UNIT 1: Employee Motivation Three Types of Self- Esteem:
1. Chronic self-esteem is a person ’ s overall feeling about
George A. Miller (1962), Princeton psychology professor himself.
defined motivation as "the study of all those pushes and 2. Situational self-esteem (also called self-efficacy) is a
prods- biological, social, and psychological- that defeats our person’s feeling about himself in a particular situation such
laziness and moves us, either eagerly or reluctantly to as operating a machine or talking to other people.
action. 3. Socially influenced self-esteem is how a person feels
-From this definition it is clear that unless an individual is about himself based on the expectations of others.
motivated, he or she will do nothing
"The processes that account for an individual's intensity, 2. Employees who good about themselves are
·
direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a motivated to perform better at work than employees
goal. who do not feel that they are valuable and worthy
- Robins and Judge people. Enhancing Performance/ Developing Self-Esteem
among the Employees
Motivation is important to human resource managers
because it leads to action and is one of the three key A. Conduct self-esteem workshops
elements of a performance. More importantly, it’s a variable In which they are given insights into their strengths. ·
that can be influenced, because motivation is not a stable Show them that they have several strengths and are
state of mind. Managers who can influence motivation can good people.
increase performance. To increase self- esteem, employees can attend
workshops in which they are given insights into their
EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION strengths. It is thought that these insights raise
It is an internal force that drives a worker to action as well self-esteem by showing employees that they have
as the external factors that encourage that action. several strengths and are good people.
B. Outdoor Experiential Learning
Theories and Models of Employee Motivations Another approach to increase self-esteem such as a
Is an employee predisposed to being motivated? “ropes course” wherein they will learn that they are
Three individual difference traits that are related to work physically and emotionally strong.
motivation: C. Experience with Success
1. Self- Esteem an employee is given a task so easy that he will almost
➢ According to Korman ’ s consistency theory, there is a certainly succeed. It is thought that this success
positive correlation between self-esteem and performance. increases self- esteem, which should increase
Employees high in self-esteem are more motivated and will performance, which further increases self-esteem,
perform better than employees low in self-esteem which further increases performance, and so on.
➢ Consistency theory takes the relationship between This method is based loosely on the principle of the
-
self-esteem and motivation one step further by stating that
employees with high self-esteem desire to perform at high
self-fulfilling prophecy, which states that an individual
will perform as well or as poorly as he expects to
levels and employees with low self-esteem desire to perform.
perform at low levels. That is, employees who feel good a) Self-fulfilling prophecy, the idea that people behave
about themselves are motivated to perform better at work in ways consistent with
than employees who do not feel that they are valuable and their self-image.
worthy. b) Galatea effect, the relationship between
➢ If consistency theory is true, employees with high self-expectations and performance.
self-esteem are more motivated, perform better, and rate Example: If he thinks he is dumb, he will perform poorly.
their performance as being higher than employees with low So if an employee believes he will always fail, the only way
self-esteem. to break the vicious cycle is to ensure that he performs well
on a task.
- High self-expectations result in higher levels of
performance.
, MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
D. Supervisor Behavior
a) Pygmalion effect, the idea that if people believe that • Dissatisfied employees are not fully motivated, they do
something is true, they will act in a manner consistent with not perform to their best potential, often become unhappy or
that belief.. are unable to relate to the team's objectives. As the worst
Another approach to increasing employee self-esteem case, prolonged dissatisfaction can lead to poor productivity
is to train supervisors to communicate a feeling of and higher employee turnover rates.
confidence in an employee. • Therefore, employees' needs are their motivators, and HR
if an employee feels that a manager has confidence in experts tend to look at them as key indicators to devise
him, his self-esteem will increase, as will his effective employee job satisfaction and retention initiatives.
performance.
b) Golem effect, when negative expectations of an 1. Physiological needs
individual cause a decrease in that individual ’ s • Offering a job as per individual's assessed skillset and
performance. capability
occurs when negative expectations of an individual • Providing for conducive work environment with his/her
cause a decrease in that individual's actual basic needs are met (eg- access to clean drinking water,
performance clean air, ambient room temperature, meal breaks with
facility for meals/snacks, hygiene and cleanliness in work
4. Intrinsic Motivation Tendency premises).
When people are intrinsically motivated, they will seek • Finally, timely payment of salary/wages to support
to perform well because they either enjoy performing oneself and family.
the actual tasks or enjoy the challenge of successfully
completing the task. When they are extrinsically 2. Safety
motivated, they don't particularly enjoy the tasks but • Creating job security,
are motivated to perform well to receive some type of • Ensuring safe and healthy work environment through
reward or to avoid negative consequences. sound OH&S management system in place, providing
People who are intrinsically motivated don't need safety of employees and property through vigilant security
external rewards such as pay or praise. In fact, being systems, and minimizing the risk of injury or physical/
paid for something they enjoy may reduce their mental fatigue through ergonomically designed office
satisfaction and intrinsic motivation. furniture and differently-abled friendly workspaces.
