Today in large corporations, motivation has been for the most part abandoned because of massive restructuring, re-engineering, and downsizing. The explanation for this is that the level of trust and commitment that is required for motivation, and necessary for employees to apply the extra effort, has been greatly damaged. When properly motivated, employees tend to exert an increased amount of effort for longer periods of time towards a particular goal. Companies have begun to realize this and act accordingly to benefit the company and its desired long term objectives.

The factors that are believed to motivate an employee greatly differ from person to person, and company to company. There are two main categories that are used to propose motivation theories, they are content theories and process theories. Content theories explain the dynamics of employee needs, and process theories describe the way need deficiencies are translated into behavior. Both of these theories are used to reduce tension. For content theories of motivation, companies recognize that motivation begins with the needs of the individual. Unfulfilled needs tend to create tension and the desire to alleviate the

In process theories of motivation, the ideas are based on factors of the translation of the needs of the employees to behavior. There are three types of process theories of motivation, they are expectancy theory, equity theory, and goal setting.

In businesses today motivation is something that is greatly overlooked, at high cost to the employer and the company. Goal setting is the process of motivation that clarifies the employees role perceptions. It also helps in providing situations where growth needs are fulfilled. Goals are most readily met when they are specific, results-orientated, challenging, accepted by the employee, and accompanied by meaningful feedback. Goal setting is also sometimes less effective when tied to financial rewards and when applied to new or complex tasks. The employees may feel that they do not have the capabilities to finish the task and the financial rewards are not worthy of the work they are intended to do well.

Another effective goal setting tactic is one where the goals are challenging enough to stretch the persons abilities, but that avoids the possibility of the employee becoming over stressed. To avert these problems, companies have to provide the resources needed to accomplish the goals intended. Participation may also improve goal quality. The employees feel that they have obtained valuable information and knowledge giving them a feeling of self- assuredness. This sometimes increases the commitment to a specific goal. On the other hand, there is a process that does fulfill the need theories that Maslow's did not. Although not fully tested, the Alderfer's ERG theory seems to explain the dynamics of human needs in organizations reasonably well. The theory was developed by Clayton Alderfer to overcome the problems that existed with Maslow's needs theory hierarchy. There are three groups that the theory deals with; existence, relatedness, and growth. Unlike Maslow's model, the ERG model incorporates a frustration-regression process. This process deals with those that are u

Some common words found in the essay are:
Unlike Maslow's, Soren Gyll, , Abraham Maslow, Clayton Alderfer, Alderfer's ERG, goal setting, process theories, employees feel, theories motivation, financial rewards, content theories, theories content theories, explain dynamics, employer company, theories process, employees tend, process theories motivation,
Approximate Word count = 1368
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)