This document discusses several content motivation theories and how managers can apply them to motivate employees more effectively. It describes Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Herzberg's two-factor theory, McClelland's three needs theory, and Alderfer's ERG theory. It explains that content theories focus on individual goals and needs as the basis for motivation. The document suggests that managers should identify the specific needs driving each employee, such as achievement, affiliation, or power, and structure work accordingly to boost motivation.

1. Content Motivation Theories:
Application in Managers’ Employee Motivation
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2. Research centered on the relationship between worker satisfaction and performance in an
organization reveals that the higher the level of satisfaction, the higher the productivity of
workers. Organizations with satisfied workers stand to benefit through increased efficiency from
the workforce. The role of motivation to organizational staff has been the subject of research for
decades with the aim of determining whether a happy and content employee is more productive
than a less motivated one. Two major schools summarize mainstream motivation theories:
content and process motivation. The essay focuses on content motivation theories: Maslow
Hierarchy of Needs, Alderfer's ERG, Herzberg's Two Factor, and McClelland 3 Needs theories
(Thompson 1996). The paper discusses how these theories help managers to motivate their
employees more effectively.
Contemporary theories of motivation base their design on the principle that individual
needs are the basis of motivation. Deficiency in satisfaction and fulfillment of individual needs
creates an urge to fill the void influencing an individual to devise mechanisms that will fill the
gap by satisfying those needs. This leads to the conclusion that a high degree of individual needs
is directly proportional to a high degree of motivation to satisfy them. Conversely, when the
level of individual needs is low, motivation is also low. Content theories of motivation deal with
what constitutes motivation to people concentrating on individual goals and needs.
Abraham Maslow came up with the hierarchy of needs, one of the earliest and most
influential motivation theories. The basic principle behind it is that motivation springs from
unfulfilled needs. It follows that the fulfillment of lower needs motivates an individual to pursue
that of higher needs. Once an individual satisfies a lower need, it ceases to be a source of
motivation and he/she shifts focus to a higher need (Thompson 1996). Maslow also designed this
theory around the idea that human motivation is largely instinctive and a subconscious process.

3. The theory consolidates the numerous individual needs into five broad categories: psychological,
safety, belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization needs, in that order of priority.
In an organization, employee behavior may be motivated by more than one level of needs
simultaneously. The greatest motivation to behavior lies at the lowest unsatisfied need. The next
higher need in the cycle is always the source of motivation upon satisfaction of the one directly
below it. When an employee is unable to satisfy a higher need to immediately, he/she remains
motivated until fulfillment of the task. A practical demonstration is a jobless candidate seeking
employment. At the unemployment stage, his/her main source of motivation is the desire to raise
money for food, clothes and payment of bill. Upon securing a job, the initial factors cease to
become the source of motivation, and he/she derives motivation form the desire to work in a
safer environment.
Frederick Herzberg suggested that two factors affect motivation: hygiene and motivating
factors. Administration, job satisfaction and remuneration, company policies and working
condition are key examples of hygiene factors (Steele 2010). Herzberg promotes the idea that
these factors have the greatest impact on employee dissatisfaction especially is seen as
inadequate. It follows that absence of these factors is likely to boost employee motivation and
their presence in the initial stage of an employee’s interaction with the working environment may
form a strong basis for motivation. For instance, a manager offering low remunerations for a
highly skilled job position is likely to yield an extremely low probability of motivating the
employee.
McClelland suggests that individual needs are driven by culture, and categorized into
three primary needs: the need for power (n Pow), need for affiliation (n Aff), and the need for

4. achievement (n Ach) (YourCoach 2010). The desire to establish social relationships with others
drives the need for affiliation. That of performing difficult and challenging tasks drives the need
for achievement. The desire to lead others drives individuals with the need for power. Power
may be either personal or institutional, making individuals to seek either of the two categories of
power. In an organization, a personal-power driven individual wishes to lead and direct others
(YourCoach 2010).
It is upon managers to discover the needs that drive and motivate their employees. It may
be one need or a combination of needs. For instance, an employee driven by the need for power
is likely to be less motivated when assigned tasks that immerse him/her in a subordinate position.
A manager’s realization of this may influence him/her to assign the employee a supervisory
position where he/she is capable of leading, boosting motivation. Managers can assign team-
based tasks to employees with the need for affiliation because such roles create an environment
conducive for interaction between the employee and others, boosting his motivation to work in
that environment. Similarly, a manger can assign difficult and challenging tasks to employees
driven by the need for achievement because such challenges are bound to boost their motivation
with or without the satisfaction of successful completion.
Alderfer's ERG theory seems to build on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, but instead
of Maslow’s five, Alderfer categorized individual needs into three broad categories: existence,
relatedness, and growth. Existence needs are similar to Marlow’s psychological and safety needs.
Relatedness needs deal with the way individuals relate hence their similarities with Maslow’s
self-esteem and belongingness needs. Growth needs revolve around an individual’s desire to
achieve and exploit one’s potential, similar to Maslow’s self-actualization and esteem needs. The
difference between Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Alderfer's ERG is that the latter does not

5. suggest that motivation is dependent on satisfaction of lower level needs before proceeding to
higher-level needs (Management Study Guide 2012).
Alderfer suggested that sustained failure to meet and sustain upper level need influences
an individual to avert to lower lever needs and their fulfillment becomes the source of
motivation. In an organizational setting, the theory directs managers to ensure they meet
employees’ ERG needs to boost motivation. It does not imply, however, that any need should
precede the other. Managers ought to attend to employees’ compound needs concurrently to
achieve optimal motivation levels. Focusing on one need and alone achieves the opposite.
Similarly, the frustration- regression principle of the ERG model is bound to have an impact on
motivation. The failure of a manager to offer growth opportunities in an organization may
influence an employee with potential to regress to lower level needs such as relatedness and the
need to socialize (Management Study Guide 2012). If a manager notices these changes, he/she
ought to address the issue to enable an employee meet those needs.

6. References
Management Study Guide, 2012, ERG Theory of Motivation, Available at:
<http://www.managementstudyguide.com/erg-theory-motivation.htm> (accessed 7 March 2013)
Steele, J, 2010, Content Theory of Motivation, Available at:
<http://www.speechmastery.com/content-theory-of-motivation.html> (accessed 7 March 2013)
Thompson, D, P, 1996, Motivating Others: Creating the Conditions School Leadership Library,
Eye on Education, New York
YourCoach, 2010, McClelland achievement and acquired needs theory, Available at:
<http://www.yourcoach.be/en/employee-motivation-theories/mcclelland-achievement-and-
acquired-needs-motivation-theory.php> (accessed 7 March 2013)