The motivation theory that is relevant to me

The motivation theorist / theory that I feel is relevant the most to me is Mayo / Mayo's theory of social needs. I think that Mayo's theory is most relevant to me out of all the other motivation theories (such as Maslow and Taylor) because Mayo takes into account both the social needs of the worker's and money which the other motivation theorist's don't take into account. I find that this is most relevant to me because while I feel that money is a motivator, I don't think it is enough to motivate me in the world of work or anywhere in general on it's own. For example, if I had a job that's only benefit was financial security, I wouldn't necessarily feel "part of the team" or feel particularly valued in the business as a person. However, if both my financial needs and social needs were met (Mayo's theory) I would feel like I'm both an asset to the business and valued as a human being. This is why I think that Mayo is the motivation theorist most relevant to me.

I have many different reasons for selecting this Accounting and Finance degree. One of the main reasons why I was motivated into choosing this degree was the prospect of setting up my own business and working for myself after completing the degree. This is something I am very interested in doing because I would be able to make my own decisons regarding the business, giving me the authority to make decisions regarding working hours and such. I also wouldn't have to answer to a manager or boss which is also very appealing. This is therefore one of the reasons why I am at the Bucks New University.


Since the prospect of working for myself after the degree has finished is something that is motivating me currently to study this Accounting and Finance degree, I think that this will be the same reason why I will be motivated for the next 2-3 years, as I will still be doing the degree during this time. Mayo's theory of social needs relates to my motivation of working for myself because I will be able to call all the shots both financially and socially. For example, if I set up my own business I will be able to make the decision of what I charge people for my services. Mayo's theory takes into account the motivation of money (although not on it's own) therefore the prospect of not being limited of what money I make is very motivating, unlike if I take up a job working for someone else who makes the decision of what exactly I earn. Another example of why Mayo's theory relates to my motivation of being able to work for myself is that from a social standpoint, I wouldn't be limited. For example, if I set up my own business I would have the authority to employ who I want which might be a personal friend of mine or someone I work well with. I would also have to power to decide just how intimate I can be with my employees which may fulfill my social needs better than in a workplace that I have no control or power over e.g. such as who I work with. This shows that Mayo's theory of social needs relates to my personal motivation of being able to work for myself.


When I was working in the FMY Chemist in Chesham for work experience for two weeks, I felt demotivated. Their are a few different reasons why I felt demotivated working in FMY Chemist for work experience. The main reason was that their wasn't much of an incentive for me to be working in the Chemist as work experience was compulsory, with the employers calling all the shots regarding what tasks you should and shouldn't be doing. To be quite honest, I wasn't expecting to be given the authority throughout the whole two weeks about what tasks I could decide to take on but it would have been nice for a day or two to have the freedom of choosing a task I feel most like doing at a certain point in time. This is so that I would have the option of doing a variety of tasks (if I decided to do so) making the work experience feel more like a nice change of scenery from school at the time.


I personally feel that Taylor's motivation theory that worker's are motivated mainly by pay doesn't relate to my de-motivation in FMY Chemist in this case because the reason why I was demotivated in this instance was that I wasn't given the authority to choose which tasks I wanted to carry out during the two weeks that I was there, which therefore has nothing to do with Taylor's theory that worker's are motivated mainly by money.


On the other hand, I think that Mayo's social needs motivation theory is relevant to my de-motivation in FMY Chemist because I personally feel that my social needs weren't being met bearing in mind that I wasn't given the option to choose which task I wanted to perform. If I was given the opportunity to choose which task I wanted to carry out, I don't think I would have been as demotivated as I was at FMY Chemist. This shows that Mayo's social needs motivation theory is relevant to my de-motivation in FMY Chemist.


To a large extent, I think that Maslow's hierarchy of needs relates to my de-motivation at FMY Chemist because the top three needs in the hierarchy relate to the fact that I personally feel that my social needs weren't being met. These top three in the hierarchy are Social Needs, Esteem Needs and Self Actualisation. For example, if FMY Chemist gave me the power to choose which tasks that I wanted to do, it would make me feel cared for in the business which therefore relates to the social needs layer in the hierarchy of needs. In addition, if I was given the authority to choose which task I wanted to carry out the task I wanted, I would personally feel that I contribute a lot to the business enough to warrant the option of choosing which task I wanted to carry out which therefore relates to the Esteem Needs and Self Actualisation layers in the hierarchy of needs. This shows that Maslow's hierarchy of needs relates to the lack of authority given to me in the FMY Chemist.


