Motivation is inner enthsiasm, interest or commitment that drives somebody to do something or anything that brings about such a feeling. Motivation, cause of an organism’s behavior, or the reason that an organism carries out some activity. In a human being, motivation involves both conscious and unconscious drives. Psychological theories must account for a “primary” level of motivation to satisfy basic needs, such as those for food, oxygen, and water, and for a “secondary” level of motivation to fulfill social needs such as companionship and achievement. The primary needs must be satisfied before an organism can attend to secondary drives.
The American psychologist Abraham Maslow devised a six-level hierarchy of motives that, according to his theory, determine human behavior. Maslow ranks human needs as follows: (1) physiological; (2) security and safety; (3) love and feelings of belonging; (4) competence, prestige, and esteem; (5) self-fulfillment; and (6) curiosity and the need to understand.
The work of a manger is to get things done in an organization through the employees. In order to achieve this, the manager must be able to motivate the employees. This is true according to the old saying that you can take a horse to the water but you cannot force it to drink the water. This is the case for employees whereby the manger cannot force the employee to work and be productive. There is therefore the need to use all means and ways to motivate the employees in order to achieve maximum productivity, increase revenue and profits and achieve the corporate organizational goals within the set time frame.
Job performance is considered to be a function of motivation and ability
Job performance = F (motivation) (ability); where ability depends on a number of factors.