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UnderstandingIndividualBehaviors

“What conditions of work, what kinds of work, what kinds of man-agement, and what kinds of reward or pay will help motivatehumans?” (Maslow, in Motivation and Personality, 1954)

In Part II we will try to answer the questions posed by Maslow. Part IIcontains two chapters on motivation: content theories and process the-ories. Although the theoretical bases of the two theories are different,there is a high degree of interrelatedness between the content theoriesand process theories of motivation.

In Chapter 5, we will describe and explain four content theories ofmotivation: (1) Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, (2) Alderfer’s ERG Theory,(3) Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory, and (4) McClelland’s 3-Needs Theory.Each of these theories contains some parts of the others, as they attemptto explain what motivates employees.

In Chapter 6, we will examine five process theories of motivation: (1)Expectancy Theory, (2) Equity Theory, (3) Satisfaction–PerformanceTheory, (4) Goal Setting Theory, and (5) Reinforcement Theory. AlthoughReinforcement Theory is not usually included with process theories ofmotivation, it does assist managers with understanding what reinforce-ments control an individual’s behavior. Process theories contain somecomponents of the content theories and vice versa.

P A R T

II

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C H A P T E R

5

113

Content Theoriesof Motivation

Nancy Borkowski, DBA, CPA, FACHE

Learning OutcomesAfter completing this chapter, the student should be able to understand:

1. The definition of motivation.2. The difference between content theories and process theories of

motivation.3. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and its criticisms.4. Alderfer’s ERG Theory. 5. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory and how it relates to job design.6. Hackman and Oldham’s Job Characteristic Model.7. McClelland’s 3-Needs Theory.

■ OVERVIEWWe will begin by defining motivation before we explore the two groupsof motivation theories—content and process. Motivation is described asthe conscious or unconscious stimulus, incentive, or motives for actiontoward a goal resulting from psychological or social factors, the factorsgiving the purpose or direction to behavior (see Figure 5-1). In otherwords, motivation is the psychological process through which unsatis-fied needs or wants lead to drives that are aimed at goals or incentives.The purpose of an individual’s behavior is to satisfy needs or wants. Aneed is anything a person requires or desires. A want is the consciousrecognition of a need. The presence of an unsatisfied need or want cre-ates an internal tension, from which an individual seeks relief.

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114 CHAPTER 5 CONTENT THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

In organizational behavior the concept of motivation has been re-searched over many years. Through this research, we have identified andgrouped motivation into two theories of motivation: (1) content and (2)process.

Content theories of motivation (also referred to as needs theories) ex-plain the specific factors that motivate people. The content approach fo-cuses on the assumption that individuals are motivated by the desire tosatisfy their inner needs. Content theories answer the question “whatdrives behavior?” Content theories help managers understand whatarouses, energizes, or initiates employee behavior.

Process theories of motivation (also referred to as cognitive theories)focus on the cognitive processes underlying an individual’s level of mo-tivation. This approach provides a description and analysis of how be-havior is energized, directed, sustained, and stopped. Process theories helpexplain how an employee’s behavior is initiated, redirected, and halted.

Employee motivation has a direct impact on a healthservice organi-zation’s performance; therefore, managers need to understand what mo-tivates employees. By understanding what motivates employees, managerscan assist them in reaching their fullest potential. There are some factorsthe manager can control (e.g., extrinsic factors, such as salary, workingconditions, interpersonal relationships, etc.). For the motivating factorsthat are intrinsic to the employee (e.g., need for recognition, achieve-ment, etc.), managers can be influential by providing a work environ-ment that allows employees the opportunity to satisfy their personalneeds and, simultaneously, the organization’s goals.

Motivating staff is not about hanging posters with cute sayings in theoffice. Motivating is something managers do by establishing an organi-zational structure and environment that provide the opportunity for em-ployees to satisfy both their intrinsic and extrinsic needs. Remember,motivation is an individual’s voluntary drive to satisfy a need or want!

■ MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDSThe most popular and widely cited human motivation theorist is AbrahamMaslow. Maslow (1954) is considered the father of humanistic psychol-

Unsatisfiedneed or want

Satisfied needor want

Drive

Figure 5-1 Process of Motivation

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ogy. As a brief background, humanistic psychology incorporates aspectsof both behavioral and psychoanalytic psychology. Behaviorists believethat human behavior is controlled by external environmental factors,whereas, psychoanalytic psychology is based on the idea that human be-havior is controlled by internal unconscious forces. Early in his career,Maslow concluded that human behavior is not controlled only by inter-nal or external factors (e.g., needs), but by both and that some factorshave precedence over others. From this concept, Maslow created his five-tier hierarchy of needs (see Figure 5-2).

According to Maslow, humans have five levels of needs and are drivento fulfill these needs. The most basic needs are physiological, such as theneed for air, water, and food. After the basic physiological needs areachieved, an individual moves toward satisfying safety and security needs.At this lower level of the hierarchy, individuals are interested in havinga home in a safe neighborhood, job security, a retirement plan, andhealth/medical insurance. Because employees are concerned about satis-fying these external or “extrinsic” needs, these motivators need to be ad-dressed by employers, such as by providing employees with an adequatebenefits package.

The next three levels in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are somewhat lesstangible and more psychological. The third level in the hierarchy is a de-sire to be loved, to belong, and to be approved of by others. Humanshave a drive to feel needed and loved. Within the workplace, employees

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 115

y

Selfactualization

Self-esteem

Love and Belonging

Safety - Security

Physical - hunger/thirst

Figure 5-2 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Source: Maslow, A. H. (1954), Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper Row.

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seek a sense of community and belonging. As such, they seek the ap-proval and acceptance of their peers and supervisors. Managers, by help-ing staff feel connected to the organization and its mission, can providethis sense of belonging and community.

