UNIT – I Lesson 1 HRM – AN OVERVIEW Lesson Outline Nature of ...

psychologically; destitution, lack of the means of subsistence or of necessaries, poverty.
Need is an internal state that makes certain outcomes appear attractive. The strongest need
is likely to have the greatest influence on employees’ behavior. Motivation is said to relate
to need in that a person with a particular need will be motivated to engage in behavior that
will lead to the gratification or satisfaction of that need.
4.11.6. Types and Techniques of Motivation
When an employee is motivated by the inherent nature of the work rather than what he
would get out of doing it, the work is said to be intrinsically motivating the employee.
Extrinsic motivation is based on the secondary outcomes of work like pay or reputation.
When work is monotonous and drudgery producing, it is more likely to be done for
outcomes like money, fame, power, etc., such factors in work are called extrinsic
motivators. Motivation could be positive in the form of offering rewards or negative in
the form of punishments and warnings. Techniques of motivation includes provision of
financial and non-financial incentives, job enrichment, enhancement of employees’
participation in decision making, praise and recognition, delegation and offering job
security.
4.11.7 Theories and models of motivation
Theories on work motivation may be broadly classified as the content and process theories
based on their emphasis on “what” and “how” of motivation respectively. The content
theories state what type of needs or factors motivate employees, while the process theories
describe the internal thought processes in the employees that lead to motivation. Based on
the period of their origin, the earlier theories are classified as Classical theories and the
latter as modern theories.
Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
According to this most commonly known classical theory popular since the mid-1950s,
human needs can be arranged into five levels such as basic or physiological needs
including food, water and air, Safety needs such as a feeling of physical or economic
security and freedom from dangers, which might include housing and job tenure, social
needs such as belongingness, love and affection, esteem needs such as respect, recognition
and reward. Maslow separated the five needs by grouping the first two into lower level
and the remaining three into higher level. The differentiation between the two orders was
made on the premise that higher-order needs are satisfied internally, whereas lower-order
needs are predominantly satisfied externally.
The final stage of the hierarchy is the attainment of self-actualization, which
implies achieving one’s fullest potential (attaining a state of what one is capable of