Thesis Statement: The conclusion drawn from the essay and all things considered within, is that employees in todays workplace are not all motivated, however all employees have the potential to be motivated. And if an employee is not motivated in his or her own workplace, there are a number of things that could be affecting this, and it is an issue that could most likely be changed.
It has been said that all employees in today’s workplace are motivated. To decide on this statements validity, one must look at a number of things. Firstly, one must ask “What is motivation?”. Motivation can be defined as the arousal, direction, and persistence of behavior. The forces of motivation can be either internal or external to the person, and this essay will look at forces in both of these categories. Secondly, the essay will explore two relevant motivational theories; the Four Drive Theory, and the Equity Theory. While analyzing these motivational theories we will refer to a number of Journal articles to support the theories discussed.
The four drive is a motivational theory that was developed by Professors Paul Lawrence and Nitin Nohira, of Harvard Law School, and focuses on the innate drives to Acquire, Bond, Learn and Defend (McShane, Olekalns, Travaglione, 2013). It is believed that these four drives are unanimous to all individuals and that they are rooted into our brains. No hierarchy exists as each of these drives are independent of each other. The drive to acquire is a drive that makes one seek, take control and retain objects and personal experience, and extends to ones recognition in society as well as their concept of self; the drive to bond is one that deals with one emotionally and causes them to form social relationships; the drive to comprehend pushes one to satisfy curiosity and draws them to learn about their surrounding environment. This