After an individual’s physiological, safety, and belonging needs aresatisfied, the next tier in the hierarchy is self-esteem. Maslow noted twoversions of esteem needs—a lower one (external) and a higher one (in-ternal). External esteem is satisfied by achieving the respect of others,social and professional status, recognition, and appreciation. The higherform of esteem, internal esteem, involves the need for self-respect, a feel-ing of confidence, achievement, and autonomy. Individuals want to becompetent in what they do, and self-esteem grows when one receives at-tention and recognition from others for one’s accomplishments. Therefore,careful use of praise and of positive feedback to staff is an importantmeans of motivating employees. A pat on the back or other forms of pos-itive feedback goes a long way toward motivating staff to perform.Managers should also provide employees with opportunities to demon-strate their competence. Staff participation in continuing education andother professional development activities, and providing opportunitiesfor challenging and meaningful work are effective motivators. Theseopportunities allow employees to achieve feelings of self-esteem andaccomplishment.

Maslow described the preceding four levels (physiological, safety, be-longing, and self-esteem) as deficit needs, because, if any of these moti-vators are not satisfied, they create an inner tension within the individualthat must be relieved. However, if an individual has satisfied his or herneeds, those needs cease to motivate the individual and the person movesto the next level in the hierarchy. Individuals must satisfy their lower levelneeds, at least to an acceptable state, before they can be motivated toachieve the higher levels in the hierarchy.

The highest level of need is an individual’s desire to become all thathe or she can be. Although Maslow used a variety of terms to refer to thislevel, it is most commonly referred to as self-actualization. Self-actualizationis the desire to become more of what we are, and to become everythingthat one is capable of becoming. Unfortunately, progress is often dis-rupted by failure to meet lower level needs due to illness (lack of physi-ological well-being), loss of job (lack of security), or divorce (lack of senseof being loved). Maslow noted that only one in ten individuals becomesfully self-actualized, because our society rewards motivation primarilybased on esteem, love, and other social needs.

Managers need to ask themselves, “How can I motivate my employ-ees?” When answering this question, managers need to be conscious ofthe fact that all employees are not driven by the same needs, nor is anyemployee driven by the same need at the same time. Managers need torecognize the needs of each employee, individually. Managers who si-


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multaneously address each employee’s lower level of needs will benefitfrom workers who are motivated to achieve the highest level in Maslow’sHierarchy of Needs—self-actualization (See Figure 5-3).

Although Maslow introduced his Hierarchy of Needs theory over 60years ago, there has been only a limited number of studies that supporthis needs theory, and those published have reported mixed findings(Alderfer, 1972). In fact, some research contradicts Maslow’s specific“ordering” of needs. For example, Huizinga, as cited in Griffin (1991),attempted to validate the theory in the workplace.

Because of its scope and different cultural setting, Huizinga’s study isone of the more ambitious attempts to verify the principles of thehierarchy. He surveyed over 600 managers drawn from five indus-

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 117

Self-ActualizationAutonomy, fulfullment from job, ability todemonstrate creativity and innovation for

challenging tasks

Self-Esteem NeedsRecognition, promotions, participation

in decision making

Affiliation NeedsPositive interactions with

co-workers and managers

Safety NeedsJob security, retirement and health/medical plans,

safe working environment (e.g., free ofsexual harassment)

Physiological NeedsAdequate salary and working conditions

(e.g., lighting, air conditioning, etc.)

Figure 5-3 How Managers Can Satisfy Employees’ Needs at Different Levels ofMaslow’s Hierarchy

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tries in the Netherlands. His sample included people from produc-tion, personnel, research and development, finance, and top man-agement. They ranged in age from 20 to 65, and their educationalbackgrounds extended from the Dutch equivalent of grade schoolto university graduates. Huizinga found that no matter how manyways he analyzed the data, there was simply no evidence that work-ers had a single dominant need, much less that the need diminishedin strength when gratified. (p. 131)

In addition, Maslow’s needs theory also had difficulty explaining in-dividuals such as Mother Theresa, who neglected her lower level needsin pursuit of her spiritual calling to serve the poor in India. Maslow him-self used the example of a starving artist pursuing his creativity needs(e.g., self-actualization) while ignoring physiological needs.

■ ALDERFER’S ERG THEORYTo address the criticisms of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, in the late 1960s,Clayton Alderfer (1972) introduced an alternative needs hierarchy, referredto as the ERG Theory. Alderfer’s hierarchy relates to three identified cate-gories of needs: existence, relatedness, and growth (see Table 5-1).

• Existence refers to an individual’s concern with basic material andphysiological existence requirements, such as food, water, pay,fringe benefits, and working conditions.

• Relatedness refers to the need for developing and sustaining inter-personal relationships such as relations with family, friends, super-visors, co-workers, subordinates, and other significant groups.

• Growth refers to an individual’s intrinsic need to be creative, and tomake useful and productive contributions, including personal devel-opment with opportunities for personal growth.

When compared to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Alderfer’s ERGTheory differs on three points. First, the ERG theory allows for an indi-vidual to seek satisfaction of higher level needs before lower level needsare satisfied. In other words, the ERG Theory does not require an indi-vidual to satisfy a lower level need for a higher level need to become thedriver of the person’s behavior. Although the ERG Theory retains theconcept of a need hierarchy, it does not require a strict ordering as com-pared to Maslow.

Second, the ERG theory accounts for differences in need preferencesbetween cultures; therefore, the order of needs can be different for dif-ferent people. This flexibility allows the ERG theory to account for awider range of observed behaviors. For example, it can explain MotherTheresa’s behavior of placing spiritual needs above existence needs.


