Motivation Theories- the Foundation to Employee Motivation

In the past, employees were not given much of aseparate groups of factors that had a strong impact
thought, not more than just another input into theon motivation. His first group of factors were the
production of goods and services. Employeehygiene factors which consisted of factors such as
motivation was not the main concern of the managers.the working conditions, quality of supervision,
However, as the time passed by the 'Hawthornesalary,status,safety, company policies, and
Experiment' a research conducted by Elton Mayo inadministration. He tends to believe that the hygiene
1924, basically changed the way of thinking about thefactors strongly influenced feelings of dissatisfaction
employees. the study of Elton Mayo pointed out theamong the employees thus paving way to affect the
fact that money does not motivate employees to usejob performance. However, he also went into point out
their full potential, but instead it is the employeethat the presence of these factors will not basically
attitudes that keeps them going and linked withmotivate the employees as such, but rather they are
behaviour. As a result, this gave rise to what is knownnecessary to have them right in the first place, if the
as the Human Relations approach to managementorganization intends to motivate the factors. The
which lead the managers to focus mainly on the needssecond group of factors identified by hertzberg were
of employees and thus finding ways to motivate them.the motivating factors. These included factors such as
Even though the managers began to concentrate onrecognition,achievement, responsibility, interesting job,
motivating employees thereafter, this was not an easygrowth  and advancement to higher level tasks  etc.
task to do, as understanding the employees andAccordingly, he went into say that these factors do
motivating them needed careful consideration. If not sobring job satisfaction among employees which will
ever, then the time and money spent on motivatingeventually lead to employee motivation.
employees may be of no use to the organization orVroom's Expectancy theory
the employee, if the employees were motivated theAnother theory that explained what basically
wrong way.As a result, to understand the wholemotivated the employees was the Expectancy theory
concept of motivation and help the managers carryof Victor Vroom in 1964. Actually Vroom believed that
out the strategy, it is important to look into the theoriesemployee effort will pave the way for job
of motivation, which developed soon after the study ofperformance and thus job performance will lead to
the Hawthorne Experiment.rewards. In other words, he highlighted the fact that 
The motivation theories developed, as a  result of theemployees tend to believe that by putting effort it will
researches carried out by the theorists focusinglead to a good performance and likewise because of
understanding what motivated employees and howthe good performance they will be rewarded. It is
they were motivated. Hence so, let us have a closerthese rewards that motivate the employees. If the
look at four of the good motivational theories thatrewards are positive and welcoming , then obviously
explains what motivates employees, in order tothe employees will be motivated, or else if they turn
understand and do the best possible way to motivateout to be negative or not attractive then the chances
them.of employees being de-motivated are very high indeed.
Maslow's Hierarchy of needs TheoryAdam's Equity Theory
Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory is one of theAdam's Equity theory is a motivation theory that points
important theories that provide an insight to understandout the fact that the mangers should seek a fair
what basically motivates employees and how it shouldbalance between the employees' inputs( effort, loyalty,
be done if the employees are to be motivated.hard work, sacrifice,  etc) and their outputs (
Maslow identified five levels of needs. They are,recognition, status, salary, status etc), in order to
Self Actualization ( level 5 - highest level)motivate employees( Adams, 1965). He also stated
Esteem ( level 4 )that it is very vital to make the employee feel that he
Social belonging & love needs ( level 3)safety (is treated fairly if the managers are to achieve positive
level 2 )outcomes and motivate the employees effectively.
Physiology ( level 1 - lowest level)However, if the employees tend to feel that they have
These five levels of needs have to be satisfied if thebeen treated unfairly meaning to say that their inputs
employees are to be motivated. In other words, it isare greater than the outputs, then they will be
said that motivation is thus driven by the existence ofde-motivated.Ans this will no doubt reduce their inputs
these unsatisfied needs. Maslow pointed out the factsuch as effort and hard work etc.
that, in order to motivate the employees, first of all theIn conclusion,  the tasks of the managers to motivate
lower level of needs have to be met before the nextthe employees are indeed not that easy.This is
higher level of needs. What he meant by this was thatbecause each and every employee has got their very
only once the lower level of needs have been satisfiedown needs that tend to motivate them. However, the
the employee will be motivated to satisfy themanagers need to have some sort of  aknowledge
next higher level of needs. For example,  an   isthat will help them to understand the employees well
at the lowest level of the hierarchy will only beand think of better ways of motivating them. This is
motivated by a good pay well enough to afford hiswhere the motivational theories come into
basic needs rather than safety of his work area andconsidertaion. It is these theories that provide an
stability of the job etc. As a result, the hierarchy ofexplanation of how to motivate them based on what
needs theory highlights the fact that employees domotivates them. The Hierarchy of needs theory and
differ from each other, and if they are to be motivatedHertzberg's two factor theory deals with explaining
it is thus vital to look into their needs first and thenhow the employees are to be motivated by way of
come up with the suitable motivation techniqueslooking into their needs. On the other hand, Adams
effectively.theory also helps the managers to understand
Hertzberg's Two Factor Theorythat a fair balance between inputs and outputs of
The Hertzberg's two factor theory is another vitalemployees are important. The Expectancy theory too
theory that provides the managers with a clearshows that rewards tend to motivate the employees.
understanding to how the employees could beHowever, overall all motivation theories  do state that
motivated. He also pointed out the fact that motivatingrewarding and recognising employees are important in
employees are not just possible without the presenceorder to motivate employees thus acting as the 
of intrinsic factors.foundation to motivate employees.
According to Hertzberg, he basically identified two