I think to a large degree that Herzberg's theory relates to my de-motivation at FMY Chemist because Herzberg believed that Job Enlargement and Job Enrichment would motivate workers. Job Enlargement is the process of giving workers more variety in tasks which I felt definitely wasn't happening at FMY Chemist because I didn't have any choice about what tasks I could carry out. Job Enrichment is the process of giving workers a greater range of different tasks to carry out that are more complicated or complex as well as more challenging in order to make the workers more interested in the job. I personally feel that this (Job Enrichment) was also not being met as I was given basic tasks to do such as serving customers on the checkout and stocking shelves which weren't interesting and certainly not complex. I think that my time in FMY Chemist would of been more interesting if I was given the opportunity of carrying out more complicated tasks such as ordering supplies from a supplier via a telephone.


I think that Aldefer's ERG theory (Existence, Relatedness and Growth) relates to my experience at FMY Chemist because the Relatedness needs include Social Needs and Internal Esteem Needs both of which were needs that I don't feel were met during my time at FMY Chemist. For example, if I was given the authority to pick which tasks that I wanted to carry out, it would have made me feel cared for in the business which therefore relates to the social needs layer in the ERG hierarchy. This is a similar thing I stated about Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Also, if I was given the power to choose which task I wanted to select, I would personally feel that I'm enough of an asset to the business to warrant the option of selecting which task I wanted to carry out which therefore relates to the Esteem Needs. This is also a similar thing I said about Maslow's hierarchy of needs.


Unfortunately, FMY Chemist didn't do anything directly to get me more motivated in the workplace. My only motivation was knowing that I would only be working there for two weeks so I should work as hard as possible in order to get good feedback from my employer and possibly a permanent job in the future. To this day however, I have not been contacted by my former employer about any jobs that are going that I may be interested in.


The only thing I would do differently working in FMY Chemist is being more open about my views and opinions in the workplace. For example, part of me thinks that the Chemist weren't aware that I was being de-motivated because my social and self esteem needs weren't being met due to the fact that they weren't giving me the option of choosing which tasks I wanted to carry out. Had I made it perfectly clear that this was bothering me, they may have granted my wish and given me the chance to select which I task I wanted to carry out. As a result, I may not have been de-motivated working in FMY Chemist for the two weeks that I was working there.


In Conclusion, I think that the main finding that I got from this topic was knowing that I was de-motivated in the workplace during my time in FMY Chemist. Even though while I was working there I knew that I was demotivated, I don't think I exactly knew the reason why I was de-motivated. It wasn't until I started researching into the different motivation theorists that I realised that I was being de-motivated in the Chemist because my social and self esteem needs weren't being met. I feel that this finding will be very important in the future when I start to seek full time employment after University because I will know for sure if my social and self esteem needs are being met in the workplace.


Another finding that I got from this topic is the importance of communication. Had I made it perfectly clear that I was being de-motivated in the workplace, I think that my employer may have taken note of this and made sure I had options about which tasks I could choose or refuse. I also think that this is an important finding for the future when I start a full time job because I will be more concious of making my opinions heard if it is the difference between being motivated and being de-motivated.

I think I have learnt quite a lot from this topic overall. This is because I found out that I was being de-motivated while I was working at FMY Chemist but I also found out about the importance of communication in the work environment.


References:


[Anon.] [n.d.] People, Motivation - theories [online]. [n.k.] [s.n.] Available from: http://tutor2u.net/business/gcse/people_motivation_theories.htm, [Accessed 14 October 2009].


Elton Mayo Image http://www.nndb.com/people/043/000119683/elton-mayo-1.jpg, [Accessed 14 October 2009].


Thompson, R and Machin, D (2003) AS Business Studies, Hammersmith: HyperCollins Publishers Limited