Motivation theories

Getting the most out of employees is very important to businesses so it is no surprise that motivation has been a topic of research over many years. A number of theorists have tried to explain the factors that motivate workers.

Taylor (1909)

According to Frederick Taylor, there is only one thing that motivates workers – money. Taylor outlined his ideas in his book, The Principles of Scientific Management. According to Taylor, employees will do as little as possible, given the opportunity. Taylor argued that it is possible to work out the best, most effective way to do a task. Once the best way is found, every worker should be taught to do the task in exactly the same way. People should be paid for the work they carry out - 'A fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work'.

Maslow (1954)

Abraham Maslow proposed the idea of a hierarchy of needs.

Initially, people have physiological basic needs such as water, food and shelter. They are motivated to make these things available. Once these needs are met, Maslow suggests that people are then motivated by trying to satisfy the next needs in the hierarchy, which are, in his model, love and belonging. In this way people are motivated to try to achieve the next thing in the hierarchy when one level in the hierarchy has been met. At the very top of the hierarchy is self-actualisation, where people have managed to realise all their needs.

For businesses, Maslow's hierarchy offers the idea that they need to focus on things other than money in order for employees to be motivated in the workplace.

Herzberg (1950s)

Frederick Herzberg proposed the idea of motivation in terms of two factors. He called the factors 'hygiene factors' and 'motivators'. Only motivators motivate people according to Herzberg, so businesses need to focus on providing these. But, hygiene factors also play a role, because, although their presence does not increase motivation, a lack of hygiene factors can make people dissatisfied. This can lead to a lack of motivation.

You can see some of the motivators and hygiene factors that Herzberg suggested below:

Mayo (1920s)

Elton Mayo conducted a series of experiments at one of the factories of a company called Western Electric in the USA. They were investigating what motivated people by changing working conditions, e.g. room lighting, heating, breaks and so on. They discovered, unexpectedly, that not only did productivity rise when they changed a variable for the better, e.g. giving workers a longer break, but also when they returned to the way it was initially. Mayo explained this by suggesting that the group were motivated, not by the working conditions, but by the attention they were receiving as part of the process.

This was called the Hawthorne Effect after the name of the factory, which describes how people modify their behaviour when they are given attention.

Pause for thought