Motivation: Theory and Practice

Motivation theories and practices remain as one of the most difficult subject to understand. In order to fully comprehend this topic, one must go through several disciplines and enormous research. This is especially crucial in the workplace. There is no methodology that is more efficient in increasing productivity than using motivation. Despite the importance of practicing motivation theories, it is still an area that very few have ventured in. One of the many reasons behind the reluctances of managers to carry out motivation theories is due to the complexity of understanding human behavior (Landy & Conte, 2007). Therefore, it is safe to say that most theories of motivation deal with the different aspects of human nature. This paper is going to look at 4 different motivational models. They are Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Aldefer’s ERG theory, Herzberg’s two factor theory as well as Adam’s equity theory. The similarities and differences of these models will also be discussed in this paper. This is the prerequisite knowledge for the next section of the paper that is application of these theories by managers in order to help reduce the problem of involuntary absenteeism in the workplace and employee disengagement.

Motivational models

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Nobody can make a dent bigger than Abraham Maslow who introduces the hierarchy of needs model in 1940s. There are 4 layers in this motivational model and it is often portrayed in the form of a pyramid (Pride, Hughes & Kapoor, 2004). He believes that certain human needs are dominated over others. Therefore, at the bottom of the pyramid is the most basic and important needs of a human being. This layer consists of fulfilling the physiological needs of an individual such as food, water and air (Pride, Hughes & Kapoor, 2004). Literally, these are aspects that are required to ensure the human survival. After the physiological needs have been cater to, the second layer of the pyramid is satisfying the

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