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To understand the concept of motivation, you must first understand what prompts people to act. Many theories about and approaches to motivation have evolved. One of the more recent approaches is content theories.

Content theories emphasize the needs that motivate people. People have basic needs such as food, achievement, or monetary reward. Managers who understand the basis of human need are better able to design reward systems that effectively meet those needs and motivate employees to superior performance.

One of the best known content theories was developed by Abraham Maslow. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory states that humans are motivated by many needs, and that these needs exist in a hierarchical order. The lower needs take priority and must be satisfied before higher needs can be met. Once basic needs are fulfilled, a person may focus on meeting the next higher need.

Maslow identified five general types of motivating needs in order of ascendance:

Physiological needs.

These are the most basic human physical needs, including food, water, clothing, and sex. In the context of work, these equate to needing a salary to pay for basic living needs.

Safety needs.

These are the needs for a safe, secure physical and emotional environment. For an employer, this would mean providing fringe benefits, freedom from violence, and job security.

Belongingness needs.

These needs reflect a person’s desire to be accepted by one’s peers, have friendships, be part of a group, and be loved. These would influence an employee’s desire for teamwork, participation with co-workers, and a positive relationship with supervisors.

Esteem needs.

These needs relate to the desire to have a positive self-image and receive attention, recognition, and appreciation from others. Esteem needs are evident when employees are motivated by recognition, increases in responsibility, and high status.

Self-actualization needs.

These represent a person’s need for self-fulfillment --- developing one’s full potential, increasing competency, becoming a better person --- which is the highest need category. An organization can help employees meet these needs by giving them opportunities to grow, be creative, and acquire training for improvement.

Though the theory is sometimes faulted for its strict sequencing of needs, it nevertheless provides an excellent framework for understanding possible motivators for your employees. For instance, studies on motivation in the workplace have established that those who have achieved the lower order needs are not so much motivated by money as by power and prestige. Money may be the measure of that, but not the focus of need.

Another content theory of motivation was developed by Frederick Herzberg. Herzberg believed that two separate dimensions contribute to an employee’s behavior at work: intrinsic factors (satisfiers) and extrinsic factors (dissatisfiers).

Satisfiers are the intrinsic factors of a person’s work experience that provide positive motivation. Satisfiers relate to opportunities for advancement, the work itself, responsibility, challenge and personal growth. They tend to deal with the higher order needs of people. You should provide challenging and responsible work to keep your employees motivated.

Dissatisfiers are the extrinsic aspects of the job such as working conditions, pay, company policies, job security, and interpersonal relationships. Dissatisfiers can only lead to job dissatisfaction. When they are poor, work is dissatisfying. When these factors are good, motivation is not increased; the dissatisfaction is only removed. When noise levels are high and work conditions unsafe, workers will be dissatisfied. But removing or correcting these conditions will not motivate or satisfy employees.

To achieve greater joy satisfaction, you need to recognize and remove extrinsic factors that fail to meet basic needs while providing work experiences that maximize intrinsic factors.