Motivating individuals and teams: formula sheet

Key formulas

Maslow's five levels (bottom to top)

Physiological → Safety → Social → Esteem → Self-actualisation

Lower needs dominate until reasonably satisfied. A satisfied need stops motivating.

Herzberg's two factors

Hygiene factors prevent dissatisfaction; motivators create satisfaction

Hygiene: pay, conditions, policy, supervision, security. Motivators: achievement, recognition, responsibility, the work itself, advancement.

McClelland's three needs

Achievement, Affiliation, Power

Needs are acquired through experience. One usually dominates in each person.

Alderfer's ERG

Existence, Relatedness, Growth

Several needs can operate together. Frustration of a higher need can cause regression to a lower one.

Maslow to Alderfer mapping

Physiological + Safety = Existence; Social + external Esteem = Relatedness; internal Esteem + Self-actualisation = Growth

Useful for questions comparing the two models.

Vroom's expectancy model

Motivation = Expectancy × Instrumentality × Valence

A multiplicative idea: if any one element is zero, motivation is zero. Use it as a memory aid, not a calculation.

Adams' equity comparison

Own outputs ÷ Own inputs compared with Other's outputs ÷ Other's inputs

Equity exists when the perceived ratios are equal. It is about perception, not actual fairness.

Locke's goal features

Specific + Challenging + Accepted + Feedback

Goals with these features tend to improve performance.

Job rotation

Move between jobs at the same level

Builds skills and reduces boredom. Adds no extra responsibility.

Job enlargement

Horizontal loading = more tasks at the same level

Widens the job. Does not deepen it.

Job enrichment

Vertical loading = more responsibility, planning and control

Deepens the job. Linked to Herzberg's motivators.

Hackman and Oldham core job dimensions

Skill variety + task identity + task significance + autonomy + feedback

The first three give meaningful work, autonomy gives felt responsibility, feedback gives knowledge of results.

Reward types

Extrinsic = given by the employer; Intrinsic = from the work itself

Pay and bonuses are extrinsic. Achievement and interest are intrinsic.

Plant

Creative, generates ideas | Weakness: ignores detail, may be impractical

Thought-oriented. Solves difficult problems with original ideas.

Monitor-Evaluator

Sober, judges options fairly | Weakness: slow, lacks drive, can seem dull

Thought-oriented. Sees all options and judges accurately.

Specialist

Provides rare knowledge and skills | Weakness: narrow focus, dwells on technical detail

Thought-oriented. Expert in a specific field.

Coordinator

Clarifies goals, delegates, promotes decisions | Weakness: may manipulate or offload own work

People-oriented. Often the chair of the team.

Teamworker

Cooperative, diplomatic, listens, averts friction | Weakness: indecisive under pressure

People-oriented. Keeps the team harmonious.

Resource Investigator

Outgoing, finds outside contacts and opportunities | Weakness: over-optimistic, loses interest quickly

People-oriented. Brings in ideas from outside.

Shaper

Challenging, driven, thrives on pressure | Weakness: can offend others, provoke

Action-oriented. Gives the team drive and direction.

Implementer

Practical, reliable, turns ideas into actions | Weakness: inflexible, slow to accept new ideas

Action-oriented. Gets the plan done.

Completer-Finisher

Painstaking, conscientious, checks errors, meets deadlines | Weakness: worries, reluctant to delegate

Action-oriented. Polishes and delivers.

Benne and Sheats groups

Task roles | Group building and maintenance roles | Individual (self-serving) roles

The third group harms team performance.

Tuckman's stages

Forming → Storming → Norming → Performing → Adjourning

Learn the order and the typical behaviour at each stage. Adjourning was added later by Tuckman and Jensen.

Handy's group effectiveness

Givens + Intervening factors → Outcomes (productivity and member satisfaction)

Givens are group, task and environment. Intervening factors are leadership style, processes and procedures, and motivation.

Group versus team

Team = group + shared goal + complementary skills + mutual accountability

A group may only share a location or a manager.

Groupthink symptoms

Cohesion + pressure to conform + insulation → poor decisions

Typical signs: illusion of invulnerability, self-censorship, pressure on dissenters, illusion of unanimity.

Quick revision

• Content theories explain what motivates people (their needs); process theories explain how people choose to put in effort.
• Maslow arranges needs in a hierarchy; a need that is satisfied no longer motivates.
• Herzberg separates hygiene factors, which prevent dissatisfaction, from motivators, which create satisfaction.
• McClelland focuses on needs for achievement, power and affiliation.
• Expectancy theory links effort to performance, performance to reward, and the value the person places on the reward.
• Equity theory says people compare their inputs and rewards with those of others.
• Job enlargement adds similar tasks; job enrichment adds responsibility and control; job rotation moves people between jobs.
• Rewards can be financial or non-financial, and the right mix depends on what the person values.
• Belbin's roles describe the contribution people make to a team; a balanced team covers the roles it needs.
• Team development is commonly described as forming, storming, norming and performing, often with adjourning added.
• Virtual teams rely on technology and can reduce travel and widen the talent pool, but make trust and communication harder.
• In multiple response questions, select exactly the number of options asked for.

Common mistakes

• Treating pay as a Herzberg motivator. Fix: In Herzberg, salary is a hygiene factor. It prevents dissatisfaction but does not create lasting motivation.
• Saying Herzberg's opposite of satisfaction is dissatisfaction. Fix: Herzberg says they are separate. The opposite of satisfaction is no satisfaction, and the opposite of dissatisfaction is no dissatisfaction.
• Confusing expectancy with instrumentality. Fix: Expectancy links effort to performance. Instrumentality links performance to reward.
• Treating valence as the size of the reward. Fix: Valence is how much the individual values the reward. A large reward that the person does not want has low valence.
• Confusing job enlargement with job enrichment. Fix: Enlargement is more tasks (horizontal). Enrichment is more responsibility and control (vertical).
• Saying pay is always the best motivator. Fix: Use Herzberg and Vroom. Pay can prevent dissatisfaction, and it motivates only if people see the link to performance.
• Mixing up Coordinator and Shaper. Fix: Coordinator guides and delegates calmly. Shaper pushes hard and challenges. Think 'chair' versus 'driver'.
• Confusing Implementer with Completer-Finisher. Fix: Implementer turns plans into action. Completer-Finisher checks for errors and meets deadlines.
• Confusing storming with norming when conflict is mentioned. Fix: Storming means open conflict over roles and leadership. Norming means the conflict has settled into agreed standards.
• Saying every group is a team. Fix: A team needs a shared goal, complementary skills and mutual accountability. A group may lack all three.

Exam tips

• Learn which factors are hygiene and which are motivators. Most Herzberg questions test this split, and pay is the usual trap.
• In scenario questions, find the need that is currently unmet. Recommending something already satisfied is wrong under Maslow and Alderfer.
• For 'difference between' questions, use a few points: Maslow has a fixed order, Herzberg separates satisfaction from dissatisfaction, McClelland says needs are acquired, Alderfer allows several needs at once.
• In multiple response questions, check each option alone and select exactly the number stated. Do not guess extra options.
• Remember these are content theories. If a question asks about expectation or fairness, that is a process theory, so do not choose Maslow or Herzberg.
• Link the theory name to its author. Questions often give the author and ask for the theory, or the reverse.
• In scenarios, quote the clue and name the theory element, such as 'weak instrumentality because pay is not linked to performance'.
• For multiple response questions, select exactly the stated number of answers and check each one against a definition.