There are many conflicting theories which attempt to explain the nature of motivation. While all are partially true, there can be no one definitive solution as individuals are primarily self-motivated. However, managers can indeed use them to their advantage by deciding upon their relevance and how best to apply them in the workplace. All managers have a duty to motivate and a start to this is by providing direction and the right working environment. The search for the holy grail of motivation has been endless, from F.W. Taylor’s Scientific Management, the Hawthorn Studies, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs to name but a few. While these various theories are not nessaccarily conclusive, they do provide a useful framework of ideas and direction, which managers can draw upon.
Maslow’s work of the theory of the individual and motivation was first published in 1943. His basic proposition was that we are all wanting beings and that what we want is determined by what we already want. He suggests that we all have five innate needs, which can be aligned in a hierarchy of importance. This hierar
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