Question

Motivation is one of the major areas of interest in organizational behavior (OB). Properly motivating a workforce can lead to gains in productivity, innovation, and employee retention. There are three key elements of motivation. Please describe them.

Answer 1

The three key elements of motivation are -

1) Direction - The direction is what a person is trying to achieve. It is a goal that spurs the individual to action. It is the choice of the individual when he is presented with a set of alternatives.

2) Persistence- It is the continuous effort towards a goal even when the obstacles and challenges comes in the way. It involves using a great deal of time, energy and resources in order to overcome the obstacles and achieve the goal. Persistence is what enables the individual to continue striving for the goal after an initial delight of new challenge wears off. It is the persistence that helps the individual to keep going despite the challenges in the way.

3) Intensity - It is the level of concentration and vigor that is necessary for achieving a goal. It is concerned with how hard a person tries and put efforts. It depends on both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intensity is one of the key elements of motivation because if the individual has the right intensity to do certain things, he will put the best efforts to reach his goal.

All three elements are necessary for a high level of motivation. Each element is dependent on each other. This is because intensity needs direction and persistence needs intensity. Thus motivation is always a major area of interest in the organization.