MOTIVATION IN EDUCATION MANAGEMENT

                                    MOTIVATION IN EDUCATION MANAGEMENT

Motivation:The Concept

Ø  What we call our driving force,our get up and go.

Ø  Tending to initiate motion or power which induces a person to act.e.g. desire,fear and circumstances(Oxford Dictionary-1987)

Ø  A concept to help explain behaviour (Research and analysis from organisational and psychologists)

Defining Management Motivation

Motivation is-

Ø  The will to act.

Ø  The willingness to exert high levels of effort towards organisational goals.

Ø  To inspire people to work,individually or in groups.

Importance of motivation

Rensis Likert, while pointing out the importance of motivation, has called it the ‘core of management’. Similarly, Allen while stressing the need and importance of motivation has observed that ‘poorly motivated people can nullify the soundest organisation.’ The importance of motivation is brought out by the following facts:

 (1) Improves Performance Level:

The ability to do work and willingness to do work both affect the efficiency of a person. The ability to do work is obtained with the help of education and training and willingness to do work is obtained with the help of motivation.

Willingness is more important in comparison to ability. For example, a person is highly educated and he is recruited on this very basis. But it is not essential that he will do outstanding work.

He shall have to be motivated to do good work. This is possible only through motivation. Therefore, motivation improves efficiency. The efficiency of a person is reflected through increase in productivity and decrease in costs.

(2) Helps to Change Negative or Indifferent Attitudes of Employees:

Some employees of an organisation have a negative attitude. They always think that doing more work will not bring any credit. A manager uses various techniques to change this attitude.

For example, if the financial situation of such an employee is weak, he gives him a raise in his remuneration and if his financial condition is satisfactory he motivates him by praising his work.

(3) Reduction in Employee Turnover:

The reputation of an organisation is affected by the employee turnover. This creates a lot of problems for the managers. A lot of time and money go waste in repeatedly recruiting employees and giving them education and training.

Only motivation can save an organisation from such wastage. Motivated people work for a longer time in the organisation and there is a decline in the rate of turnover.

(4) Helps to Reduce Absenteeism in the Organisation:

In some of the organisations, the rate of absenteeism is high. There are many causes for this-poor work conditions, poor relations with colleagues and superiors, no recognition in the organisation, insufficient reward, etc. A manager removes all such deficiencies and motivates the employees. Motivated employees do not remain absent from work as the workplace becomes a source of joy for them.

 (5) Reduction in Resistance to Change:

New changes continue taking place in the organisation. Normally workers are not prepared to accept any changes in their normal routine. Whereas it becomes essential to bring in some changes because of the demands of time.

Employees can be made to accept such changes easily with the help of motivation. Motivated people accept these changes enthusiastically and improve their work performance.

Process of Motivation(Motivation Cycle)

Motivation is a process that starts with physiclogical or psychogical deficiency or need that activates  a behaviour or a drive that is aimed at a goal or an incentive.

Need

It’s a state of physical deprivation that causes tension within an organism. The tension caused when the organism is deprived of basic necessities of life as food, water, and sleep, causes the internal environment of an organism to be imbalanced. The imbalance caused by the need arouses the organism to maintain its balance. For any goal directed behavior, need is the first condition or stimulating factor.

Drive

Need leads to drive, which is the second step towards achieving goal. Drive can be defined as the state of tension or arousal produced by need. The drive can also be considered as the original source of energy that activates an organism. For instance, when an organism is hungry and/or thirsty, the organism seeks to reduce this drive by eating and/or drinking.

Motivation-in brief

Motivation is a general term applied to the emtire class of drives,desires,needs,wishes and simillar forces.

Motivation is not the whole story in performance improvement

P=f(A*M*O)

Perormance is the function of Ability(A),Motivation(M) and Opportunity to perform)(O)

Job Performance of Employee=

F (Ability) (Motivation) (Oportunity)

Ø  Ability depends on education,experience and training.(but its improvement is slow and long process)

Ø  Opprtunity should be given.

Ø  Motivation can be improved properly.

Importance/Purpose of Education Management

Ø  To motivate others is the most important of management tasks,

Ø  To set an example,

Ø  To accept challenges,

Ø  To encourage,

Ø  To obtain feedback,

Ø  To involve,

Ø  To develop and train,

Ø  To communicate,

Ø  To inform,

Ø  To brief,

Ø  To provide a reward.

Motivation through reward

a.      Extrinsic Rewards

Money,employee benefits,promotions,recognition,ststus symbols,praise etc.

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b.      Intrinsic Rewards

Self-granted payoff,sense of accomplishment,self-esteem,self-actualization,etc.

Motivation through Job

a.       Job design

b.      Job enrichment

a.      Job Design

Job Characterstics Model(JCM) by Hackman & Oldham--

-five core of job dimensions

Ø  Skill variety

Ø  Task identity

Ø  Task significance

Ø  Autonomy

Ø  Feedback

The way elements in a job are organised(Job Design) impacts Motivation,Satisfaction and Performance.

MOTIVATIONAL THEORIES IN EDUCATION MANAGEMENT

a.      According to Robert Dubin (1970),

              “Motivation is the complex set of forces starting and keeping a person at work in an organization. Motivation is something that moves the person to action, and continues him in the course of action already initiated.”

b.      Dalton E. McFarland (1974) stated that:

             “Motivation refers to the way in which urges, drives, desires, aspirations, and strivings or needs direct, control or explain the behaviour of human beings.”

c.       According to Kreitner (1995), motivation has been defined as:

“The psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction.”

THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

Despite the fact that motivation is a basic psychological process, much relevant motivation theories have been identified so far. Over time, these major theoretical streams of research in motivation were classified into two major schools:

1.      The content theories of motivation : Content (or need) theories of motivation focus on factors internal to the individual that energize and direct behavior. These theories suggest that people have certain needs and/or desires which have been internalised.

v  Maslow's hierarchy of needs

v  Herzberg's motivator-hygiene theory

v  Alderfer's ERG theory

v  McClelland's learned needs or three-need theory

2.       The process theories of motivation : Process (or cognitive) theories of motivation focus on conscious human decision processes as an explanation of motivation. The process theories are concerned with determining how individual behavior is energised, directed, and maintained in the specifically willed and self-directed human cognitive processes.

v  Cognitive Evaluation theory

v  Expectancy theory

v  Equity theory

v  Goal setting theory

v  Reinforcement theory