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Third, which may be the most important aspect of the ERG theory, isthe frustration–regression principle. The frustration–regression principleexplains that when a barrier prevents an individual from obtaining a higherlevel need, a person may “regress” to a lower level need (or vice versa) toachieve satisfaction. For example, a person wants existence-related objectswhen his or her relatedness needs are not satisfied; a person wants rela-tionships with significant others when growth needs are not being met.

Managers must recognize that an employee may have multiple needs tosatisfy simultaneously; focusing exclusively on one need at a time will noteffectively motivate an employee. In addition, the frustration–regression prin-ciple impacts workplace motivation. For example, if growth opportunitiesare not provided to employees, they may regress to relatedness needs andsocialize more with co-workers, or even look to other types of organiza-tions for satisfaction of this need, for example, a union. If the work envi-ronment does not satisfy an employee’s need for social interaction, anincreased desire for more money or better working conditions may occur.If a manager is able to recognize these conditions, steps can be taken to sat-isfy the employee’s frustrated needs until the employee is able to pursue growthagain. (See Case Study 5-1: I Get by with a Little Help from My Friends.)

Case Study 5-1

I Get by with a Little Help from My Friends

Jennifer Smith, RN, has worked at St. Joe’s Medical Center for the pastfive years as an operating room nurse. She enjoys her work and the in-teraction it provides with patients, physicians, and especially her co-

Alderfer’s ERG Theory 119

Table 5-1 Alderfer’s ERG TheoryLevel of Need Definition Properties

Growth Impel a person to make Satisfied through a person using his/hercreative or productive capabilities fully (and developing effects on himself/herself additional ones) in problem solving; and the environment. creates a greater sense of wholeness

and fullness as a human being.Relatedness Involves relationships with Satisfied by mutually sharing their

significant other people. thoughts and feelings; acceptance,confirmation, understanding, andinfluence are elements of therelatedness process.

Existence Includes all of the various When divided among people, one forms of psychological and person’s gain is another’s loss when material desires. resources are limited.

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workers. In fact, she has developed strong friendships with her co-workers.Almost every day, they eat lunch together. They have monthly dinnerparties at each other’s homes and frequently go on vacations together. HelenJones, the Director of Surgical Services, has remarked about the cohe-siveness of the group and how well they work together, creating a well-functioning team. However, during the past year, Jennifer has madefrequent remarks to her co-workers that she felt her nursing career wasat a stalemate, and that she was getting bored with “doing the same thingevery day.” Jennifer questioned why she went back to school to earn herMSN degree, when Helen never gave her an opportunity to apply whatshe learned! Jennifer started to think about looking for a new positionat a different hospital that would give her the opportunity to grow pro-fessionally. Jennifer’s co-workers empathized with her, and when a va-cancy was posted on the hospital’s job bulletin board for an assistantclinical manager position in her department, they encouraged her to ap-ply. After reviewing the job description, Jennifer agreed that with herclinical experience and graduate degree, she was the perfect candidate forthe job! She submitted her application, fully confident that Helen wouldoffer her the position. Jennifer was very excited and looked forward tothe challenges she would face when promoted.

However, when Jennifer was informed by Helen that another staffmember with more “management” experience was offered the position,Jennifer could not disguise her disappointment. She wondered what shewould do now. Should she quit and seek a new position at a differenthospital? But what about her friends at St. Joe’s?

Jennifer’s co-workers knew how upset she was and made special ef-forts to ease her disappointment by scheduling more outings together.They told her that other opportunities would come and that, with a lit-tle more experience, she would be promoted. Being with her co-workerswas like group therapy for Jennifer.

After a few weeks, Jennifer returned to the level of enjoyment she ob-tained from her work before this episode. In addition, Helen approachedJennifer to discuss her enrolling in a mentorship program that the hos-pital had recently established. The mentorship program, similar to an in-ternship, would provide clinical staff with hands-on managementexperience. Jennifer did not hesitate; she enrolled in the program the fol-lowing week. Jennifer was confident that she would be ready when thenext opportunity presented itself.

Discuss how Jennifer displayed the frustration-regression principle ofAlderfer’s ERG theory.

■ HERZBERG’S TWO-FACTOR THEORYFrederick Herzberg developed his Two-Factor Theory, also known as theMotivation–Hygiene Theory, from a study designed to test the concept


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that people have two sets of needs: (1) avoidance of unpleasantness, and(2) a personal growth. In Herzberg’s original study (1959, 1966), 200 en-gineers and accountants were asked about events they had experiencedat work, which either had resulted in a marked improvement in their jobsatisfaction or had led to a marked reduction in job dissatisfaction. FromHerzberg’s research (1966), five factors stood out as strong determinersof job satisfaction (i.e., motivator factors) and are related to job content:(1) achievement, (2) recognition, (3) work itself, (4) responsibility, and(5) advancement. The determinants of job dissatisfaction (i.e., hygienefactors) that are related to job context were found to be: (1) company poli-cies, (2) administrative policies, (3) supervision, (4) salary, (5) interper-sonal relations, and (6) working conditions. It is important to note thatHerzberg used the term “hygiene” to describe factors that are necessaryto avoid dissatisfaction but that by themselves do not provide satisfac-tion or motivation (see Exhibit 5-1).

Herzberg’s research findings are significant to managers because thefactors involved in producing job satisfaction are separate and distinctfrom the factors that lead to job dissatisfaction. As illustrated in Exhibit5-1 these two factors are not opposites of each other. As Herzberg pointed

Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory 121

Motivators/Satisfiers

(Intrinsic – Job Content)

Job Satisfaction

Achievement

Recognition

Work Itself

Responsibility

Advancement

No Job Satisfaction

Hygiene Factors/Dissatisfiers

(Extrinsic – Job Context)

No Job Dissatisfaction

Company Policies

Administrative Policies

Supervision

Salary

Interpersonal Relations

Working Conditions

Job Dissatisfaction

Exhibit 5-1

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out, the opposite of job satisfaction is not job dissatisfaction, but ratherno job satisfaction; similarly, the opposite of job dissatisfaction is no jobdissatisfaction, not satisfaction with one’s job.

