| We’ve all heard a lot of discussion about the | | | | When you define motivation in these ways, you can |
| importance of motivation both in ourselves and in our | | | | see how complex the idea is and why it’s so |
| employees. While the topic comes up a great deal, | | | | important to start thinking about what is going to work |
| it’s difficult to define motivation because, like | | | | with different people. |
| leadership, it’s a bit of an abstract term. You can | | | | The Goal Setting Theory |
| find a great deal of information available on motivation, | | | | Different research methods have been studying |
| and this can help you create a definition to work from | | | | human motivation for decades, one of the more |
| as you are working on increasing this important trait in | | | | popular approaches that have been discovered is |
| yourself and in others. | | | | known as the goal setting theory. Basically, the idea |
| The Broad Definition | | | | here is that people are going to be motivated more |
| If you’re looking for the most common way to | | | | frequently if they have some type of goal to reach. |
| define the term, the most common definition is that | | | | The beauty of this theory, besides the fact that it |
| motivation is whatever causes people to act the way | | | | seems to be true, is that it can work on both intrinsic |
| they do. For example, if a person robs a convenience | | | | and extrinsic methods of motivation. |
| store, he or she probably had some reason for acting | | | | For example, you may have your own goal to reach |
| that way – some motivation that prompted the | | | | so achieving that goal would be intrinsic motivation. On |
| action. Everything we do, including the choices we | | | | the other hand, if the company offers some type of |
| make, is going to be affected by our motivation. | | | | reward as a goal that would be a good example of |
| Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic | | | | extrinsic motivation. |
| These are two of the basic aspects of motivation. | | | | Importance of Motivation |
| You need to understand these concepts in order to | | | | Research has discovered that employees who are |
| better learn how to motivate yourself and others to | | | | motivated do provide a wide range of benefits. You |
| take desired actions. Intrinsic motivation refers to | | | | don’t have to define motivation to see it work |
| reasons that originate inside the person. For example, if | | | | effectively. For example, well-motivated workers strive |
| you have a deadline, you might be motivated to meet | | | | for higher quality, increased productivity, and improved |
| that deadline because doing so gives you a sense of | | | | methods of doing the job. Clearly, these features have |
| accomplishment. Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, | | | | far reaching benefits for your business. They can also |
| involves motivation that originates outside of the | | | | have far-reaching benefits for you. Whether intrinsic or |
| individual. With this type of motivation, you would want | | | | extrinsic motivation is what works in your workplace, |
| to meet that deadline out of need to keep your job or | | | | you can be sure that it will be beneficial. |
| to be rewarded for meeting the goal. | | | | |