Human Resource Management 2b

COHRB2-B44

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Week 4: Lesson 7 and 8
What will be covered in today’s lesson?

• Understand what is motivation

• Understand the three key elements to motivation
• Compare the classic theories of motivation
• Describe the contemporary theories of motivation and how it is relevant to todays workplace:
Content Based Motivation Theories
Self-Determination Theory
Regulatory Focus Theory
Job Engagement Theory
 Activity

Divide in small groups and discuss the following questions

1. Do you think motivation is a personality trait?
2. Why is some people more motivated than others?
3. Do you think motivation is something that varies or do you think it is a constant ?
4. Do you think money is the biggest motivator?
5. What motivates you (every group member must name one thing)?
WHAT IS MOTIVATION
Many people incorrectly view motivation as a personal trait.

Motivation is “the processes that account for an individual’s

intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a
goal.”
 Activity
DISCUSS IN YOUR SMALL GROUP THE FOLLOWING IMAGE
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF
MOTIVATION
Describe the three key elements in motivation

INTENSITY DIRECTION PERSISTANCE

How hard a person tries High intensity is unlikely to lead to How long can we maintain the
favourable job performance effort
This is the element most of us
outcomes unless the effort is
focus when we talk about
channelled in a direction
motivation
• General Motivation is concerned with effort towards any goal
• This lesson will narrow it down to achieve organisational goals
• Levels of motivation can vary from moment to moment
• Levels of motivation in individuals can also change
• Motivation can take form as both a personality trait and a temporary
state
• Most of classic (early theories) and contemporary theories focus on
employees needs as goals to attain and describe whether their jobs,
organisations fulfil those needs.
 Activity

Give your opinion

What initiatives do you think can organisations put in place to motivate staff?
What are remote workers and students biggest struggle with working or stydying
remotely?

Watch this video together

https://youtu.be/iu3IY_6BtH0?si=t9uHhhZgj-ja9pdj

We will now start with the motivation theories

Early theories of motivation
Three theories of employee motivation were formulated during the 1950’s. They form the foundation of
motivation, however some aspects are questionable in terms of validity.

Exhibit 7.1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

• Maslow’s need theory has received wide recognition, particularly among

practicing managers.
• It is intuitively logical and easy to understand and some research has validated
it.
• However, most research does not, and it hasn’t been frequently researched
since the 1960s .
Herzberg Two-Factor theory
• Hertzberg wondered “ what do people want from their jobs”
• He asked people to describe in detail situations where they feel good or bad about their jobs
• He developed Motivation – Hygiene theory – this theory is tied to job satisfaction
• Condition such as salary, supervision, company policies, physical work conditions can be seen as Hygiene
Factors. When they are adequate, people will not be dissatisfied neither will they be satisfied
• This theory believes that if we want to motivate people we most focus on the jobs and the outcome of the
job
• Criticisms of Herzberg’s theory:
• Limited because it relies on self-reports.
• Reliability of methodology is questioned.
• Regardless, the theory has been quite influential
McClelland’s Theory of Needs

The theory focuses on three needs:

• Need for achievement (nAch): drive to excel, to
achieve in relation to a set of standards, to strive
to succeed.
• Need for power (nPow): need to make others
behave in a way that they would not have
behaved otherwise.
• Need for affiliation (nAfl): desire for friendly and
close interpersonal relationships.
Compare the Early Theories of Motivation (7 of 7)
• Research shows some relationships between nAch and job performance.
• Employees high on nAch:
• Exhibit more positive moods and greater interest in the task at hand.
• Perform very well in high-stakes conditions on the job.
• Research also supports nPow and nAff concepts.
Case Study

Discuss the following in your small groups

Think of what led you to choose your subjects in school or what led you to choose your
Studies? Did you feel free to explore and choose your subjects/studies? Were other
pressuring you to choose?

Lets look at his scenario

Penny started to work at a animal shelter, she loves playing with the animals etc, they then
decided to pay her and gave her fixed hours and suddenly she did not find it as much fun
as in the beginning?
Why?
SELF – DETERMINATION THEORY
• The explanation for Penny’s reaction can be found in the Self-Determination theory – people prefer to feel
they have control over their actions and anything's that makes a previous enjoyed task feel more like an
obligation than a freely chosen activity undermines motivation.
• This theory is concerned with
- Autonomy (ownership)
- Intrinsic motivation (motivation that comes from within)
- Extrinsic motivation (Motivation that comes from outside)
- And the Psychological work needs
Self-determination theory (SDT): employees’ well-being and performance are influenced by the nature of their
motivation for certain job activities. For instance – a sense of choice over what they do

• Motivation can be either autonomous (freely chosen) or controlled (as a result of others)
• Cognitive evaluation theory: when people are paid for work, it feels less like something they want to do
and more like something they have to do
SELF – DETERMINATION THEORY (SDT) continues
• Cognitive-Evaluation theory (CET) suggest that extrinsic rewards (pay) reduces people’s intrinsic interest in a task.
When people are paid for work it feels less likely something that they want to do and more something they want
to do.

