Maslow's Motivation Theory

A number of people erroneously believe that motivation is a personal characteristic. They assume that only a selected group of people have it. On the contrary, motivation is very complex. It is defined as the stimulation that sets off and triggers intrinsic desire and enthusiasm in individuals to perform in a particular way. When individuals anticipate that their actions will be valued and lead to goal accomplishments and rewards, they get motivated to satisfy their needs.
Individual needs are associated with strong feelings of absence that in the long run will lead to a wide range of personal issues and strains such as anxiety. These reactions will pressure and motivate individuals to take actions to lessen their tension and achieve their

Employees’ growth needs influence how they react to their jobs. Managers must strive to treat all employees fairly, who will in turn believe and be committed to what they do, becoming more trusting, honourable, and loyal, working harder to exceed expectations.

According to psychologist Abraham Maslow (1943) hierarchy of needs, individuals have five types of needs. He stated that personal motivational levels shift to the next when individuals begin to fulfil each of these stages. Maslow explains how every individual is particularly motivated by the following needs:
1. Physiological needs – the basic needs required for survival such as food, clothing and shelter.
2. Security needs – individuals materialise these needs in the form of job security, job safety, stability, healthcare, un employment and retirement benefits.

3. Affiliation needs – the desire for friendship, love and belonging. Employees with high affiliation needs enjoy working closely with others. Employees with low affiliation needs may be content to work on tasks alone. When affiliation needs are not met, an employee’s dissatisfaction may be expressed in terms of frequent absenteeism, low productivity, stress and even emotional

Existence needs - desired for psychological and safety needs.
2. Relatedness needs - desires for satisfying interpersonal relationships.
3. Growth needs - wishes for constant psychological growth and development.
On the contrary to Maslow’s idea, the access to the higher levels of Alderfer’s pyramid required satisfaction in the lower levels. The three ERG areas demonstrate that all types of needs can influence individual behaviour at any given time. Alderfer’s approach offers additional means for understanding human needs and their influence on employees.
Reinforcement theories state that an individual’s behaviour is related to the consequences that will follow. Actions followed by positive consequences have a higher probability of being repeated.
Psychologist B.F.Skinner (1971) believed that in order to be familiar with human behaviour, one needs to understand the grounds of an action and its consequences. He referred to this approach as operant conditioning. Skinner stated that in order to influence continuous improvement practices amongst employees, a manager can implement each of these four strategies.
1. Positive reinforcement strengthens or increases the frequency of desirable behaviour by making a pleasant consequence contingent on its