Critical assessment of the difficulties of implementing motivation Essay

Critical assessment of the difficulties of implementing motivation theories in the modern workplace - Essay Example Understanding of such problems would help improve employee response and motivation resulting in better output and achievement of organizational goals. 4 There are many motivation theories however most popular among them are behavioral theories of Maslow and Herzberg. The chief features of these theories needs to be understood before we can dwell on problems in their practical implementation. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, there are five categories of needs viz. (1) physiological, (2) safety, (3) social, (4) esteem, and (5) self-actualization. They form a pyramid structure with the lowest and broadest physiological need at the base. Pyramid also illustrates the fact that breadth of needs, as we graduate up the pyramid, gets reduced indicating that the need is finely tuned and well defined. In order to have fully motivated workers each lower level needs to be satisfied before one can graduate to higher level needs. Maslow made a supplementary hypothesis that physiological, safety, social, and esteem needs on satisfaction, ceased to motivate, while the self-actualization needs motivated an individual more as they got satis fied. Maslow's premise was that it is the growth choice that propels an individual toward self-actualization - that of individual growth or "filling one's potential."(Maslow, 1954).A worker wise need analysis is a tough task and may even result in manager forgetting main work related goals. People are individual and it is so difficult to meet everyone's need at their required level. Such needs may be sourced outside the work place.Herzberg used Maslow's lead as a base to build his motivation-hygiene theory. According to him the hygiene elements relate to low level needs (physiological, safety, and social). For an individual, hygiene conditions include company policy and administration, supervision, relationships with peers and supervisors, work conditions, salary, status, and security (Markiewicz, 2002). Paucity of hygiene factors can lead to dissatisfaction or lack of motivation and account for 69% of the factors which cause employee dissatisfaction or lack of motivation. The motiv ation conditions, which include achievement, the job itself, recognition, responsibilities, and personal growth, accounted for 81% of the factors which contributed to job satisfaction. The hygiene conditions are extrinsic factors while the motivation conditions are intrinsic factors, and the only way to sustain motivation toward organizational goals is through the achievement of intrinsic outcomes. 5 Each of these theories carry ideas consistent with human nature, however each faces limitations within organizational settings. Because lower order needs are generally satisfied in the workplace today, managers have to deal with how to provide esteem and self-actualization to their employees, and that can be a nebulous concept to a manager who demands results immediately. As Stolovitch and Keeps state," Another