There is not just one theory surrounding employee motivation that has been
    unanimously accepted. Furthermore, motivational philosophies are divided into three classes,
    content motivation, process motivation, and reinforcement theory (Lussier, 2017).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reshan FernandoSeptember 3, 2022 at 6:43 AM

      Agreed Isuri. Bartol and Martin (1998) consider motivation a powerful tool that reinforces behavior and triggers the tendency to continue. In other words, motivation is an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need and to achieve a certain goal. It is also a process that begins through a physiological or psychological need to stimulates the performance set by the goal.

      Delete
  3. Masha PasquelSeptember 5, 2022 at 11:19 AM

    Motivated and committed employees with high levels of job involvement are considered as an important asset to an organization (Denton, 1987). Keeping the employee motivation, commitment and job involvement up, is always rewarding to a business; as motivated and committed employees are more productive (Denton, 1987)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reshan FernandoSeptember 10, 2022 at 6:22 AM

      Managers and supervisors support towards encouraging employees participation, mutual commitment and understanding of diversity issues play a significant role in motivating and facilitating performance (Snyder et al., 2004).

      Delete
  4. Shafaz AhamedSeptember 8, 2022 at 3:34 AM

    According to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, a motive is “something a need or desire that causes a person to act”. “Motivate, in turn, means “to provide with a motive,” and motivation is defined as “the act or process of motivating”. Consequently, motivation is the performance or procedure of presenting an intention that origin a person to capture some accomplishment.(Shanks.N. H.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reshan FernandoSeptember 10, 2022 at 6:25 AM

      Agreed, Mitchell (1982) also defined motivation as what moves us from boredom to interest. It's like a steering wheel vehicle that directs our activities. Motivation represents those psychological processes which causes the excitation, direction, and persistence of voluntary activities which are goal oriented.

      Delete
  5. Nimshi RanawanaSeptember 8, 2022 at 10:31 AM

    well explained. The degree of employee motivation greatly influences an organization's overall success in accomplishing its strategic goals (Shujaat and Alam, 2013). Any company, regardless of its size, industry, or sector, needs a motivated staff to ensure its effectiveness, high organizational production, and prosperity (Shujaat and Alam, 2013). Employee retention, loyalty, and cohesion are at their highest levels when motivated employees are happy, committed, and enthusiastic about their work (Shujaat and Alam, 2013).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reshan FernandoSeptember 10, 2022 at 6:28 AM

      As per Osteraker (1999) Motivation is a central element when going through the human learning process. If the organization does not have the ability to motivate its employees,
      knowledge within the organization is not practically used to its maximum. Therefore, it becomes the goal of every learning organization to find the enabling factors that motivates its employees to learn continuously and take advantage of this knowledge to make a living.

      Delete

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