Motivational theories usually embark on explaining the reasons that influence individuals to make certain decisions while at the same time illustrating ways in which they can motivate others as well as themselves in order to boost behavior. Every theory is usually. Whereas various theories exist, their history, foundation, model, and application differ. They also have their strengths and weaknesses while the strategies of applying them also differ (Miner, 2015) . Thus, the paper discusses three major motivational theories including Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Incentive Theory, and Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory, their strengths and weaknesses, strategies of applying them to motivate employees, and select one that would be most appropriate to use in the workplace.
Theories Description
The Maslow Hierarchy of Needs serves as among the earliest and most popular motivation theory. Abraham Maslow developed the theory during the 1940s and 1950s. The theory usually claims that each person has differing needs’ levels, while it requires that the lower, more essential needs to be addressed first before the higher ones (Latham, 2012) . The lowest unsatisfied needs serve as the most dominant and significant while it activates a person to act to meet its requirements. Satisfied requirements are considered as demotivating while people search for higher needs upon fulfilling the lower ones.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The incentive theory commenced during 1940s and 1950s. As opposed to the theory, emphasizing on the internal forces that drive motivation, it claims that individuals are usually driven toward certain behaviors that result to rewards, while actions that result to negative repercussions push them away (Latham, 2012) . It argues that individuals might act in distinct ways in a similar situation depending on the incentives types offered to them during that time.
Frederick Herzberg founded the Two-Factor Theory of motivation in 1959. The theory stipulates that certain job factors emerge because of satisfaction while others might lead to dissatisfaction. Here, two motivating forces influence behavior (Latham, 2012) . These comprise of those boosting the overall level of satisfaction of an individual and the hygiene forces that to not offer satisfaction, although result to intense dissatisfaction if not available.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The strength of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is that it drives need of individuals toward needs at higher levels, hence offering a clear growth roadmap (Latham, 2012) . However, the weakness of the theory is that it does not illustrate while certain people prefer ignoring lesser needs while searching for higher ones.
The strength of the incentive theory is that it emphasizes on creating a reward system that focuses on improving the behavior of individuals by targeting the positive results attributed to the actions that people undertake (Latham, 2012) . Nonetheless, the theory is weak in that it relies heavily on rewards to an extent that it requires incentives to be supplied on a regular basis.
For the two-factor theory, its strength prevails where it manages to distinguish between behavioral needs, hence effective when it comes to illustrating why the workforce requires certain things, hence allowing managers to direct their motivation better (Miner, 2015) . The weakness of the theory is that the forces that motivate might change during the lifetime of a person.
Options and Strategies for Motivating Employees
In applying the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs, employers should emphasize on understanding psychological needs first to allow the workers feel secure about their jobs. In the case of the Incentive Theory, organizations should target the behavior and motivation of employees and condition them to boost positive behavior (Miner, 2015) . For the two-factor theory, firms should ensure to understand the different forces that motivate the workforce and the things that they require in their jobs to allow them to flourish in the workplace.
Selected Theory
The theory I would use in the workplace is the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Since the major area that employees focus on is their survival in the workplace, the theory would allow managers to act in a humane manner when the employees experience challenging situations by meeting their most basic needs first (Latham, 2012) . Employees would not be motivated when they feel that their jobs are at risk or when the pay is not fair.
References
Latham, G. P. (2012). Work motivation: history, theory, research, and practice. Newcastle: SAGE.
Miner, J. B. (2015). Organizational behavior 1: essential theories of motivation and leadership. Abingdon: Routledge.