In a practical sense, this means that dissatisfiers, referred to as hygienefactors, support and maintain the structure of the job (job context), whilethe satisfiers, referred to as motivators, assist employees reach self-actualization and increase their motivation to do their work (job content).Unfortunately, Timmreck’s (2001) study of 99 health service mid-managersfound that only a minority actually believed in and used motivators tostimulate subordinates’ behavior.

One of the criticisms of Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory is that a sin-gle factor may be a motivator for one person, but cause job dissatisfac-tion for another. As an example, increased responsibility may be welcomedby one employee but avoided by another. Another criticism has beenHerzberg’s placement of salary/pay in the dissatisfier category, whichhas caused some to believe that Herzberg did not value money as a mo-tivator. However, what Herzberg meant was that if pay did not meet ex-pectations, employees were dissatisfied, but if pay met employees’expectations, salary was not a need to achieve satisfaction. Herzbergbelieved that the absence of good hygiene factors, including money,would lead to dissatisfaction and thus potentially block any attempt tomotivate the worker.

Dent (2002) relates that when Herzberg first presented his work itwas very controversial in the academic community, but very popular inindustry because it helped to answer employers’ questions as to “whythe level of an employee’s productivity did not equate to the compensa-tion received by their workers?”

In the late 1950s, the U.S. economy was in a tremendous economicupswing. The issue of motivation was critical for retaining goodpeople, who often had several other opportunities. The primaryadvice coming from industrial psychologists was to motivate throughcompensation packages. As a result, employers were paying higherand higher salaries but felt that they were not getting higher amountsof performance. Herzberg’s work validated what the employerswere feeling. Herzberg suggested that higher performance levelswould come not from higher salaries but by giving employees theopportunity to create and impact their environments. (Dent, 2002,p. 276)

Although managers need to provide employees with a reasonablesalary, a degree of job security, and safe and comfortable working con-ditions (hygiene factors), focusing on these matters will not contributeto an employee’s motivation or performance improvement (Sashkin,1996). Herzberg promoted the concept that if the work one does is sig-


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nificant, it will ultimately lead to satisfaction with the work itself. Inother words, employees will be motivated to do work that they perceiveto be significant (see Case Study 5-2: Why Don’t I Just Quit!).

Case Study 5-2

Why Don’t I Just Quit!

Robin Williams sat at her desk going through her mail and asked herselfthe same question she had asked herself 100 times before, “why don’t Ijust quit!” Robin thought to herself, “I don’t need this job; I have enoughmoney in my savings account to last a year and with my degree and ex-perience, I could go anywhere.” Robin graduated from one of the topschools in the country with an MSW and has been a social worker forthe Alpine Medical Center for the past four years. Although she lovesher interaction with her clients, with the ability and freedom to help themthrough the “system” satisfying all their social and medical needs, she isunhappy with the required 60� hours work week, for a salary far lessthan what her friends who graduate with an AS/Nursing are earning. Inaddition, Robin believes her boss is trying to set her up to be fired justbecause she told him that he was an incompetent administrator. “Well,he is,” thought Robin. He hasn’t been able to find the money in the de-partment budget to purchase a new computer that she desperately needsto help her clients. To make matters worse, her co-workers, who “live intheir own worlds,” never extend the courtesy of asking her to join themfor lunch. “Not that I would go with them,” Robin thought. “They arejust as useless as the Director; and didn’t they forget yesterday was mybirthday!”

As she thought the issues over in her mind, she opened a thank you let-ter from a client she helped last month. He just wanted to tell her how muchhe appreciated her help through his illness and tell her that without her as-sistance, he would not have known that all these community services wereavailable for him so he could remain at home versus being admitted into anursing home.

Robin smiled and put the card aside; she was still trying to figure outwhy she didn’t quit her job. She wished she knew the answer.

Using Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory, discuss why Robin has not re-signed from her position.

Building on this concept, jobs should be designed paying special at-tention for opportunities relating to achievement, responsibility, mean-ingfulness, and recognition (see Table 5-2).

According to Herzberg, motivation comes from job content. Therefore,it is important for managers to consider the nature of the jobs they asktheir employees to do. Herzberg’s approach can be summarized by, Ifyou want people to do a good job for you, then you must give them a


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Table 5-2 Relationship of Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory and Motivators to Job DesignMotivator Growth Principle Description

Achievement and Recognition Opportunity to increase knowledge The job must allow for achievement opportunities, and these achievements must for Achievement result in the employee’s knowing more about his/her job then he/she did previously.

The recognition for achievement is the reinforcement that is necessary at the earlystages of all learning. Eventually, the employee will develop his own “generator” andwill rely less on outside recognition of his growth and more on his own evaluation.

Responsibility Opportunity to increase understanding Increased responsibility relates to a more complex task. Increasing the complexity of the job can provide the opportunity for understanding the relationships among thevarious components of the assignment and thereby provide for the next level ofgrowth.

Possibility of Growth Opportunity for creativity The task must contain an open end in its description to allow for possible growth. If the job allows for possible growth, it may then provide the opportunity for the em-ployee to be creative.

Advancement Opportunity to experience ambiguity Advancement, whether including job promotion or not, requires that a higher-in decision making order of task be presented to the employee. The higher-order task gives the opportu-

nity to the employee to be successful with “uncertainty” and thus leads to a higherlevel of growth.