5. Need for Achievement Safety needs for employees extend to below:
A theory developed by McClelland. a) All employees deserve fair treatment, non- threatening
-Need for achievement are motivated by jobs that are cordial behavior,
challenging and over which they have some control. b) fair compensation for all,
-Need for affiliation are motivated by jobs in which they c) practice right-fit-for-right-job,
can work with and help other people. d) awareness of employees' rights and complaint redressal
-Need for power are motivated by a desire to influence mechanisms,
others rather than simply to be successful. e) entitlement to necessary medical insurance and
superannuation benefits by employer.
Discrepancy Theory • High levels of uncertainty owing to business/ projects at
The extent to which we might select a work goal and apply hand,
energy toward that goal is influenced by discrepancy • possibilities of layoffs and downsizing,
between what we want, value, and expect and what the job
- - -
• lack of clarity on objectives/targets,
actually provides. • changing job descriptions,
• Potential discrepancies between what employees want • lack of visibility to internal opportunities of advancement
and what the job gives affect how motivated and satisfied lead to a culture of mistrust,
employees will be with their jobs • high stress levels, low motivation and poor productivity
levels.
, Even the strongest leaders and best performers need •Maximizing an individual's potential at work. This level is
psychological safety, and this would be ensured only all about actualizing the apex of one's potential, growth and
when organizations create a culture where employees experiences.
are encouraged to take risk or extend their work • Employees at this level feel that they can contribute
boundaries without the fear of failure or insecurity. towards greater cause for the organization, feel empowered
with envisioning and driving change, with a reasonable
3. Belongingness and Love degree of autonomy and independence of actions. They can
• Creating a friendly environment and a workplace channelize their potential, experience and learnings towards
conducive to collaboration and communication with others. creating positive impact for the business and for the
• The employees must feel a sense of pride about the organization.
organization they work for and the role they perform. They •They are highly engaged in the organization's growth story
should be praised and appreciated for their and completely synchronize their individual targets with
accomplishments. business objectives.
• Leaders must lead by example by • They inspire trust among others and lead teams with
a) discouraging all form of discriminative conduct towards passion, pride and shoe high level of ownership. ·
any employee,
b) by eliminating unconscious bias towards or against any Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs ·
individual, • It is imperative for every organization to provide a
c) by encouraging a culture of mutual respect and workplace that:
inclusiveness for all employees, a) Encourages personal growth and development,
d) by staying proactive on curbing office politics and b) Provides challenging yet interesting jobs to employees,
e) preventing pin-pointing behaviors/ blame games. c) Promotes creativity and innovation at work and d) Offer
opportunities of career advancement.
4. Self - Esteem -
• Employees feel that they are growing, advancing and ERG Theory (Alderfer, 1927)
achieving results, and that they are recognized for achieving Clayton Alderfer recategorized Maslow's hierarchy of needs
those results. into three simpler and broader classes of needs:
•Self-esteem is about realizing self-worth, feeling respected • Existence needs- These include need for basic material
in one's own eyes and by those in peer group. necessities. In short, it includes an individual's
• Employees must be provided with opportunities to physiological and physical safety needs.
contribute at a level appropriate to their capabilities, and to • Relatedness needs- These include the aspiration
display their talents. With such opportunities of continuous individual's have for maintaining significant interpersonal
learning and personal development, employees develop a relationships (be it with family, peers or superiors), getting
sense of achievement and feel motivated to work harder and public fame and recognition. Maslow's social needs and
stretch their limits. external component of esteem needs fall under this class of
• They should be kept sufficiently informed and need.
encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas. When they • Growth needs- These include the need for
feel their contributions are recognized and appreciated, they self-development personal growth and advancement.
are able to move towards self-actualization. Maslow's self-actualization needs and intrinsic component
•There must be a culture of of esteem needs fall under this category of need.
a) giving respect to co-workers,
b) encouraging formal and informal feedback mechanism, ERG Theory vs Maslow Theory
c) implementing fair performance management system •ERG Theory states that at a given point of time, more than
d) promote opportunities for career growth and personal one need may be operational.
development • ERG Theory also shows that if the fulfillment of a
e) involving employees in goal-setting and decision-making higher-level need is subdued, there is an increase in desire
processes. for satisfying a lower-level need.
