Humans are motivated by many things – psychological needs, physiological drives, survival, urges, emotions, hurts, impulses, fears, threats, rewards (money, friendship, status…) possessions, wishes, intentions, values, mastery, freedom, intrinsic satisfaction, self-satisfaction, interests, pleasure, dislikes, established habits, goals ambitions and so – all at the same time.

Changing involves both knowing how (learning) and wanting to (motivation). It is important to see that learning is different from performing. A hungry rat in the laboratory will work diligently to discover how to get food. It learns how and vigorously performs, i.e. eats until it’s stuffed, then it stops. The rat’s eating behaviour, after initially learning, is determined by its hunger needs. We humans are the same. To grow and develop new behaviours we must learn. But, in terms of how far we get in life – how much we accomplish – motivation may be just as important, if not more important than learning. We already know how to lose weight (don’t eat) or give generously to others. A common obstacle to accomplish our goals is not wanting the goal badly enough to give it the necessary time and effort (or conning ourselves into believing we can reach our goal in some easy way).

Occasionally, a person will have enormous determination to achieve something requiring great effort over a period of years. It is emotionally moving to hear about someone who has overcome enormous obstacles to achieve an impressive goal.

Motivation is trying to reach our goals. It isn’t just a matter of setting high, noble goals, although that is a critical step. It is common to wish for higher goals than we are willing to work for.

In any area where we are hoping to improve ourselves on some level, both short-term and long-term goals are needed. If your long-term goals clearly contribute to your most important values and your mission, they should be more motivating. Good goals are often quite hard to achieve. They stretch us - but they are achievable, taking small steps at a time.

We are more motivated when we feel capable, responsible, self-directed, respected and hopeful.

Maslow’s theory has a twofold basis:

	People continuously want things. As soon as one need is satisfied, another takes its place.
	People’s needs are arranged in order of importance.

The most common strategy used by management to motivate people (among other things, by means of money, benefits and job security), is aimed at the continued satisfaction of needs on the physiological and safety level, which most employees in developed countries are easily able to meet themselves. As Maslow clearly points out, once satisfied, a need no longer acts as a motivator, so this strategy is not an incentive to perform.

Herzberg states that dissatisfaction is caused by the absence of what he terms hygiene or maintenance factors.

These factors satisfy a person’s lower-order needs and include:

Organisational policy and administration
Supervision
Interpersonal relationships with colleagues, superiors and subordinates
Salary
Status
Working conditions
Work security

Absence of hygiene factors will de-motivate but presence of hygiene factors does not necessarily motivate.

Herzberg maintains that if employees regard hygiene factors as insufficient, they would be unhappy and dissatisfied and would tend to be less productive. For example, if employees feel that their compensation is not on a par with that of other employees in the same occupation as other organisations, they will be unhappy and this will affect their performance. If, however, their remuneration equals or exceeds that of other employees doing similar work, it does not mean that they will be motivated, as a high level of motivation is ensured by the motivators, not by the hygiene factors.

The core of the motivators is the nature of the job or task. Motivators such as:

Achievement
Recognition
Responsibility
Growth

… will not be present unless the job itself is interesting, challenging and meaningful.

Excellent staff rarely makes the same mistake twice, so motivating them towards excellence is an important area of leadership that should never be ignored. If you can find ways to motivate your staff and improve their morale, they will be inspired to return your faith in them with high efficiency and productivity.

	Treat your staff as valuable members of the team.
	Acknowledge the 98% of error-free work that members of your staff produce. Don't dwell on the small percentage of errors once a mistake has been brought to that staff member's attention.
	Listen to staff suggestions for improvement, and act on their worthwhile ideas.
	Give immediate feedback and positive reinforcement whenever possible.
	Never criticise your staff in front of other staff or clients.
	Give staff more autonomy as their confidence and responsibility increase.
	Provide your staff with regular appraisals of their work. This should not be a judgment session, but a positive experience that assists them in assessing their own strengths and weaknesses.
	Offer continued training to propel your staff to excellence.

By Elsabé Manning

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