Interest Opportunity to individuate and seek If the employee finds that the actual task he or she has to do is of direct interest real growth to him or her, then his or her job can provide a sense of personal worth and individu-

ality. If the job has “intrinsic attractive powers,” the employee is less likely to be con-cerned with other people’s hygiene and less tempted to seek substitute growth from hisown hygiene need. This enables an individual to experience the highest level of growth.

Source: Herzberg, F. (1966). Work and the nature of man. New York: The World Publishing Company, pp 177–178.

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good job to do. Managers need to be concerned with job design charac-teristics, including job enrichment. Job enrichment is the vertical ex-pansion of the job as opposed to a horizontal expansion (job enlargement)(see Table 5-3).

Job DesignJob design research in the past three decades has generated many insightsinto the relationship between job characteristics and job satisfaction. Thewell-known and widely researched job characteristics model was devel-oped by Hackman and Oldham (1976, 1980) (see Figure 5-4).

Hackman and Oldham listed five core motivational job characteristics:

• Skill variety—The degree to which a job requires a variety of differ-ent activities in carrying out the work, involving the use of a num-ber of different skills and talents of the person.

• Task identity—The degree to which a job requires completion of a“whole” and identifiable piece of work, that is, doing a job frombeginning to end with a visible outcome.

• Task significance—The degree to which the job has a substantialimpact on the lives of other people, whether those people are in theimmediate organization or in the world at large.

• Autonomy—The degree to which the job provides substantial free-dom, independence, and discretion to the individual in scheduling thework and in determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out.


Table 5-3 Herzberg’s Principles of Vertical Job LoadingPrinciple Motivators Involved

Removing some controls while retaining accountability Responsibility and personal achievement

Increasing the accountability of individuals for Responsibility and recognitionown work

Giving a person a complete natural unit of work Responsibility, achievement, and (module, division, area, and so on) recognition

Granting additional authority to an employee in Responsibility, achievement, and his/her activity; job freedom recognition

Making periodic reports directly available to the Internal recognitionworker himself/herself rather than to the supervisor

Introducing new and more difficult tasks not Growth and learningpreviously handled

Assigning individuals specific or specialized tasks, Responsibility, growth, and enabling them to become experts achievement

Source: Herzberg, F. (1983). One more time: How do you motivate employees? Harvard Business Review, 81(1), p. 93.

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• Feedback—The degree to which the work activities required by thejob provide the individual with direct and clear information aboutthe effectiveness of his or her performance (1980, pp. 78–80).

As reflected in Figure 5-4, each core job characteristic, or combina-tion of factors, leads to critical psychological states for an employee.Hackman and Oldham (1980) relate that the combination of skill vari-ety, task identity, and task significance leads to the psychological state ofexperienced meaningfulness, where the worker perceives that the job issignificant. Autonomy leads to the psychological state of experienced re-sponsibility for outcomes (i.e., the employee feels individual responsi-bility for the work), and feedback leads to the psychological state ofknowledge of the actual results of work activities. These critical psy-chological states lead to an employee’s high levels of internal motivation,growth and job satisfaction, and work effectiveness (quality and quantity).

Using the moderators in the Job Characteristics Model, Hackman andOldham (1980, pp. 82–88) attempted to explain why some employees


Core jobcharacteristics

Criticalpsychologicalstates

Outcomes

Skill varietyTask identityTask significance

Experiencedmeaningfulnessof the work

High internalwork motivation

High “growth”satisfaction

High generaljob satisfaction

High workeffectiveness

AutonomyExperiencedresponsibility foroutcomes of the work

Feedbackfrom job

Knowledge of theactual results of thework activities

Moderators1. Knowledge and skill2. Growth need strength3. “Content” satisfaction

Figure 5-4 The Job Characteristics Model of Work MotivationSource: Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1980). Work Redesign. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, p. 90.

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“take off” on jobs that are high in motivating potential and others are“turned off.” The first moderator is knowledge and skills. If people havesufficient knowledge and skills to perform their job well, they will ex-perience positive feelings as a result of their work activities. However, peo-ple who are not competent to perform their tasks well will experienceunhappiness and frustration at work.

The second moderator is growth need strength. Some people havestrong needs for personal accomplishment, for learning, and for devel-oping themselves beyond where they currently are. These people are saidto have strong “growth needs.” Others have less strong needs for growthor personal accomplishment. Therefore, individuals with strong growthneeds respond positively to the opportunities provided by enriched work.However, individuals with low growth needs may not recognize the exis-tence of enriching opportunities, or may not value them, or may find themthreatening and complain at being pushed or stretched too far at work.

The third moderator is satisfaction with the work context. Employeeswho are relatively satisfied with their job context (pay, job security, co-workers, etc.) will respond more positively to enriched and challengingjobs than employees who are dissatisfied with their job context.

Managers need to pay close attention to the moderators. If an em-ployee is fully competent to carry out the work required by a complex,challenging task, and has strong needs for personal growth and is wellsatisfied with the work context, then the manager should expect the em-ployee to exhibit high personal satisfaction and high work motivation andperformance. If an employee lacks any of these moderators, the oppo-site results would occur.

■ MCCLELLAND’S 3-NEEDS THEORYDavid McClelland (1985) experimented with individuals’ responses topictures of various groups of persons gathered together. Based on theparticipants’ responses, McClelland identified three types of motivationalneeds: achievement, power, and affiliation.

• Achievement (n-Ach) is described as the need to excel or succeed. Ingeneral, high achievers tend to seek moderately challenging tasks,take personal responsibility for their performance, and require feed-back to confirm their successes.

• Power (n-Pow) is described as an individual’s need to influence oth-ers. This can be positive or negative as we will discuss later.

