Team Motivation Essay

Motivation Paper
For any manager who is trying to encourage or motivate an employee, it is important to know that there are different things that motivate people. Because of this, there are many theories out there on what type of things are motivators for employees. There are different motivational theories, such as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory, Aldefer’s ERG theory, Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory, which would fall in to different categories. Because of these theories and their application to learning, it is important to know what motivates employees. Different theories also apply to different types of positions as well.
What is motivation? “Motivation refers to forces within an individual that account for the level, direction and persistence of effort expended at work.” (Schermerhorn Jr., Hunt &, Osborn, 2005, pg 120). The same things do not motivate everyone. However, it may be safe to assume that people are motivated towards something they can relate to and something they can believe in, especially when it pertains to achieving a goal(s). We also know these as motivator factors, which we base on an individual’s need for personal growth. This creates job satisfaction and when goals are being effectively met, individuals in turn, are motivated and take action increasing their performance efforts.
We identified two motivational theories that would apply to the position of salespeople within the organization. First, we applied Frederick Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory (content theory) to the motivation of salespeople. This suggests that people are motivated to meet a variety of different needs.   By asking workers when they felt “exceptionally” good about their jobs in contrast to when they felt “exceptionally” bad about their jobs, Herzberg was able to analyze their job attitudes. Then, depending on when they felt good or bad about their jobs, developed the two-factor theory.   This two-factor theory, or motivator-hygiene theory, shows different factors as the...