Handy's Motivation Theory
Monday, November 25, 2013
You've just assigned an important project to one of your star team members.
However, she doesn't seem that excited about the opportunity, and you're not sure what the problem is: her skills and expertise seem perfect for the job, and she'll get a great reward if she can complete the project on time.
So, why is she so reluctant to get started?
If you're in a management role, you've likely experienced times when team members were less than enthusiastic about a project that you felt would be ideal for them. When this happens, you know that they'll struggle to give their best.
This is where a technique like Handy's Motivation Theory can help you motivate your people more effectively.
In this article, we'll discuss this theory, and we'll explore how you can use it to motivate your people and allocate tasks and projects more effectively.
About the Theory
Charles Handy is one of the world's most influential management experts. He created his Motivation Theory (also known as his Motivation Calculus) in the 1970s and published it in his classic 1976 book, "Understanding Organizations."
The theory says that, whenever we decide to do something, then, either consciously or subconsciously, we take into consideration these three factors:
Our most significant needs .
Our expectation that a certain intensivity of action will achieve the desired results.
How the results of the action will contribute towards satisfying our needs.
All of these affect the amount of effort ( expenditure ) that we put into the task.
As you can see in figure 1, below, we consider each of the elements simultaneously when we make this "calculation."
Put simply, the theory helps explain why we put effort and energy into certain tasks, but not others.
Figure 1 – Handy's Motivation Theory
Let's examine each of the three elements of the theory in greater detail.
1. Needs
Needs are important, because people will usually work hard to meet a large unmet personal need. Handy highlighted three particular theories that are helpful when thinking about people's needs:
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs – this says that we have five essential needs: physiological/bodily; safety; love/belonging; self-esteem; and, self-actualization (the sense of "doing the work we were born to do"). According to Maslow, we only realize our higher needs (such as self-actualization) once we have met our more basic needs (such as bodily needs).
Herzberg's Motivators and Hygiene Factors – this theory helps us identify what we find satisfactory and unsatisfactory with our jobs. According to Herzberg, we find factors like excessive bureaucracy, over-tight supervision and poor salaries demotivating, and factors like recognition, achievement and advancement motivating. We "need" demotivators to be removed and motivators to be supplied.
McClelland's Human Motivation Theory – this theory says that there are three primary needs: the needs for achievement, affiliation, and power. According to McClelland, all of us have one or another of these three needs as a "dominant" motivator. That is, when we analyze our needs, our desire to satisfy this dominant driver will be strong.
Tip:
Clearly, we all have different needs, and these needs can, and likely will, change over time.
For instance, if we feel very secure in our job, our need for security might be satisfied; this means we might then perceive a need for a creative outlet, or for greater freedom. However, if our organization experiences budget cuts and layoffs are looming, our need for security may resurface.
2. Expectation
This is your expectation that a given level of "expenditure" will lead to a desired result.
This expenditure could be of energy, effort, or any other type of expenditure such as time, money, passion, and so on, that we put toward a task to get our desired result.
Clearly, if we think that a task will be easy and boring, we may not put much effort into it. This is particularly a problem if the task is actually much harder than we initially think!
3. Results
If the rewards for doing a task are attractive, we're likely to work harder. These rewards could include a promotion, a kind word from our boss, recognition for improving sales figures, kudos for acquiring a new client, approval from your team, or a bonus or a financial reward.
The theory says that the results we want are likely to be closely connected with our needs. For example, if our most important needs include achievement, we'll put extra effort into tasks that result in praise from our boss.
How to Use the Tool
You can use the theory behind this tool to motivate your people to work hard, by helping them see the connection between working diligently and getting their needs met.
You can also use the theory to allocate tasks intelligently, by giving people tasks and projects that they are likely to find rewarding.
We'll now look at how you can identify people's needs, and help them see the connection between their needs and the results of tasks and projects.
1. Understanding People's Needs
Your first step is to understand the needs and priorities of each individual in your team.
You could use any of the three motivation theories we mentioned earlier – Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs , Herzberg's Motivators and Hygiene Factors , or McClelland's Human Motivation Theory – to help you do this. You may also find Amabile and Kramer's Progress Theory helpful here.
Tip:
Make sure that you don't make any assumptions about people's needs and priorities – they can often differ radically from what you'd expect. The most effective way to understand people's needs is to ask them!
2. Linking People's Needs to Desirable Results
Once you've identified people's needs, you need to help them see the link between these needs and the rewards that come with the work that they do.
Sometimes, it will be clear how needs and results are connected. Other times, you'll have to dig deeper to find a link. In either case, communicate regularly with your people so that they're aware of why its worth working hard. (Effective feedback is especially important here, particularly when you feed back on how specific behaviors are moving people towards or away from the rewards they want.)
Also remember to use Managing by Objectives . This helps you motivate people by aligning their needs and objectives with those of your organization.
3. Making Sure That Expectations are Realistic
As we've already said, people's expectations about the job affect the amount of effort that they're likely to put in to it. If a task will need a lot of hard work to complete, make sure that the person completing it fully appreciates the amount of effort needed. (Of course, make sure that you build up their self-confidence , so that they know they can complete the task successfully!)
Note:
There won't always be a connection between the work that people do and their needs. Read our article on Motivating Your Team or use our team motivation Bite-Sized Training session for more on the different motivation strategies and techniques you can use.
Key Points
Business expert Charles Handy first developed his Motivation Theory in the 1970s. It helps to explain how we decide how much effort and energy we are going to devote to a task.
The three components we consider are:
What our most significant needs are.
Our expectation of how much work will be needed.
How desirable the results are, and how they will contribute towards meeting our needs.
You can use Handy's Motivation Theory to motivate your people more effectively, by helping them see the connection between the results of their hard work, and the satisfaction of their needs.