• Affiliation (n-Aff ) is described as an individual’s need to be likedand approved of by others. As such, n-Aff people have a strongneed for interpersonal relationships.

McClelland (1985) believed that most persons have a combination ofthese motivational needs, with some exhibiting a stronger tendency to one

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particular motivational need (e.g., a high power need versus a high achieve-ment need). This tendency affects a person’s behavior and managementstyle. For example, McClelland suggested that a high affiliation needweakens a manager’s objectivity and decision-making capability, becauseof the need to be liked by his or her subordinates, colleagues, andsupervisors. Although persons with high power needs are attracted toleadership roles, they may not have the required flexibility and humanrelations skills necessary to be effective. McClelland argues that personswith strong achievement needs make the best leaders, although they canhave a tendency to demand too much of their staff in the belief that theyare all similarly and highly focused on achievement (i.e., results driven).One interesting aspect of McClelland’s theory is that individuals can learnor acquire a need for achievement by being associated with success andfailure in the past (and the effect that accompanies success and failure).

AchievementA significant part of McClelland’s research focused on the achievementmotivational need (n-Ach). Through his research, McClelland concludedthat while most persons do not possess a strong achievement (n-Ach)motivation, those who do, display a consistent behavior of moderaterisk-taking. To support his theory, McClelland (1985) performed thenow famous ring toss experiment.

Participants played a ring toss game where the subjects determinedhow close or far away they would stand from the peg. One groupof participants stood very close to the peg to ensure they wouldnever miss. Another group stood so far away that if they actuallydid place the ring on the peg, it was due to chance, not ability. Thethird group calculated their distance from the peg. They didn’t standtoo far away to make the task impossible, nor did they stand tooclose to make it too easy. If they missed the first toss, they wouldmove closer; if they made the toss, they would take a step back forthe next toss.

McClelland referred to the third group as moderate risk-takers—individuals who desired a challenge, but whose success was based ontheir abilities, not chance, as with the second group.

McClelland (1961) relates that n-Ach persons have various attributes.First, n-Ach persons are not high risk-takers as compared to a gamblerwho has no control over the outcomes. High achievers are moderate risk-takers. Achievement-motivated individuals set difficult goals, but goalsthey believe to be achievable through their efforts and abilities. Highachievers work harder and more efficiently when the task is challengingand requires creativity, such as designing new systems or just a better


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way of doing things. Second, n-Ach persons view goal achievement as theirreward and require feedback that is quantifiable and factual. As such, theyequate more money and/or higher profits as the measurement or feedbackof their success. Job security is not an important issue for n-Ach people.They prefer occupations that allow them the flexibility and the oppor-tunity to set their own goals, such as in sales, business, or entrepreneur-ial roles. Although high achievers can work in groups, they receive theirsatisfaction by knowing that they initiated an action that contributed tothe group’s success.

McClelland (1961) believed that n-Ach persons are the ones who makethings happen and get results in an organization. They are successful in ob-taining the resources, including employee “buy-in” to achieve organiza-tional goals. However, high achievers may be viewed as demanding of staffand insensitive to the needs of others, due to their results-driven attitude.

PowerMcClelland (1985) relates that a high need for power may be expressedas personalized power or socialized power. Those with a high need forpersonalized power have tendencies to display impulsive aggressive ac-tions, abuse alcohol, and collect prestige “toys” such as fancy cars. Theyseek to control others for their own benefit. Their attitude is “I win, youlose.” Individuals with a high need for personalized power demand per-sonal loyalty from staff versus loyalty to the organization. Yukl (2001)points out that when a high personalized power leader leaves an organ-ization, it usually results in chaos, loss of direction, and low morale.

Socialized power need is associated with effective leadership. These lead-ers direct their power in ways that benefit others and the organization ver-sus their own personal gain. As McClelland (1985) and Yukl (2001) relate,they are more interested in seeking power because it is through power thatthey can influence others to accomplish tasks. They empower others whouse that power to enact and further the leader’s vision for the organization.

AffiliationIndividuals with a high need for affiliation seek to be with and interactwith others. McClelland (1985) relates that they are concerned with es-tablishing, maintaining, or restoring positive relationships with others.High affiliation individuals want to please others and engage in more di-alogue with others. Individuals are very important to persons in n-Aff.They prefer friends over experts when working in groups (n-Ach preferexperts over friends as working partners), and prefer feedback on howwell the group is getting along rather than how well they are performingon the task. They avoid conflict and criticism, and have a fear of rejec-tion by others. As such, individuals with a high need for affiliation do notmake good managers (see Case Study 5-3: The Office Manager’s Dilemma).


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Case Study 5-3

The Office Manager’s Dilemma

When Karen Lewis was promoted to office manager for Dr. Green’s ortho-pedic practice, she was thrilled. She had worked for Dr. Green for almostsix years and considered it her home away from home and her co-workersas her extended family. Karen was the office organizer for picnics, Fridaynight get-togethers, and holiday parties. She always made sure that staff’sbirthdays and anniversaries were recognized and celebrated. She wasvery concerned that everyone was happy and was always available tohelp other co-workers with any problems.

In addition, Karen was competent in all areas of the office operations.Although originally hired as an X-ray technician, she had performed, atone time or another, the duties of all the positions within the practice. Shehad covered the receptionist, medical records, and billing staff’s posi-tions when they were on vacation, ill, or when there was an unfilled va-cancy. Not only was she responsible for running the X-ray area of thepractice, but also over the years she had assumed the responsibilities forordering supplies and scheduling surgeries.

