Why It Matters: Motivating Employees

Why explain the most common motivational theories and apply them to business?

Photo of Sgt. William Loughran shouting. Marine Corps recruits visible in the background.

Sgt. William Loughran encourages recruits from Kilo Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, to give 100 percent during physical training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., Sept. 18, 2013.

What motivates you to do what you do? How do you motivate others to help you or to accomplish things on their own? You have already learned a lot about business and the role people play, both as managers and employees, in helping the organization reach its goals. As a manager you are expected to lead and manage people. As an employee you are given job specific duties and responsibilities you are expected to perform. Neither leading nor following will happen until people are motivated.

Since the 1920s researchers have studied human behavior and developed a variety of theories to explain the driving force behind motivation. These theories range from the need to provide a safe and secure environment for oneself and family to the compelling desire not to experience negative consequences from action or inaction. Understanding the basis for motivation and learning how motivational approaches work in the business environment can be helpful to your professional and organizational success.

Before you begin this module ask yourself the following questions:

  • What motivates me?
  • How have others tried to motivate me?
  • Which motivational approaches have been the most and least successful?
  • When have I been successful in motivating others?
  • How can I use this information to be successful in my personal and professional life?

Learning Outcomes

  • Explain the theory of scientific management
  • Describe the “Hawthorne effect” and its significance in managing employees
  • Explain need-based theories of worker motivation, including Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Herzberg’s two-factor theory
  • Explain process-based theories of motivation, including expectancy and equity theories
  • Compare and contrast Theory X and Theory Y managers
  • Identify ways in which managers can use the varying motivation theories to motivate individual employees in an increasingly diverse workplace