Tags:
Skills, Team Management
However, she doesn't seem that excited about the opportunity, and you're not sure what the problem is: her skills and expertise seem perfect for the job, and she'll get a great reward if she can complete the project on time.
So, why is she so reluctant to get started?
If you're in a management role, you've likely experienced times when team members were less than enthusiastic about a project that you felt would be ideal for them. When this happens, you know that they'll struggle to give their best.
This is where a technique like Handy's Motivation Theory can help you motivate your people more effectively.
In this article, we'll discuss this theory, and we'll explore how you can use it to motivate your people and allocate tasks and projects more effectively.
About the Theory
Charles Handy is one of the world's most influential management experts. He created his Motivation Theory (also known as his Motivation Calculus) in the 1970s and published it in his classic 1976 book, "Understanding Organizations."
The theory says that, whenever we decide to do something, then, either consciously or subconsciously, we take into consideration these three factors:
Our most significant needs .
Our expectation that a certain intensivity of action will achieve the desired results.
How the results of the action will contribute towards satisfying our needs.
All of these affect the amount of effort ( expenditure ) that we put into the task.
As you can see in figure 1, below, we consider each of the elements simultaneously when we make this "calculation."
Put simply, the theory helps explain why we put effort and energy into certain tasks, but not others.
Figure 1 – Handy's Motivation Theory
Let's examine each of the three elements of the theory in greater detail.
1. Needs
Needs are important, because people will usually work hard to meet a large unmet personal need. Handy highlighted three particular theories that are helpful when thinking about people's needs:
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs – this says that we have five essential needs: physiological/bodily; safety; love/belonging; self-esteem; and, self-actualization (the sense of "doing the work we were born to do"). According to Maslow, we only realize our higher needs (such as self-actualization) once we have met our more basic needs (such as bodily needs).
Herzberg's Motivators and Hygiene Factors – this theory helps us identify what we find satisfactory and unsatisfactory with our jobs. According to Herzberg, we find factors like excessive bureaucracy, over-tight supervision and poor salaries demotivating, and factors like recognition, achievement and advancement motivating. We "need" demotivators to be removed and motivators to be supplied.
McClelland's Human Motivation Theory – this theory says that there are three primary needs: the needs for achievement, affiliation, and power. According to McClelland, all of us have one or another of these three needs as a "dominant" motivator. That is, when we analyze our needs, our desire to satisfy this dominant driver will be strong.
Tip:
Clearly, we all have different needs, and these needs can, and likely will, change over time.
For instance, if we feel very secure in our job, our need for security might be satisfied; this means we might then perceive a need for a creative outlet, or for greater freedom. However, if our organization experiences budget cuts and layoffs are looming, our need for security may resurface.
2. Expectation
This is your expectation that a given level of "expenditure" will lead to a desired result.
This expenditure could be of energy, effort, or any other type of expenditure such as time, money, passion, and so on, that we put toward a task to get our desired result.
Clearly, if we think that a task will be easy and boring, we may not put much effort into it. This is particularly a problem if the task is actually much harder than we initially think!
3. Results
If the rewards for doing a task are attractive, we're likely to work harder. These rewards could include a promotion, a kind word from our boss, recognition for improving sales figures, kudos for acquiring a new client, approval from your team, or a bonus or a financial reward.
The theory says that the results we want are likely to be closely connected with our needs. For example, if our most important needs include achievement, we'll put extra effort into tasks that result in praise from our boss.
How to Use the Tool
You can use the theory behind this tool to motivate your people to work hard, by helping them see the connection between working diligently and getting their needs met.
You can also use the theory to allocate tasks intelligently, by giving people tasks and projects that they are likely to find rewarding.
We'll now look at how you can identify people's needs, and help them see the connection between their needs and the results of tasks and projects.
1. Understanding People's Needs
Your first step is to understand the needs and priorities of each individual in your team.
You could use any of the three motivation theories we mentioned earlier – Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs , Herzberg's Motivators and Hygiene Factors , or McClelland's Human Motivation Theory – to help you do this. You may also find Amabile and Kramer's Progress Theory helpful here.
Tip:
Make sure that you don't make any assumptions about people's needs and priorities – they can often differ radically from what you'd expect. The most effective way to understand people's needs is to ask them!
2. Linking People's Needs to Desirable Results
Once you've identified people's needs, you need to help them see the link between these needs and the rewards that come with the work that they do.
Sometimes, it will be clear how needs and results are connected. Other times, you'll have to dig deeper to find a link. In either case, communicate regularly with your people so that they're aware of why its worth working hard. (Effective feedback is especially important here, particularly when you feed back on how specific behaviors are moving people towards or away from the rewards they want.)
Also remember to use Managing by Objectives . This helps you motivate people by aligning their needs and objectives with those of your organization.
3. Making Sure That Expectations are Realistic
As we've already said, people's expectations about the job affect the amount of effort that they're likely to put in to it. If a task will need a lot of hard work to complete, make sure that the person completing it fully appreciates the amount of effort needed. (Of course, make sure that you build up their self-confidence , so that they know they can complete the task successfully!)
Note:
There won't always be a connection between the work that people do and their needs. Read our article on Motivating Your Team or use our team motivation Bite-Sized Training session for more on the different motivation strategies and techniques you can use.
Key Points
Business expert Charles Handy first developed his Motivation Theory in the 1970s. It helps to explain how we decide how much effort and energy we are going to devote to a task.
The three components we consider are:
What our most significant needs are.
Our expectation of how much work will be needed.
How desirable the results are, and how they will contribute towards meeting our needs.
You can use Handy's Motivation Theory to motivate your people more effectively, by helping them see the connection between the results of their hard work, and the satisfaction of their needs.