Karen thought making the transition to office manager would be easy.The first few months went well. But in her fourth month, other staff mem-bers came to her complaining about Suzie, the new appointment schedul-ing clerk. Karen was surprised to hear that Suzie was not doing her jobwell and her errors were affecting the entire office operations. Suzie wasscheduling patients to come to the office when Dr. Green was at the hos-pital performing surgery, and during the staff’s lunch periods. In addition,she was over-scheduling, causing patients to wait hours. Karen told the of-fice staff that she would discuss the matter with Suzie as soon as possible.

However, Karen found it very difficult to schedule a meeting withSuzie to discuss her problems. Every time Karen approached Suzie aboutthe subject, she found that her stomach tightened and she began to sweat.The best she could do was to ask Suzie, “How is everything going?” Suziereplied, “Everything is great and I love working in such a warm andfriendly office.”

A week later, the staff approached Karen again and asked if she spokewith Suzie because the problems were getting worse. Karen lied and saidthat last week was so busy, she did not get an opportunity but that shewould talk with Suzie this week. Again, Karen found it difficult to dis-cuss the matter with Suzie. She didn’t want to hurt Suzie’s feelings becauseSuzie thought she doing a good job. However, if she didn’t speak withSuzie soon, Karen knew Dr. Green would start to question whether shewas capable of handling the duties of the office manager position. Shecouldn’t bear to think that she let Dr. Green down and that he might bedispleased with her work. In addition, there were rumors circulatingthrough the office grapevine that if the “appointment scheduling” prob-


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lem was not fixed soon, a few staff members were thinking about quit-ting because the mistakes caused their workload to increase 20 percent.

Karen decided that she would discuss the matter with Suzie the fol-lowing day. Karen asked Suzie to come in 10 minutes before office hoursstarted so they could have a chat. Karen had a restless night’s sleep. Whenshe awoke, she noticed that she had developed a rash over her entirebody! She had no choice; she called the answering service to tell Dr. Greenand the staff that she was too ill to come to work.

Using McClelland’s 3-needs theory, discuss if Dr. Green made the rightdecision promoting Karen Lewis to office manager. Why?

SummaryWhen a comparison is made of the content theories of motivation, thereare noted similarities (see Table 5-4).

Each theory describes an individual’s various needs in similar terms.Herzberg’s hygiene factors parallel Maslow’s physiological, security, andbelongingness needs, and Alderfer’s existence and relatedness needs.Maslow’s self-esteem and self-actualization needs are similar to Herzberg’smotivators and Alderfer’s growth requirement. McClelland’s achievementis closely related to Herzberg’s motivators, and his power and affiliationcan be related to Alderfer’s relatedness needs because of an individual’sneed to influence (power) or satisfy a need for warm feelings (affiliation)(Alderfer, 1972). It is clear that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory hashad a great influence on the study of organizational behavior.


Table 5-4 Comparisons of Content Theories of MotivationHerzberg’s Two- Maslow’s Hierarchy Alderfer’s ERG McClelland’s Factor Theory of Needs Theory 3-Need Theory

MotivatorsSelf-actualization

Self-esteemGrowth Achievement

Relatedness Power (influenc-ing others)

Affiliation(exchange of

Hygiene Factors Love warm feelings)Safety Existence

Physiological

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End-of-Chapter Discussion Questions

1. Define motivation.2. Explain the connection of the five tiers of Maslow’s Hierarchy of

Needs to the workplace.3. Discuss how Alderfer’s ERG Theory satisfied the criticisms of Maslow’s

Hierarchy of Needs. 4. Explain Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory as it relates to job design.5. Explain the various components of Hackman and Oldham’s Job

Characteristics Model.6. Discuss McClelland’s 3-Needs Theory as it relates to a manager’s

success in the workplace.7. Discuss the relationship between the various content theories of

motivation.

End-of-Chapter Case Studies

Case Study 1

All in a Day’s Work (Part One)*Sarah Goodman, Senior Manager of Network Development for HolyManaged Care Company, looked over her calendar for the day and sigheddeeply. It seemed as if there would be no time at all to work on the proj-ect she’d been putting off for most of the week. Circumstances seemedto be such that she simply didn’t have any control over her own timeany more.

Well, first things first, she determined. At 9 o’clock she was due at ameeting of senior managers who were involved in trying to devise a strat-egy for counteracting a threatened unionization drive by the company’snonexempt employees. As Sarah thought about the people working forher, she began to wonder exactly what they wanted. They had a pleas-ant working space, good benefits package, and secure employment. Sheheard the laughter and chatter drifting into her office as people came intowork and thought what a pleasant and congenial group they were. Whatmore could they want?

Then at 10:30 there was another meeting. This one could be very ex-citing! In six months Sarah’s office was scheduled to be moved to a newindustrial park on the west side of town. The plans she’d seen so far hadall kinds of great perks for employees: onsite day care center, fitness cen-ter, ample parking, great facilities for training. The company was cer-tainly spending a lot of money on this new site. Sarah certainly hoped itwould help increase productivity; it certainly would make the employ-ees happier and make recruitment easier.

She’d have to hurry to her lunch meeting with the advisor for the MHAprogram at Saint Thomas University. Sarah had decided as a part of her


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New Year’s resolution that she was finally going to begin her graduatedegree. She felt she was simply stagnating in her job and, after lookingaround at positions in her company that looked interesting, she realizedshe needed a graduate degree if she were going to progress. The onlyproblem was that she wasn’t sure how enthusiastic Richard, her hus-band, would be about the whole idea. And her mother certainly wouldn’tbe happy! The hints about grandchildren had become outright discussionover the holidays.

Discuss the various motivation theories reflected in this case study.

*Part Two is \presented at the end of Chapter 6.

Author: Pidge Diehl, EdD. Reprinted with permission.

Case Study 2

Develop a Motivation Plan

You are the Director of Nursing for a 400-bed non-profit hospital in theSouthwest. Susan Smith joined your hospital as a staff nurse three years agoafter relocating from the Northeast. She is 30 years old and has been a staffnurse since graduating from a two-year college nursing program 10 years ago.She is married to a lawyer and they have two children ages six and eight.

