MoTiVaTiOn...

What is motivation?!

‘Motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. Motivation is what causes us to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge.’

http://psychology.about.com/

Motivation is a key that drives an individual or even a group of people to carry out any tasks at hand to the best of ability, whether this be at work, university or duties with family/friends. There are many different methods which encourage motivation in different ways, some of which are financial and others that do not involve money at all but just appraisals. Some organizations keep their employees motivated through financial progress by issuing bonuses and pay rise others it just works through recognition and appraisal.

A recognised and established model of motivation is by Abraham Maslow who built up pyramid which consisted of different stages that need to be fulfilled step by step starting from the bottom of the hierarchy in order for the individual to be fully motivated.

 There are five stages to Maslow’s suggested model of motivation, the bottom which is physiological needs, this involves the basic need of life such as food, water, shelter, when these needs are fulfilled it is only then when an individual can move up to the second level of the hierarchy which is called the safety needs, which consists of having stability, protection, security etc. The third stage in the hierarchy is an individual having a sense of belongingness, love, affection, family, friends work colleagues, and it’s about holding a stand in other lives and within the society as a while. The fourth stage in the hierarchy is based upon esteem needs; this involves an individual holding status within a sector whether it be at work or family etc, levels of responsibility, when an individual has reached this stage they have more or less achieved 80%of their aims in life, the last and final stage is the self actualisation stage which consists of the individual holding recognition of his or her achievements and having the feeling of fulfilment.

I feel that I can relate my university, work and generally life to this theory as there is a clear separation of each stage, as I can relate my university life closely to the stages of Maslow’s hierarchy

My motivation for my degree is mainly my family and the current financial climate the country is trying to come out off. My family have motivated me to come to university and will continue to motivate me as it’s always been my parents dream for me to graduate alongside my brothers and sisters, this has been and always will be a key driver for me to achieve my goals and my families dreams. As the country is striving to recover from the current climate and financial crisis it was hit by, the course I am studying will set out my opportunities and enable me opportunities in which I will be able to make a difference to other peoples financial positions and have the ability to offer them professional advice on what they need to do in order to succeed. That is also another key driver for me to complete my degree, knowing that fact that I have the ability to make a difference, having taken full analysis of the motivating factors alongside my motivation for my degree I find myself at the highest stage of the motivational hierarchy proposed by Maslow as I have got my basic three stages all fulfilled and I am able to complete my assignments and work to a good level which I am in return receiving acknowledgement of excellent work from lectures as well as high percentages, this is encouraging me to do better and better. So as I am aware of this I am on the self actualisation stage in regards to my degree course.

When have I been de-motivated?

Two years ago when a new Customer Service Manager (CSM) joined our team in Argos, Maidenhead, I found myself really de motivated that every three Sundays I was calling in sick simply due to the fact that he was managing on that particular Sunday. The reasons for this was that I was always exceeding my targets and achieving my quarterly goals but there was no appreciation, appraisal or even recognition that I was doing well as a part team member. This caused a lot of discomfort as I was not motivated to come into work and do my best because I never got any appraisal or appreciation whether I did or didn’t do my job properly, I felt unwanted and I felt as if my presence didn’t really make a difference to the branch as well as him (my manager). After 6 months it came to my store managers attention when they noticed a patter on my absence every three months when the Customer Service Manager (CSM) was in charge and so they sorted all issues out and addresses to him how I felt and immediate action was taken to resolve this issue and to make the work force an enjoyable place to be in for me as well as my manager.

Overall it has been found that motivation is the key to success, and every individual needs to identify what their needs are and try and find a workforce that meets those needs so they are able to carry out their job roles to the best of their ability.