Motivating Behavior

Описание: Motivation is the set of forces that causes people to engage in one behavior rather than some alternative behavior. Managers strive to motivate people in the organization to perform at high levels. This means getting them to work hard, to come to work regularly, and to make positive contributions to the organization’s mission.

In most settings, motivation is the most difficult of these factors to manage. If an employee lacks the ability to perform, she or he can be sent to training programs to learn new job skills. If the person cannot learn those skills, she or he can be transferred to a simpler job and replaced with a more skilled worker. If an employee lacks materials, resources, equipment, and/or information, the manager can take steps to provide them. But if motivation is deficient, the manager faces the more complex situation of determining what will motivate the employee to work harder.

Motivation begins with a need deficiency. Scientific management is an approach to motivation that assumes that employees are motivated by money. The human relations approach assumed that employees want to feel useful and important, that employees have strong social needs, and that these needs are more important than money in motivating employees.

For reinforcement to work, people must associate the reward with the behavior. In other words, people need to know exactly why they are receiving a reward. To best reinforce a behavior, the reward should come as quickly as possible after the behavior. In terms of behavior modification, any behavior can be understood as being a result of its consequences. In other words, as a manager, you get whatever behaviors you are rewarding.