Your hospital’s inpatient census has been extremely high due to an-other hospital’s closing. The tension on the nursing floors has been run-ning pretty high because of time pressures to discharge patients early,lack of professional staff, and an upcoming accreditation visit from theJoint Commission. Because of time restraints, you were unable to com-plete the annual performance evaluations. However, all nurses receiveda 5 percent pay increase. With this increase, your hospital staff is nowthe highest paid as compared to other hospitals within your region. Youbelieve the higher pay compensates your nursing staff for their increasedworkload and related stress levels.

Until recently, you have been pleased with Susan’s performance. Shehad demonstrated, in the past, her willingness to work hard and hasmade very few, if any, patient care errors. However, over the last threemonths, you have noticed that Susan is not performing at her same levelof productivity and appears to argue frequently with the treating physi-cians and other staff nurses about the patients’ treatment plans. You fre-quently hear Susan complaining that “no one listens to me,” “no onewants to hear my opinion,” and “they don’t pay me enough to do this job.”

Susan was once a highly motivated, productive member of your nurs-ing staff. You understand that everyone is experiencing more stress thanusual because of the increased workload, but what can be done to mo-tivate Susan to her prior “self”?

Within the principles of the content theories of Maslow, Herzberg,and Alderfer, develop a motivation plan.


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Exhibit 5-2 Job Survey

IntroductionObjective: To learn how job design affects performance.

Time: About 25 minutes.

Instructions: Take the survey below. Once you have completed it, total your scores. Compare your score with others in theclass and discuss the following questions:

• Normally, persons who are in a position of leadership will have scores that are higher than their workers. Why is this?• If your employees were to take this survey today, what do you think their average scores would be?• Discuss Hackman & Oldham’s Five Dimensions and how they help to motivate a job holder. Ask for a few examples of

how a job could be redesigned under each of the five dimensions.

Job Design QuestionnaireDirections: Listed below are some statements about your job. For each statement, darken in your response based on howmuch you agree or disagree with it?

My job: Strongly Slightly Slightly Strongly

Disagree Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Agree Agree

1. provides much variety. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)2. allows me the oppor-

tunity to complete the work I start. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

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McC

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3. is one that may affect a lot of other people by how well the work isperformed. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

4. lets me be left on myown to do my own work. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

5. provides feedback on how well I am perform-ing as I am working. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

6. provides me with a variety of work. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

7. is arranged so that I have a chance to do the job from beginning to end. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

8. is relatively significant in the organization. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

9. provides the opportunity for independent thought and action. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

continues

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Exhibit 5-2 Job Survey continued

My job: Strongly Slightly Slightly Strongly

Disagree Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Agree Agree

10. provides me with the opportunity to find out how well I am doing. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

11. gives me the opportunity to do a number of different things. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

12. is arranged so that I may see projects through to their final completion. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

13. is very significant in the broader scheme of things. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

14. gives me considerableopportunity for indepen-dence and freedom in how I do my work. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

15. provides me with the feeling that I knowwhether I am performingwell or poorly. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

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Scoring for Job Design Questionnaire

The survey is designed to analyze five dimensions of the job:

• Skill Variety—Total the scores for questions 1, 6, 11 _______• Task Identity—Total the scores for questions 2, 7, 12 _______• Task Significant—Total the scores for questions 3, 8, 13 _______• Autonomy—Total the scores for questions 4, 9, 14 _______• Feedback about Results—Total the scores for questions 5, 10, 15 _______

The lower scoring dimensions (normally, anything below 15) should be investigated to see if the job environment canbe improved.

About the Survey

HACKMAN & OLDHAM’S FIVE DIMENSIONS OF MOTIVATING POTENTIAL• Skill variety—the degree to which a job requires a variety of challenging skills and abilities.• Task identity—the degree to which a job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work.• Task significance—the degree to which the job has a perceivable impact on the lives of others, either within the organi-

zation or the world at large.• Autonomy—the degree to which the job gives the worker freedom and independence in scheduling work and deter-

mining how the work will be carried out.• Feedback—the degree to which the worker gets information about the effectiveness of his or her efforts, either directly

from the work itself or from others.

Source: © Donald Clark, created March 18, 2000, last update March 26, 2000. Available at: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/jobsurvey.html.

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ReferencesAlderfer, C. (1972). Existence, relatedness, & growth. New York: Free Press.Dent, E. B. (2002). The messy history of OB&D: How three strands came to be

seen as one rope. Management Decision, 40(3), 266–280.Griffin, E. (1991). A first look at communication theory (1st ed.). McGraw-Hill.Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of

work: Test of a theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance,16, 250–279.

Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1980). Work redesign. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Herzberg, F. (1966). Work and the nature of man. New York: The World PublishingCompany.

Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. (1959). The motivation to work. NewYork: Wiley.

Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper Row.McClelland, D. C. (1961). The achieving society. New York: The Free Press.McClelland, D. C. (1985). Human motivation. Glenwood, IL: Scott-Foresman.Sashkin, M. (1996). The MbM questionnaire: Managing by motivation (3rd ed.).

Amherst, MA: Human Resource Development Press. Timmreck, T. C. (2001, September). Managing motivation and developing job

satisfaction in the health care work environment. The Health Care Manager,20(1), 42–58.

Yukl, G. A. (2001). Leadership in organizations (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River,NJ: Pearson Education.

Suggested ReadingCampbell, J. P., Dunnette, M. D., Lawler, E. E., & Weick, K. E. (1970). Managerial

behavior, performance and effectiveness. New York: McGraw-Hill.Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50,

370–396.


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