Motivation is a complex subject. Modern science has looked into the burning question: What motivates people? There have been numerous studies that specifically explored the question from a business point of view to figure out what motivates people at work. Although there hasn’t been a consensus on the adequacy of one theory over the other, there have been a few workforce motivation theories that have been at the forefront when it comes to a worker’s motivation at work. Let’s go over them briefly below.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Abraham Maslow first came up with his theory back in 1943. He proposed that people are motivated by a set of needs that are prioritized according to their value in their lives. He determined that these needs are categorized in a set of five stages that together make up a hierarchy of needs.
At the bottom of that hierarchy lies the most basic needs that must be fulfilled before the person can move on to seeking the next category of needs. To this day, the businesses have relied heavily on this theory of motivation to motivate workers in the workplace. However, what works to motivate one person may not motivate the other as at any point in time, different employees may be at different levels of attainment of their needs.
For example, if an employee can meet their own physiological (food, clothing, and shelter) and safety (health, security) needs, the prospects of having these needs met by their employer will not motivate him or her anymore. However, based on the theory, almost all workplaces have provided the basics today that meet employees’ physiological and security needs. It is mostly the esteem needs (recognition and acknowledgment) that motivate most modern employees today, and a number of benefits and offerings are built around these today by most companies to ensure worker motivation.
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory/Motivator-Hygiene
The second of the two workforce motivation theories, Herzberg’s Two-factor theory, also called Motivator-Hygiene, looked more specifically at workforce motivation. It pointed out that there are factors that work as ‘satisfiers’ at any job, and there are factors that serve to ‘dissatisfy’ an employee at work. The factors that led to job satisfaction or motivation at work included recognition, achievement, responsibility, advancement, and the nature of the job itself, while close supervision, unhygienic working conditions, toxic relationships, and institutional politics go on to demoralize the employee.
Building upon the findings presented in Herzberg’s theory, organizations have lately realized the importance of motivators such as enrichment, recognition, personal growth, etc., and we see businesses today incorporate a number of non-monetary benefits today along these lines. On the other hand, the hygiene factors, the absence of which would dissatisfy or demoralize the employee, have been recognized as a must across all workplaces.
Final Word
Coming back to the question regarding which of the workforce motivation theories is most relevant today, one thing is for sure; there is no single theory out there that applies in its entirety when it comes to employee motivation in the modern workplace. That said, the ways most contemporary businesses try to motivate their employees today, with a mix of both monetary and non-monetary benefits and with a highly personalized approach to motivating the employees, are suggestive that they’ve relied on the findings of Herzberg’s and Maslow’s motivational theories heavily.
If you, too, want your workers to be motivated and to achieve peak performance levels, schedule a meeting with any of the specialist consultants at JS Benefits Group to see what would best suit your needs.