•According to Maslow, an individual remains at a particular
5. Self-actualization need level until that need is satisfied. While according to
1. Chronic self-esteem is a person ’ s overall feeling about
George A. Miller (1962), Princeton psychology professor himself.
defined motivation as "the study of all those pushes and 2. Situational self-esteem (also called self-efficacy) is a
prods- biological, social, and psychological- that defeats our person’s feeling about himself in a particular situation such
laziness and moves us, either eagerly or reluctantly to as operating a machine or talking to other people.
action. 3. Socially influenced self-esteem is how a person feels
-From this definition it is clear that unless an individual is about himself based on the expectations of others.
motivated, he or she will do nothing
"The processes that account for an individual's intensity, 2. Employees who good about themselves are
·
direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a motivated to perform better at work than employees
goal. who do not feel that they are valuable and worthy
- Robins and Judge people. Enhancing Performance/ Developing Self-Esteem
among the Employees
Motivation is important to human resource managers
because it leads to action and is one of the three key A. Conduct self-esteem workshops
elements of a performance. More importantly, it’s a variable In which they are given insights into their strengths. ·
that can be influenced, because motivation is not a stable Show them that they have several strengths and are
state of mind. Managers who can influence motivation can good people.
increase performance. To increase self- esteem, employees can attend
workshops in which they are given insights into their
EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION strengths. It is thought that these insights raise
It is an internal force that drives a worker to action as well self-esteem by showing employees that they have
as the external factors that encourage that action. several strengths and are good people.
B. Outdoor Experiential Learning
Theories and Models of Employee Motivations Another approach to increase self-esteem such as a
Is an employee predisposed to being motivated? “ropes course” wherein they will learn that they are
Three individual difference traits that are related to work physically and emotionally strong.
motivation: C. Experience with Success
1. Self- Esteem an employee is given a task so easy that he will almost
➢ According to Korman ’ s consistency theory, there is a certainly succeed. It is thought that this success
positive correlation between self-esteem and performance. increases self- esteem, which should increase
Employees high in self-esteem are more motivated and will performance, which further increases self-esteem,
perform better than employees low in self-esteem which further increases performance, and so on.
➢ Consistency theory takes the relationship between This method is based loosely on the principle of the
-
self-esteem and motivation one step further by stating that
employees with high self-esteem desire to perform at high
self-fulfilling prophecy, which states that an individual
will perform as well or as poorly as he expects to
levels and employees with low self-esteem desire to perform.
perform at low levels. That is, employees who feel good a) Self-fulfilling prophecy, the idea that people behave
about themselves are motivated to perform better at work in ways consistent with
than employees who do not feel that they are valuable and their self-image.
worthy. b) Galatea effect, the relationship between
➢ If consistency theory is true, employees with high self-expectations and performance.
self-esteem are more motivated, perform better, and rate Example: If he thinks he is dumb, he will perform poorly.
their performance as being higher than employees with low So if an employee believes he will always fail, the only way
self-esteem. to break the vicious cycle is to ensure that he performs well
on a task.
- High self-expectations result in higher levels of
performance.
, MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
D. Supervisor Behavior
a) Pygmalion effect, the idea that if people believe that • Dissatisfied employees are not fully motivated, they do
something is true, they will act in a manner consistent with not perform to their best potential, often become unhappy or
that belief.. are unable to relate to the team's objectives. As the worst
Another approach to increasing employee self-esteem case, prolonged dissatisfaction can lead to poor productivity
is to train supervisors to communicate a feeling of and higher employee turnover rates.
confidence in an employee. • Therefore, employees' needs are their motivators, and HR
if an employee feels that a manager has confidence in experts tend to look at them as key indicators to devise
him, his self-esteem will increase, as will his effective employee job satisfaction and retention initiatives.
performance.
b) Golem effect, when negative expectations of an 1. Physiological needs
individual cause a decrease in that individual ’ s • Offering a job as per individual's assessed skillset and
performance. capability
occurs when negative expectations of an individual • Providing for conducive work environment with his/her
cause a decrease in that individual's actual basic needs are met (eg- access to clean drinking water,
performance clean air, ambient room temperature, meal breaks with
facility for meals/snacks, hygiene and cleanliness in work
4. Intrinsic Motivation Tendency premises).
When people are intrinsically motivated, they will seek • Finally, timely payment of salary/wages to support
to perform well because they either enjoy performing oneself and family.
the actual tasks or enjoy the challenge of successfully
completing the task. When they are extrinsically 2. Safety
motivated, they don't particularly enjoy the tasks but • Creating job security,
are motivated to perform well to receive some type of • Ensuring safe and healthy work environment through
reward or to avoid negative consequences. sound OH&S management system in place, providing
People who are intrinsically motivated don't need safety of employees and property through vigilant security
external rewards such as pay or praise. In fact, being systems, and minimizing the risk of injury or physical/
paid for something they enjoy may reduce their mental fatigue through ergonomically designed office
satisfaction and intrinsic motivation. furniture and differently-abled friendly workspaces.
