Motivation and Reinforcement

Motivation and Reinforcement

Summary:

Motivation is the art of getting people to do things or to do things more efficiently or quickly. Knowing what the human behavior will do is of the upmost importance. Some of the principals of theorist Abraham Maslow and Frederick Herzberg will open your eyes up to what really motivate people.

Finding out which type of motivation intrinsic or extrinsic, is a building block of how a person gets influenced for better motivation. Knowing this trait is a helpful factor to understanding the personality of the person. There attitude can change or formed by a good or bad frame of reference in individuals views.

Only by determining the motivational approach of what sets a person to higher standards is possible by looking and assessing that individual person. Knowing how to evaluate things and the signs of a person, who shows a lack of motivation, you can better bring out there inner potential to the surface.

Motivation can only be managed with objectives that are ethically and efficiently. Personal has to understand the objective and vision so they can move towards its goal. The use of teamwork can be a useful aid to arouse personal to set higher goals of expectations. Listening to the individuals and giving positive feedback will help build on there part of being respected and utilized which builds a sense of trust.

To better develop the motivation of workers you have to look at the job itself and make sure there is enrichment in it. The need for variety and task significance greatly ads to the work place environment so the individual can really see the end product of all the motivation efforts they are giving.

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Motivation and Reinforcement:

Motivation is difficult to explain and even harder to "turn on" in people. Webster defines motivation as "an act or process of motivating; the condition of being motivated; a force, stimulus, or influence: incentive or drive" ("Motivation"). It is most often the job of the manager to use motivation to drive its employees to accomplish acts which they normally would not have done. The study of motivation helps managers understand what prompts people to initiate action, what influences their choice of action, and why they persist in their action over time.

One most noted theorist is Abraham Maslow; he carried out his investigations into human behavior and developed the hierarchy of needs theory. Maslow suggested that there are five sets of goals which may be called basic needs. These five are physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization--that exists in a hierarchical order and can be compared to climbing a ladder. Once a lower level need has been fulfilled, the person seeks to fulfill the next higher level. This progression leads to self actualization as being the highest level.

Frederick Herzberg had his own theory about employee job satisfaction. Herzberg interviewed a group of employees to find out what made them satisfied and dissatisfied with their jobs. His interviews revealed that there are two fundamental dimensions to job satisfaction: motivation and hygiene. Motivation factors include achievement, recognition, responsibility and job advancement. These are the job elements that fulfill individuals' needs. Hygiene factors, on the other hand, do not motivate but can minimize dissatisfaction. Examples of hygiene factors include reasonable salary, interpersonal relations and good working conditions. These factors are

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associated with the employee's environment. According to Herzberg, if a manager pays

close attention to both of these factors; they will create good employee satisfaction. There are two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is by far the better of the two because it motivates people to achieve goals from within themselves. People feel a desire or drive to do something, and they behave in ways to accomplish that. Extrinsic motivation is created from external factors outside of us that influence our internal needs, wants, and subsequent behaviors. Those external factors can include rewards, recognition, bonuses, promotions, and praise. When thinking in terms of motivating employees, a manager should try to help an employee make the connection between their inner drives to fulfill their personal needs and what that might mean in terms of working hard and smart on the job. When employees identify their own welfare with that of their employer, they'll naturally work harder.

You have to look at attitudes and how are they formed, measured and changed? What degree of influence do they exert on behavior? In the assessment of attitude it can be summarized as being, "a frame of reference that influences the individual's views or opinions on various topics and situations, and influences their behavior." It is widely accepted, however, that attitudes include both beliefs and values. Beliefs, although considered to be based on the knowledge gained about the world around us, can vary greatly in their importance and influence, and therefore being their resistance

to change. For instance, an individual's belief in God is highly influential, not only on its own but also in its effect on many other beliefs held by the individual, whereas a belief that eating late at night may cause indigestion is far less central and influential in its effect. Beliefs, both major and minor, form the cognitive component of attitude structure.

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You are able to motivate others only by example. When you understand how powerful motivation is for getting things done and achieving top performance and one's

potential, you will see understand why this skill is so powerful and useful to have. All high achievers have positive attitudes and possess the skill of being able to motivate themselves and others.

In order to determine the motivational approach to use on employees you must know the signs indicating a lack of motivation. (1). Little interest in achieving established goals Employee will not work to reach goals, because he does not see the goals of

The work unit as important. The employee may reject efforts of supervisor for personal or other reasons. (2). Unsatisfactory output and quality - Employee will do "sloppy" work and will not complete tasks adequately. (3). Absenteeism or tardiness - Employee will begin to come in late or