Motivation to work refers to work forces within an individual that account for the level, direction and persistence of effort expended at work. Willingness to perform in organisations is a key issue in workplaces and is an issue that requires consideration of individual needs, expectations and values.

Content and process theories are useful ways of organising the study of motivation. Content theories emphasise what it is within an individual or his or her environment that energises and sustains one’s behaviour. Process theories are dynamic and emphasise the thought processes that take place in the minds of people and that motivate their behaviour. They focus on understanding the thought or cognitive processes that act to influence behaviour. Equity and expectancy theories fall into this category.

Content theories include the theories of Maslow, Alderfer, McClelland and Herzberg. Maslow’s theory uses a five-step need hierarchy: physiological, safety, social (lower-order needs), esteem and self-actualisation (higher-order needs). Satisfaction of any need activates the one at the next higher level and people are assumed to move step-by-step through the hierarchy.

Alderfer’s theory collapses Maslow’s needs into: existence, relatedness and growth (ERG) and allows for more than one need to be activated at a time. It also enables a frustration-regression factor so that a person might regress to a lower level need if higher level need satisfaction appears, or is, frustrated.

McClelland’s Acquired Needs Theory emphasises need for achievement (nAch), need for affiliation (nAff), and need for power (nPower). Persons who are high in need for achievement prefer jobs with individual responsibility, performance feedback and moderately challenging goals. Successful executives typically have a high need for power that is greater than their need for affiliation. These needs can be developed through experience and training, and differing profiles have been established for some kinds of jobs.

Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory treats job satisfaction and dissatisfaction as two separate issues. Satisfiers (motivators) are associated with intrinsic job content factors, and dissatisfiers (hygienes) are associated with extrinsic working conditions and job context factors.

Essentially, content theories argue for the importance of managers creating work environments in which people can satisfy the kinds of factors (needs) identified in the theories. An important set of questions emerge from this range of theories: how many different needs are there, can one outcome satisfy more than one need, is there a hierarchy of needs and how important are the various needs?

In terms of process theories the chapter first considers equity theory. It indicates that people compare their work efforts and rewards (inputs and outputs) with those of others (or even themselves in other situations) and engage in behaviours to remove the perceived inequities. Feelings of inequity may lead to reduced job performance or turnover.

Expectancy theory is the second process approach we consider. It argues that work motivation is a function of an individual’s beliefs concerning effort-performance relationships (expectancy to achieve the required performance level), work outcome relationships (instrumentality or whether performance will lead to desired goals or outcomes), and the desirability of various work outcomes to the individual (valence). Managers are concerned with all three of these components in improving an individual’s work effort or motivation.

It is important to note that there are various management implications, criticisms and limitations to each of these theories. For instance, there may be methodological flaws or cultural differences. It is often contended that managers should adopt a multi-theory approach to motivation. An integrated model of motivation (incorporating many motivation theories) is presented in the chapter. It builds from the individual performance equation in chapter 3, which relates performance to individual attributes, work effort and organisational support. The integrated model ties together content and process theories to show how well-managed rewards can lead to high levels of individual performance and satisfaction.

Empowerment is the process by which managers delegate power to employees to motivate greater responsibility in balancing the achievement of both personal and organisational goals. It focuses on liberating, not controlling, human energy. It is thus concerned with achieving organisational goals, and personal goals of self-worth, recognition and involvement through collaboration and the realignment of organisational power. There are many strategies for empowering employees. Some involve skills development, others relate to changing organisational culture, or involve surrendering hierarchical control patterns. Empowerment relies on the belief that everyone has an internal need for self-determination. Thus empowerment relies on allowing and/or developing the self-efficacy (their sense of their capacity to perform adequately) of individuals.