For example
• Self-determination theory suggestions for providing rewards.
• A senior sales representative may be motivated by a commission.
• A computer programmer who values writing code because she likes to solve problems might react negatively
to having to write a certain number of lines of code every day.
• A recent outgrowth of self-determination theory is self-concordance, which considers how strongly peoples’
reasons for pursuing goals are consistent with their interests and core values .
Self- Determination theory (continues)
• This theory proposes that we must look differently at rewards?
• Extrinsic rewards used as payoffs for performance, employees feel they are doing a good job.
• Eliminating extrinsic rewards can also shift an individual’s perception of why she works on a task from an
external to an internal explanation.
• Self-determination theory acknowledges that extrinsic rewards can improve even intrinsic motivation under
specific circumstances.
• Self-determination theory suggestions for providing rewards.
• A senior sales representative may be motivated by a commission.
• A computer programmer who values writing code because she likes to solve problems might react
negatively to having to write a certain number of lines of code every day.
• A recent outgrowth of self-determination theory is self-concordance, which considers how strongly peoples’
reasons for pursuing goals are consistent with their interests and core values .
Self- Determination theory (SDT) continues…
• Implications
• For individuals, it means choose your job for reasons other
than extrinsic rewards.
• For organizations, it means managers should provide
intrinsic as well as extrinsic incentives
Self- Determination theory (SDT) continues…
• Self-concordance theory: considers how strongly people’s reasons for pursuing goals are consistent with their
interests and core values.
People who pursue work goals that align with their interest and values are more satisfied with their jobs, feel they fit more in
the organisation and feel they perform better. In other words if people do not enjoy their work for intrinsic reasons, they
struggle to stay motivated within their positions.

• Basic Psychological Needs- Similar to Maslow and McClelland theories, SDT also suggest that there are basic psychological
needs that affect work motivation, when they are satisfied we tend to be more motivated, when they are frustrated we
tend to be less motivated
What are the Psychological Needs:

Need for autonomy – Need to feel in control and autonomous at work

Need for competence- Need to feel like we are in control at work
Summary of Self-Determination theory
(Content Based Motivational theory)
• To summarise the Self- Determination theory

Cognitive Evaluation
theory-Extrinsic and
Intrinsic rewards

Self-
Determination
theory
Self-Concordance theory-
Psychological needs degree to which peoples
-Need for Autonomy reasons are consistent with
their interest and core
-Need for competence values
 Activity

Let watch this video together and see what can you remember about the
Self-Determination theory (SDT)

https://youtu.be/6hTbz-ABgDw?si=hP0YcVSr4WvSTM6n

https://youtu.be/_juPDoa3GBY?si=JLdmagQkriGUq7Dq

What does the SDT tells us about rewards?

What does the SDT tells us about competence and autonomy?

THIS THEORY CAN BE SEEN AS CONTENT –BASED MOTIVATION THEORY

Regulatory Focus Theory-Content Based
motivational theory
• People differ in they way they regulate their thoughts and behaviour during goal
pursuit
• Generally people fall into two categories
- Promotion Focus: strive for advancement and accomplishment that move them
closer to desired goals
- Prevention Focus: strive to fulfill duties and obligations that pull away from
desired goals
• People do not necessary stick with one category, sometimes they are focused on
striving for achievement and other time striving to avoid failure
Think about you matric exam – what did you strive for?
During Covid
Promotion focused people will ask: ‘’What can we do stay healthy?”
Prevention focused people will ask: ‘’What can we do to prevent getting ill?”
Job Engagement- Content Based motivational
theories
• Job engagement
• The investment of an employee’s physical, cognitive, and emotional
energies into job performance.
• Job engagement predicts higher levels of task performance and
citizenship behavior
• Why do you think has some employee high
Job Engagement?

Good examples of employee engagement include employees showing up to work with a sense of purpose, a deep
commitment to the organization, dedication to performing well, a collaborative attitude, good communication with co-
workers and leaders, and the ability to give and receive feedback positively.
Contemporary Theories of Motivation:
Content-Based
• What does all of this mean?
• For individuals:
• Choose your job for reasons other than extrinsic
rewards.
• For organizations:
• Provide intrinsic as well as extrinsic incentives.
Lets see what you can remember

1. What are the three elements to motivation?

2. Name the three classic early definition of motivation?
3. Describe the Self-Determination theory in your own words? Give examples
4. What is Job Engagement?