5. Need for Achievement Safety needs for employees extend to below:
A theory developed by McClelland. a) All employees deserve fair treatment, non- threatening
-Need for achievement are motivated by jobs that are cordial behavior,
challenging and over which they have some control. b) fair compensation for all,
-Need for affiliation are motivated by jobs in which they c) practice right-fit-for-right-job,
can work with and help other people. d) awareness of employees' rights and complaint redressal
-Need for power are motivated by a desire to influence mechanisms,
others rather than simply to be successful. e) entitlement to necessary medical insurance and
superannuation benefits by employer.
Discrepancy Theory • High levels of uncertainty owing to business/ projects at
The extent to which we might select a work goal and apply hand,
energy toward that goal is influenced by discrepancy • possibilities of layoffs and downsizing,
between what we want, value, and expect and what the job
- - -
• lack of clarity on objectives/targets,
actually provides. • changing job descriptions,
• Potential discrepancies between what employees want • lack of visibility to internal opportunities of advancement
and what the job gives affect how motivated and satisfied lead to a culture of mistrust,
employees will be with their jobs • high stress levels, low motivation and poor productivity
levels.
, Even the strongest leaders and best performers need •Maximizing an individual's potential at work. This level is
psychological safety, and this would be ensured only all about actualizing the apex of one's potential, growth and
when organizations create a culture where employees experiences.
are encouraged to take risk or extend their work • Employees at this level feel that they can contribute
boundaries without the fear of failure or insecurity. towards greater cause for the organization, feel empowered
with envisioning and driving change, with a reasonable
3. Belongingness and Love degree of autonomy and independence of actions. They can
• Creating a friendly environment and a workplace channelize their potential, experience and learnings towards
conducive to collaboration and communication with others. creating positive impact for the business and for the
• The employees must feel a sense of pride about the organization.
organization they work for and the role they perform. They •They are highly engaged in the organization's growth story
should be praised and appreciated for their and completely synchronize their individual targets with
accomplishments. business objectives.
• Leaders must lead by example by • They inspire trust among others and lead teams with
a) discouraging all form of discriminative conduct towards passion, pride and shoe high level of ownership. ·
any employee,
b) by eliminating unconscious bias towards or against any Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs ·
individual, • It is imperative for every organization to provide a
c) by encouraging a culture of mutual respect and workplace that:
inclusiveness for all employees, a) Encourages personal growth and development,
d) by staying proactive on curbing office politics and b) Provides challenging yet interesting jobs to employees,
e) preventing pin-pointing behaviors/ blame games. c) Promotes creativity and innovation at work and d) Offer
opportunities of career advancement.
4. Self - Esteem -
• Employees feel that they are growing, advancing and ERG Theory (Alderfer, 1927)
achieving results, and that they are recognized for achieving Clayton Alderfer recategorized Maslow's hierarchy of needs
those results. into three simpler and broader classes of needs:
•Self-esteem is about realizing self-worth, feeling respected • Existence needs- These include need for basic material
in one's own eyes and by those in peer group. necessities. In short, it includes an individual's
• Employees must be provided with opportunities to physiological and physical safety needs.
contribute at a level appropriate to their capabilities, and to • Relatedness needs- These include the aspiration
display their talents. With such opportunities of continuous individual's have for maintaining significant interpersonal
learning and personal development, employees develop a relationships (be it with family, peers or superiors), getting
sense of achievement and feel motivated to work harder and public fame and recognition. Maslow's social needs and
stretch their limits. external component of esteem needs fall under this class of
• They should be kept sufficiently informed and need.
encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas. When they • Growth needs- These include the need for
feel their contributions are recognized and appreciated, they self-development personal growth and advancement.
are able to move towards self-actualization. Maslow's self-actualization needs and intrinsic component
•There must be a culture of of esteem needs fall under this category of need.
a) giving respect to co-workers,
b) encouraging formal and informal feedback mechanism, ERG Theory vs Maslow Theory
c) implementing fair performance management system •ERG Theory states that at a given point of time, more than
d) promote opportunities for career growth and personal one need may be operational.
development • ERG Theory also shows that if the fulfillment of a
e) involving employees in goal-setting and decision-making higher-level need is subdued, there is an increase in desire
processes. for satisfying a lower-level need.
•According to Maslow, an individual remains at a particular
5. Self-actualization need level until that need is satisfied. While according to
