LIST OF APPENDICES
3.8 Motivation
This section shall visit the concept of motivation for the purposes of what researchers say and that it is the belief of this research that it is central to talent identification, attraction and retention. The section shall briefly discuss the most common theory of motivation and thus, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The reasoning for this stance is that there is too many theories of motivation and to discuss all of them might derail the parameters of this research.
Maximising team engagement, motivation, attendance and retention through assessment, regular feedback, on going support and experience-based development initiatives is vital in today’s highly competitive environment. For many organisations, key skills retention, employee engagement and perhaps, to a lesser extent, employee motivation and attendance are key operational, or even strategic issues.
These elements impact directly on organisation costs, productivity and business performance.
Glen (2006) developed a holistic matrix of nine employee engagement predictors which take into account both obvious and less obvious sources of motivation/demotivation. It is the belief of this scholar that if managed in the right combinations, the matrix provides a powerful framework for managing employee motivation, team engagement, and key skills retention across most organisations.
The scholar does warn tough, that each organisation may have different profiles at different levels. These predictors include:
• organisational process;
• role challenge;
• values;
• information;
• stake/leverage/reward/recognition;
• management;
• work environment; and
• product/service.
3.8.1 The concept of motivation
The concept of motivation is certainly one of the most utilised in the world today. It is a concept central to what individuals do on daily basis. An employee waking up every morning to report for work is largely driven by their individual motives. According to Daft & Marcic (2009), motivation refers to the forces either within or external to a person that arouse enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a certain course of action.
Robins et al. (2009:144) define motivation as a result of the interaction between an individual and a situation. They view the concept of motivation as the process that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal. The three key elements in this definition are intensity, direction, and persistence. Intensity is concerned with how hard a person tries. Direction on the other hand, means where the effort is channelled and that is whether it will benefit the organisation or not. Therefore it is vital to consider the quality of effort as well as its intensity. Effort that is directed toward, and consistent with, the organisation’s goals, is the kind of effort that should be sought. Robins et al. (2009:145) finally assert there is the persistence dimension to motivation and this measure how long can an individual maintain an effort. From this dimension it can safely be concluded that motivated individuals stay with a task long enough to achieve their goal. Many authors have also defined the concept of motivation. Motivation has been defined as:
the psychological process that gives behaviour purpose and direction (Kreitner, 1995); a predisposition to behave in a purposive manner to achieve specific, unmet needs (Buford, Bedeian & Lindner, 1995); an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need (Higgins, 1994); and the will to achieve (Bedeian, 1993).
Having been exposed to various definitions of the concept of motivation, this research project shall view motivation as the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organisational goals. The study of motivation assists
what influences their choice of action, and why they persist in that action over time, (Daft & Marcic 2009). It is in this view that turnover and intention to turnover occurs in organisations, particularly public sector organisations, due to lack of motivation on the part of the departing employee to stay with the organisation.
Foundations of motivation
There is four distinct perspectives on employee motivation have evolved over time:
the traditional approach, the human relations approach, the human resource approach, and the contemporary approach. The following is a brief discussion of these perspectives.
Traditional approach
The study of employee motivation began with the work of Frederick W. Taylor on scientific management. Scientific management pertains to the systematic analysis of an employee’s job for the purpose of increasing efficiency. Economic rewards are provided to employees for high performance. The emphasis on pay evolved into the notion of the economic man - people would work harder for higher pay. This approach led to the development of incentive pay systems, in which people were paid strictly on the quantity and quality of their work outputs, (Daft & Marcic, 2009).
Human relations approach
A more sociable employee in managers’ minds gradually replaced the economic man. Beginning with the landmark Hawthorne studies at a Western Electric plant, noneconomic rewards such as congenial work groups that met social needs, seemed more important than money as a motivator of work behaviour. For the first time, workers were studied as people, and the concept of social man was born, (ibid).
Human resource approach
The human resource approach carries the concepts of economic man and social man further to introduce the concept of the whole person. Human resource theory suggests that employees are complex and motivated by many factors. For example, the work by McGregor on Theory X and Theory Y argued that people want to do a good job and that work is as natural and healthy as play. Sponsors of the human
employees through economic or social rewards. By assuming that employees are competent and able to make major contributions, managers can enhance organisational performance. The human resource approach laid the foundation for contemporary perspectives on employee motivation, (ibid).
Contemporary approach
Three types of theories, each of which will be discussed next, dominate this contemporary approach to employee motivation. The first are content theories, which stress the analysis of underlying human needs. Content theories provide insight into the needs in organisations and help managers understand how needs can be satisfied in the workplace, (ibid). Process theories concern the thought processes that influence behaviour. They focus on how employees seek rewards in work circumstances. Reinforcement theories focus on employee learning of desired work behaviours.
It is important for managers to fully understand the concept of motivation in the management of talent in their organisations, particularly in public sector organisations where turnover rates are ever skyrocketing.