The essence of motivation: concept, process organization, functions

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

To perform any activity, a person needs to want to perform actions, this is connected with the concept of motivation. The most important function of a manager is to motivate staff to work. To perform this important function, it is necessary to understand what this process is. Let's see what the essence and functions of employee management motivation are.

The concept of motivation

Different authors interpret this phenomenon in their own way, emphasizing various aspects. In general, the essence of motivation can be formulated as follows - it is the process of inducing a person (oneself or another) to perform any action. At the same time, motivation is not coercion, but the actualization of goals that become important for a motivated person. This psychological process is associated with important human needs and their satisfaction. The concept and essence of motivation is studied in various sciences: psychology, pedagogy, management. Since it is based on the processes of managing people and influencingthem.

Motivation in psychology

This concept originates within the framework of psychology. It is defined as the process of regulation of any activity. Without an incentive motive for action, a person would not do anything at all, therefore nature has laid in us this mechanism of “wishing”. When a person has a need or desire, he is ready to do a lot, almost anything. Motivation is closely related to the needs and interests of people. Psychologists believe that motivation is based on biological and social needs.

The first group includes needs for food, water, sleep, security, procreation. They are satisfied with people first. The second group includes the needs for respect, communication, self-expression, belonging to a group, self-realization. In social needs, spiritual needs are sometimes also distinguished. All human needs, according to A. Maslow, are presented in the form of a pyramid. A person first satisfies basic biological and social needs, and then proceeds to satisfy spiritual needs.

The material or objectified embodiment of a need is a motive. It is he who plays the most important role in the process of motivation. It is a kind of ideal object to which the activity of the individual is directed. The motive is always associated with emotional experiences, it can be positive experiences - anticipation of the possession of this object, or negative ones arising from dissatisfaction or incomplete satisfaction of needs.

Motivation can be represented as the following chain: at the initial stage, a need arises, then a person decides how relevant it is and whether it is necessary to satisfy it. At the next stage, the individual determines the motive and purpose of the activity, builds a strategy to achieve the goal and takes actions. Receiving rewards in the form of pleasure or comfort. At the final stage, a person evaluates how completely and qualitatively the need was satisfied, gains experience that affects the next motivation.

Motivation in management

Somewhat differently the concept and essence of motivation are characterized in management theory. This process is defined as a set of external and internal forces that motivate a person to activities in which he achieves his own goals and the goals of the organization. Motivation in management is always associated not only with needs, but also with rewards. As a result of his efforts, a person should receive encouragement that allows him to satisfy various needs. Within the framework of labor activity, motivation affects the intensity of the efforts that a person spends to achieve the goal, his perseverance in achieving the goal, the quality of the activity, and his conscientiousness. Thus, motivation in management is the most important task of the leader. He must create conditions in which a person will link his own goals with the tasks facing the organization.

Work motivation

The manager must influence the staff in order toincreasing labor productivity, improving the quality of products. And its main tool in this impact on employees is motivation. In management, the essence of labor motivation is understood as meeting the needs of employees through the performance of professional functions and solving production problems. This process has two sides. On the one hand, the staff must be able to satisfy their needs, otherwise they will see no reason to work, especially to work efficiently and productively. On the other hand, a HR specialist, a manager who seeks to increase labor productivity, can find the most rational and economical way to achieve the goals of the organization, and for this he needs to motivate the staff, since a manager can achieve his goals only with the help of other people. The essence of motivation is that the staff must carry out delegated powers in accordance with the goals of the organization. The structure of labor motivation includes:

• employee need;
• a good that can satisfy a given need;
• a labor action that must be performed in order to gain good;
• moral and material costs associated with the performance of a labor action, i.e. the price that an employee pays for meeting his needs, these can be skills, abilities, time.

Motivation functions

The global goal of motivation is to influence staff withwith the help of incentive motives in order to increase the efficiency of labor and the entire management system of the organization. Also, the essence of labor motivation implies building a system of individual measures to encourage and stimulate employees to enhance their work. The main functions of motivation are:

• Motivation to action. The emergence of a motive is always associated with the search for the desired program of action. A person who actively acts towards satisfying his need is considered motivated, and an employee who is indifferent and passive is considered unmotivated
• Line of business. There are always several ways to achieve any goal, it is motivation that determines the choice of the desired action of the employee, the best direction is the choice of the employee in favor of diligently fulfilling the tasks assigned to him.
• Control and maintenance of behavior. A person with a goal, i.e. motivated, shows perseverance and interest in achieving it. He systematically performs the necessary actions, and labor activity is dominant for him.

