Theories of motivation Explained with Melinda Wilkerson Case

     Melinda Wilkerson is an English Professor and her desk is piled high with student papers, journals, and recommendation forms. Melinda Wilkerson’s colleague is Ron Agua. Agua told her he had reduced his course load because of his extra work on the department's hiring and library committees. He cut down his office hours. Agua asked Wilkerson to join them if she ever got free while walked past her door to the way university’s most popular restaurant and meeting place. She noticed that student comes to her door consistently while Agua spends more time at the word processor rather than talk. Agua reduces his course because of the extra workload on department hiring and library committees but Wilkerson didn’t know about course reduction. As the semester progressed, she realized there was a lot she didn't know about the way the department functioned. When salaries for the next year were announced, her salary was very small while working for a longer period. Wilkerson realized that Agua would be making almost $1,000 more than her after the salary announcement for the following year. Agua’s work is a valuable asset and his three upcoming publications have made him popular than other professors. The university simply didn't value what she did with her time as she thinks she worked the same as Agua. She could quit and go somewhere else where she might be more appreciated, but jobs are hard to find. She didn't really feel discriminated against for being a woman. One day a note from one of her freshman students dropped out from one of the journals where she thanked her for helping her a lot for taking the time to talk to her last week. All her other professors are men, and she just couldn't talk to them. Wilkerson folded the note, put it in her bag, closed her office door and she released the pile of journals and the $1000 didn’t seem so important.

 

Melinda Wilkerson loses interest in her job because her colleague is getting more advantage than her. Still, she cannot quit her job because it would be hard to find another one. She found out that some students really need her help, especially female students like Wendy Martin. They can easily talk to her. They are very happy to talk to her. So, she would stay. She was not satisfied at first because she wants to be treated the same as Agua. She prefers a higher salary as she has a lot of pressure from the courses. Later, she changed her mind because at least she can help some students that gave her inner peace and makes her feel special.

 

The theory of Hierarchy of needs can be used to explain the behavior of Wilkerson and Agua. There are five essential levels of needs that are ranked from lower to higher. The first one is Physiological needs that have to satisfy externally. The needs are the biological requirement for human survival. It includes hunger, thirst, shelter, and other bodily needs. Food, drink, and clothing will fulfill the need. The second one is Safety needs which are also externally satisfied and lower order need. It includes security and protection from any bodily and emotional harm. The third one is Social needs that are internally satisfied and it is in higher order. It includes the need for belongingness, friendship, love, and affections. The fourth one is Self-esteem needs that include self-respect and appreciation by others. It is internally satisfied and it is higher order. Individuals will want to get attention, achievement, recognition, and have status. The fifth one is self-actualization that is also internally satisfied and it is in higher order. It is about self-fulfillment, the potential that the individual wants to achieve, and also includes personal growth. People are self-aware of their potential and want to experience something new. McClelland’s Theory of Needs can be used to explain the behavior of Wilkerson and Agua, which are the need for achievement, need for power, and need for affiliation. Need for achievement is the desire to achieve something that an individual does. Need for power is the need to keep influence and control another person to manipulate and to change his choice for the individual’s own desires and interests. The need for affiliation is the ability of an individual to have good interpersonal and social relationships with others. They will have all he three needs but one need will dominant them. Equity theory can also be used to explain the behavior of Wilkerson. This theory tells that an individual will compare the job input and outcome with others. Job input means the number of hours, commitment, enthusiasm, any personal sacrifice, Responsibilities, loyalty, and flexibility. The outcome means salary, bonus, holiday allowance, recognition, Promotion, the flexibility of work arrangement, and a sense of achievement. There are four types of comparisons. External is that comparing with someone in the same industries. Internal is that comparing with someone in the same organizations with different departments. The individual is comparing with someone in the same organization with the same department. Procedural that is comparing with the policy of organization with other organizations. Herzberg’s two-factor theory can also be used to explain the behavior of Wilkerson and Agua. Hygiene Factors are salary, work conditions, and company policies. So, the absence of hygiene factors will create dissatisfaction but not necessarily individual will be satisfied. Motivators include achievement, responsibility, and growth. It is related to satisfaction but not necessarily the absence of motivators, individuals will be dissatisfied. Expectancy theory can be used to explain the behavior of Wilkerson and Agua. There are three steps. The First step is Expectancy where it depends on the individual’s capability to achieve the desired level of task performance to complete the goal. The Second step is Instrumentality where the individual will get the reward by performing at a particular level. The third step is Valence where the reward satisfies the individual goal or not and also if it is important or not.

 

 

In the theory of Hierarchy of needs, Wilkerson completed physiological needs, safety needs, and social needs. She wants to be at self-esteem needs level. She wants recognition and attention like Agua as she thinks she worked really hard and she could have done exactly the same thing. Agua is in the self-actualization level as for the self-fulfillment he reduces his course and worked on the department’s hiring and library committees. He understood his potential and for peak experiences, he chooses this path. Also, he had three upcoming publications. In McClelland’s Theory of Needs Wilkerson has the need for achievement as she worked very hard to be successful and hoped to earn more money but it was not enough. Agua has the need for affiliation as he is very good with people because he spent more time with the department’s senior members and gives talks to groups around the state. In Equity theory, Wilkerson used individual comparisons. She found it an injustice as she worked more than her colleague but still did not get much pay compared to him where he reduced his course and got additional pay. There was no equity in the way they were treated which did not motivate her. In Herzberg’s two factor theory, Wilkerson has some hygiene factors. She gave the same effort as Agua but still, her salary was lower than him. She had a problem with work conditions as she had a workload because of many student papers and she was worried about the weekends. She is dissatisfied. At last, she was satisfied because she got some responsibility as she was able to help a female student. She got some motivation to stay in the job. Agua had some motivation factors as he got achievement and personal growth opportunities like he was working for department hiring and library committee. He was earning around $1000 more than her. The human resource committee recognized him as a valuable asset. People talk about him and he got three upcoming publications. So, he was satisfied. Expectancy theory can be used for Agua. In the expectancy step, Agua knew his potential and gave that amount of effort to become a good performer in his works. In Instrumentality, he got the benefit of additional income that is almost $1000 more than Wilkerson and he also became very well-known for his works. In valence, the benefit is very important to him and he likes it. However, Wilkerson remains dedicated and motivated to her work until she knows the effort is not as rewarding as she wants to be and does not see the improvement quickly.