Applying motivation theories to analyze employee engagement patterns

What’s My Motivation? Melanie Based on her perpetual distraction on social media and her lack of initiative in expanding her role with the company, Melanie lacks intrinsic motivation. She may also feel less than challenged in her role after being with the company for ten years and needs a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors to inspire her to get out of a rut and motivated to perform at her potential. Patrick Motivated both by intrinsic factors like the satisfaction that comes from pushing past his own limits, but also by extrinsic rewards like promotions to positions of greater responsibility, Patrick also has a high degree of self-awareness regarding his own motivation profile. Tom In spite of Tom’s emphasis on salary and other extrinsic factors like formal acknowledgement and appreciation of his work, his high energy level and consistent overachievement demonstrate intrinsic motivation patterns. Because Tom also sees the big picture and questions the efficiency and value of each task, he would make a good leader if offered the right tools and team. Motivational Theories Theories of motivation stem from multiple fields of psychology, including those that address personality and environmental variables. Abraham Maslow developed one of the most comprehensive theories of motivation, which focuses on the person’s hierarchy of needs. At the most fundamental level, employees like Melanie, Tom, and Patrick need to fulfill basic physiological or material needs like being paid adequately enough to afford food, shelter, clothing, and safety. Yet beyond this, employees need more than just the ability to pay their rent. They need to feel happy, and happiness or satisfaction on the job comes from various factors like the quality of their social interactions at work, their relationship with coworkers or supervisors, and their potential to learn, grow, and receive recognition for their work. Some employees like Patrick thrive more when in official positions of power, whereas others like Tom are more motivated by exercising their creativity and visionary capacities on the job. Melanie may be more motivated by social connections and social fulfillment. Ultimately, employees are motivated to fulfill self-esteem and ultimately self-actualization goals: finding meaning in one’s life. A more simplified version of Maslow’s needs hierarchy is Alderfer’s theory, which divides needs more simply into three categories: existence, relatedness, and growth (ERG) (“Theories of Motivation,” n.d.). McClellan’s acquired needs theory focuses more on environmental variables and social learning than on issues like self-actualization (“Theories of Motivation,” n.d.). Self-determination theory suggests that individuals can learn to develop patterns of intrinsic motivation by internalizing material goals and regulating responses to environmental stimuli in ways that alter their behavior (Howard, Gagne, Morin, et al., 2016). Melanie’s pattern of amotivation—evidenced by her passive behavior--is considered to be one extreme end of the motivation spectrum, based on self-determination theory (Howard, Gagne, Morin, et al., 2016). Hertzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory shows how environmental factors like working conditions, organizational culture, and receiving recognition or career advancement can all cause satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Each of these theories of motivation shows how the organization and its leaders can listen and respond to the needs of its employees. Employees like Tom have needs higher on Maslow’s hierarchy, or what Alderfer would call growth-related needs. It is likely that Melanie also needs something more than just a reliable, secure job and good salary; they need meaning in their work and to feel empowered, valued, and validated. Patrick also needs validation, but mostly in the form of official titles. Tom craves the validation from an official title but needs more than jut that; he also requires that his role be meaningful in terms of fulfilling the greater ethical values and goals of the organization. Employees like Tom need their own goals and values to align with those of the organization. Leadership Strategies and Motivation Leaders in the organization can pay attention to the environmental factors and structural variables that are causing dissatisfaction among employees. Specific leadership strategies can be used to address each of these employees, to better meet their needs. For example, Patrick and Melanie both exemplify the need for leaders to respond to different work/life stages among employees. Leaders in the organization can work with employees via career mapping, whereby individuals envision their own career trajectories and work in stages to fulfill incremental goals. The organization needs to commit to upholding its end of the bargain through regular promotions and salary increases, or negotiated tactics like more time off. Extrinsic motivators like rewards and punishments remain central to leadership strategies within any organization. Yet many leaders find that employees do not respond in a predictable manner to such extrinsic rewards and punishments. Maslow’s needs hierarchy shows how higher-level needs for fulfillment and self-actualization override the more mundane rewards like salary. When employees like Tom clearly need to find more meaning in what they do, leaders can help by eliminating unnecessary roles and tasks, and aligning the work that employees do more with the vision of the organization. Transformational leadership: whereby employees are empowered to take initiative and develop their own strategies for reaching organizational goals, can be tremendously useful for inspiring employees to succeed in either the public or private sector.