Motivation Will: The First Grand Theory

The world today has complex structures, being in control is a must for maximum productivity. Motivation to do better must be attained. But in our constant intricate changes, it may be a fact that work motivation may be harder to attain. There are some motivational problems that man needs to look into before it is too late to adapt to the persistent change of the world.

In the 21st century there have been many improvements in the status of mankind Complex systems have been developed, huge buildings have been built and theories have been formulated. Man has come a long way since ancient times. Man could not have done these magnificent tasks if he did not want to do it. What makes a person performs this certain splendid improvements?

There are many factors that attributes to mankind’s success through the centuries. One of those factors is motivation. Motivation is defined by the cause that a being performs a certain action. It had been studied that motivation for human beings requires two drives, and those are conscious and unconscious drives. The conscious drive means that the person is aware that he is doing a certain action. In unconscious drives, the person is not aware or he automatically does that certain action. Having the motivation to work would show healthy results.

There have been many study in the field of motivation, however, there is no theory that has been generally established. Only directions for motivation have been recognized. Abraham Maslow, an American Physiologist, became famous for his work in humanistic theories. One of his famed works is the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It described that the needs of man is ordered. It was stated that the needs of man consisted of two parts, the secondary and primary needs. The primary needs must first be met before the secondary needs could be attained. Attaining these needs is acquired quite some time in a human being’s lifep. Humanistic Psychotherapy can also be done so that a person can advance from one level of need to another.

Motivation is a big factor in creating a productive community. For example, in a corporation, it is the beneficial that the leaders of the corporation to motivate its workers with job incentives, increased salary, Christmas bonuses and many more. If the corporation gave the workers poor incentives and low salaries then the employees would not work productively.

In a large scale, if a corporation that is motivating its workers then it would show positive results. If the corporation show positive results then the market that it belongs would improve. Motivation may be the basics of choice of action but the result it gives is largely beneficial. Because of this, the control of working motivation is important and should always be taken into consideration.

Several work motivation theories have been developed. Some of these theories are Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Y and William Ouchi’s Theory Z. The theory X states that employees do not want to work. They are only forced to work mainly because of some material incentives such as their salary. It may be said that employees work because they need to. Because of these, the motivations that the company should use are the ones that would make the employees continue working even though they try to avoid it, such as threat of penalties.

Theory Y states that employees see their work as a source of fulfilment. It may be said that employees are working because they want to work. The workers want the responsibilities they have and, as employees, want to perform them well. Because of this, the motivations that the company should use are the ones that would make the employees more involved in the management such as promotions. It was observed that Japanese companies apply Theory Y and the American companies apply Theory X.

There was quite a little difference between the results of the outcome although it was noted that in Theory Y, the workers attained personal satisfaction and if there is personal satisfaction then there is productivity.  Theory Z, in the other hand, is a lot like Theory Y. It is a better form of Theory Y. Other than making the employees involved in the management, the company also gives the employees lifetime incentives which increase the employees’ loyalty to the company.

It was also cited that an employee does not only work for only one specialization, the employee works with diversity. Because of this, they learn more about the company over time which makes them closer and closer to it. To summarize it, we can say that Theory X is the negative reinforcement, Theory Y is the positive reinforcement and Theory Z is the more positive reinforcement.

Although work motivation theories have been developed there is still the need to develop new theoretical models of motivation. The three work motivation is not enough to solve the growing motivational problems. For example, person A attains his satisfaction in painting portraits but due to lack of funds, he is forced to work as a call center agent so that he could sustain his everyday needs. Person A only works at the call center agent for the money. He would not have personal satisfaction in working for that agency.

Because of this, he would not have productivity which means that he wouldn’t excel in his career in the call center agency because his passion is painting portraits. That means, the call center agency would not increase productivity with person A working for them. In the competitive market, a company such as the call center agency needs to be developed. If the agency would not increase productivity then the agency would not be developed. Thus, the performance of the agency would either be stagnant or would shutdown. It is a hefty price to pay for employees that are not gaining personal satisfaction.

A new motivational theory must be made so that even though that an employee is not gaining personal satisfaction, because that person is only in the job for the money, that person will still gain productivity. If there is no new motivational theory created to sustain this problem, and then there would be much instability or a loss.  If a person does not attain the primary levels of the needs then that person would not also attain the secondary level of needs. If so, then that person would not progress and, therefore, be left in the flow of modernization.

In our competitive market today, competence is a must. The growing community is encountering problems, because the larger the community, the more error it will come across with. Every person encounters different problems and the person must adapt to the changes it will give and those changes does not necessary mean that it would pleasant for that person. This may lead to personal dissatisfaction.

If a company have employees that do not have personal satisfaction within their jobs then that company would like to shutdown or cease to operate. Also, some of the work motivation that is developed was only based on the powerful countries. The work motivations for the powerful countries may not be compatible with the less powerful countries. Much complex work motivation models may be needed to support the other difficult problems.

If there would be a developed motivation model that will create productivity even though there is no personal satisfaction, then it would be a great aid. The thought of having productivity without personal satisfaction is still uncertain and maybe impossible especially because it contradicts the current theories that have been developed. Much study must still be done in the field of motivation. In mankind’s development, there is an increase in complexity which means there is also an increase of problems that could be encountered.

It can be deduced that we are still in the early stages of development in terms of studying motivation. We still lack to completely comprehend our behavior of choice. The concept of predicting our choices and the choices of others are vital for our development. But even though we still haven’t figured out completely the process of our motivation, it does not mean that we will not figure it out in the near future. Presently, we can still manage to progress in our state.

The problem is that will we be able to adapt to the predicted problems that will be encountered in the future. Constant study in our behavior of choice is one way to develop new ways of motivational models. If this is done, in later time, we could determine new motivational theories. Man can always withstand the harsh howls of life.

REFERENCES:

“Abraham Maslow.” Microsoft® Encarta® 2007 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2006.

“Motivation.” Microsoft® Encarta® 2007 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft

Corporation, 2006.

Kassin, Saul. “Psychology.” Microsoft® Encarta® 2007 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2006.

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