Content theories of motivation

To understand the essence of the motivation process, a number of theories have been developed, some of which focus on the content component of this phenomenon. They are built on understanding needs as the main factor of motivation. These theories study the features and types of needs, their impact on activities. Within this approach, concepts have been developed:

• Hierarchiesneeds A. Maslow. He believes that a person consistently satisfies his needs, ranging from biological to needs for self-realization. At the same time, some people stop in their motivation at some of the levels. Therefore, Maslow's model has a pyramidal shape.
• The theory of acquired needs by D. McClelland. According to this theory, a person's motivation to work is based on three types of needs: involvement, power and success.
• F. Herzberg's two-factor model. He believed that a person has two groups of needs: hygienic, i.e. those that keep a person at work, and motivators, those that encourage him to work.

Procedural theories of motivation

Scientists who propose a procedural approach consider the essence of motivation from a different perspective. They focus not on the content of the goal to which the employee is striving, but on the process of achieving it. This approach does not deny the importance of needs, but emphasizes the importance of the process of satisfying them. Within the framework of this approach, the following theories have been developed: justice by J. Adams, expectations by V. Vroom, X and Y by D. McGregor. All these theories emphasize that when a person achieves his goal, he pays attention to how this process is organized, how powers, rewards and sanctions are distributed. For management, comprehending the essence of motivation in the organization, these theories turned out to be very productive. In accordance with them, the organization of personnel motivation at enterprises is carried out. They perfectly explained the essence and contentmotivation, and also made it possible to develop a set of measures to increase staff motivation.

Types of motivation

In management, the essence of motivation is defined as a system of measures to increase the productivity of workers. And in this regard, there are several types of motivation:

• material, built on the basis of the use of methods of material incentives for employees;
• psychological, based on the use of a person's needs in belonging to a group, in respect, in recognizing his significance.

Also, the essence of motivation is revealed in the allocation of its subspecies, such as internal and external. Despite the fact that it is difficult to divide motives according to their place of origin, there is a tradition to divide motivation into one that is associated with external influences, these include wages, orders from the manager, and internal motivation associated with the psychological processes of a person: fear, desire for power, knowledge.

There is also a practice to single out the types of motivation by the tools used. In this case, we can talk about rationing, coercion and stimulation of the work of personnel.

Motivating factors

Despite the fact that motivation is an individual process, there are some universal reasons for its increase. So, based on understanding the essence of the motivation system as the most important component of the organization's management, the following factors for increasing staff motivation are distinguished:

• Organization status. It is more pleasant for people to work in a well-known and prestigious company, for the status of an organization they are ready to work harder and better.
• Interesting work. In the case when work gives a person pleasure, he likes it, he works with greater dedication, strives for self-development and self-improvement, which has a positive effect on labor productivity.
• The presence of material interest. Even the most interesting work should bring income to a person, as this allows him to satisfy his basic needs.

With a combination of all three factors, you can get the maximum involvement of personnel in the production process and build effective management at the enterprise.

Organization of staff motivation

Any enterprise should think about how to increase the motivation of employees. Because the quality of their work and productivity is the secret of the company's success. The essence of motivation is to constantly push a person to work effectively. The complexity of this process lies in the fact that motivation methods can lose their effectiveness, so the motivation system in the organization must be constantly improved. A person quickly gets used to what he already has and ceases to perceive it as a motivating factor. For example, employees who regularly receive bonuses, without special criteria in equal amounts for everyone, begin to take this money for granted and do not apply specialeffort to get them.

Motivation and stimulation

Often ordinary consciousness equates these concepts. This is due to the fact that the essence of motivation and incentives is approximately the same and has a common goal - increasing labor productivity. But at the same time, motivation is a person’s inner conviction that one needs to work well, and stimulation is external, motivating factors that push a person to the need to work. Both tools should be used productively in the activities of an HR manager. Motivation is a more long-term phenomenon, it takes a lot of time and resources to form it, but it also gives a long and high-quality result. The stimulation may be faster, but it has a short-term effect.

Types of incentives

Traditionally, the organization builds a system of employee motivation and uses methods to stimulate them. Traditionally, material and non-material incentives are distinguished. The first is remuneration, consisting of a fixed and a variable part. Since the employee quickly begins to take the receipt of wages for granted, it is necessary to stimulate him to perform better by paying extra money for special achievements in work. Non-material incentive methods include various social programs (training, development, he alth maintenance and career growth) and various types of benefits. For example, an extra day off, the opportunity to come to work with your pet, holidays for employees and their families.