Motivational Theories

1. INTRODUCTION

Motivation is the act of stimulating someone or oneself to get desired course of action, it refers to a process that controls and sustains certain behaviors. Motivation can also be defined as the forces either within or external to a person that arouse enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a certain course of action

R L. Draft (1997:526) state that employee motivation affects productivity, and part of a manager’s job is to channel motivation towards the accomplishment of organizational goals. If managers understand the process of motivation they will have the knowledge of what prompts workers to initiate action, what influences their choice of action, and the reason they persist in that action over time, managers will be able to influence the employees’ work performance.

The motivational process consists of the following interdependent elements: Need; taking an example of an employee who has an unfulfilled need to achieve the award of being the best employee of the year in the company he works. Motive, this is the employee’s desire to receive this award. Behavior, this need of the worker will motivate him to do some specific behavior. The employee may start to work extra hard and try to find ways of improving his work. Consequence, the resulting consequence of his behavior may be either positive or negative. The employee may achieve his goal, or may not. Satisfaction/dissatisfaction, the consequence of the behavior could lead to satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Feedback, if the goal of getting the award is not achieved the motivational process will start again

Motivation theories, in its simplest from, are seeking to explain the driving force that converts our thoughts into behaviors. There are numerous theories of motivation, where each is either explaining the same motivational concept with a different view or they are offering a new motivational theory. According to PJ Smit (2007: 340) motivation theories are classified in terms of content,...