McClelland’s Theory of Needs (Power, Achievement, and Affiliation)
McClelland's Human Motivation Theory is also known as Three Needs Theory, Acquired Needs Theory, Motivational Needs Theory, and Learned Needs Theory.
(MindTools | Home. [no date]. Available at: https://www.mindtools.com/aznjntj/mcclellands-human-motivation-theory [Accessed: 22 December 2022].)
Psychologist David McClelland advocated the Need theory, also popular as Three Needs Theory.
This motivational theory states that the needs for achievement, power, and affiliation significantly influence the behavior of an individual, which is useful to understand from a managerial context.
Need For Achievement
This intrinsic motivation stems from the desire for personal accomplishment.
Achievement-based people have a tendency to make moderately risky (as opposed to highly risky) decisions, prefer explicit goals, and look for immediate feedback on their work.
Instead of concentrating on material rewards, these people have a strong commitment to finishing work tasks on time and adhering to deadlines.
These people stay away from low-risk situations because they don't feel like they're facing a real challenge and they know that their success isn't real.
Additionally, they stay away from high-risk situations because they believe that they are more dependent on luck and chance than on personal initiative.
Their performance increases as they achieve more because they are more motivated.
Characteristics of This Person
• Has a strong need to set and accomplish challenging goals.
• Takes calculated risks to accomplish their goals.
• Likes to receive regular feedback on their progress and achievements.
• Often likes to work alone.
Need For Power
The individuals who are motivated by power have a strong urge to be influential and controlling.
They want that their views and ideas should dominate and thus, they want to lead.
Such individuals are motivated by the need for reputation and self-esteem.
Individuals with greater power and authority will perform better than those possessing less power. Generally, managers with high need for power turn out to be more efficient and successful managers.
They are more determined and loyal to the organization they work for.
Need for power should not always be taken negatively.
It can be viewed as the need to have a positive effect on the organization and to support the organization in achieving it’s goals.
Characteristics of This Person
• Wants to control and influence others.
• Likes to win arguments.
• Enjoys competition and winning.
• Enjoys status and recognition.
Need For Affiliation
The need for affiliation is the urge of a person to have interpersonal and social relationships with others or a particular set of people.
They seek to work in groups by creating friendly and lasting relationships and have the urge to be liked by others.
They tend to like collaborating with others to competing with them and usually avoids high-risk situations and uncertainty
The individuals motivated by the need for affiliation prefer being part of a group.
They like spending their time socializing and maintaining relationships and possess a strong desire to be loved and accepted.
These individuals stick to basics and play by the books without feeling a need to change things, primarily due to a fear of being rejected.
Characteristics of This Person
• Wants to belong to the group.
• Wants to be liked, and will often go along with whatever the rest of the group wants to do.
• Favors collaboration over competition.
• Doesn't like high risk or uncertainty.
Using the Theory
Identify the Motivational Needs of the Team
Examining the team to determine which of the three needs is a motivator for each person. Personality traits and past actions can help in this process.
For example, someone who always takes charge of the team when a project is assigned.
The one who speaks up in meetings to encourage people, and delegates responsibilities in order to facilitate achieving the goals of the group.
Someone who likes to control the final deliverables.
This team member is likely being driven by power.
Another team member who does not speak during meetings, and is happy agreeing with the team thoughts, is good at managing conflicts and may seem uncomfortable while someone talks about undertaking high-risk, high-reward tasks.
This team member is likely being driven by affiliation.
Approaching Team According to To Their Need type
Based on the driving motivators of your workers, structure your leadership style and project assignments around each individual team member.
This will help ensure that they all stay engaged, motivated, and happy with the work they're doing.
References
Career-development/motivation-in-management (Online) available from https://au.indeed.com/ (accessed on 13/11/2022)
What-is-motivation (Online) available from https://www.verywellmind.com/ (accessed on 13/11/2022)
What is motivation (online) available from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-motivation-2795378 (accessed on 13/11/2022)
McClelland’s Theory of Needs (Online) available from https://www.mindtools.com/aznjntj/mcclellands-human-motivation-theory (accessed on 28/11/2022)
McClelland’s Theory of Needs (Online) available from https://www.managementstudyguide.com/mcclellands-theory-of-needs.htm (accessed on 28/11/2022)
McClelland’s Theory of Needs (Online) available from https://thebusinessprofessor.com/en_US/management-leadership-organizational-behavior/acquired-need-theory-definition (accessed on 28/11/2022)
MindTools | Home. [no date]. Available at: https://www.mindtools.com/aznjntj/mcclellands-human-motivation-theory [Accessed: 22 December 2022].
What motivational theory is used for performance management purposes by your organization
ReplyDeleteIn the banking sector, the success of the organization mainly reflected by the hard works of employees. Therefore, to achieve the organizational goals employee should be motivated by the external and internal factors.Hence the private banks are using combination of motivation theories.
DeleteUnderstanding what motivates a person to work toward a specific goal or result is the subject of motivation theory.
ReplyDeleteAll of society can benefit from it, but business and management stand to gain the most.
This is true because motivated employees are more productive, and productive employees produce more revenue.
Yes Mr Aruna, your idea is correct.Motivation is defined as thing that activates human behavior to attain a certain achievement.
DeleteIn your opinion, who would be the most suitable person (from the above 3) to manage a workforce healthily with good organizational culture?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion most suitable to manage workforce is the need for affiliation of a person.Because they have interpersonal and social relationships with others .
DeleteWell discussed. Are you suggesting that the use of McClelland's theory on both leaders and other employees is important to develop an organization?
ReplyDeleteThank you Ms Dinusha. I suggest that McClelland's theory can help you to identify the dominant motivators of people on your team. You can then use this information to influence how you set goals and provide feedback , and how you motivate and reward team members.
DeleteUsing a McClelland theory of motivation model can give a clear description for the business organization and decision-makers to know which types of jobs are appropriate for employees and which types of people can help organizations succeed.
ReplyDeleteExactly Mr Nadun. Thank you Udara.
DeleteExactly Mr Udara. You can use McClelland's theory to pinpoint the main drivers of motivation for the members of your team.
DeleteYou can then apply this knowledge to your goal-setting, feedback-giving, team-member motivation, and reward-giving processes.
These three theories are valuable in motivation You did plan your article good
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Mr Wimal
ReplyDelete