David Mcclelland Motivation Theory

David McLellan’s Motivation Theory was introduced during the 1960s, and it is related to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Both theories are attempting to explain human motivation in the same way Maslow saw it as a set of needs growing from very basic to self-actualization at the very top of the pyramid, and McClelland sees needs in three ways,

The two theories are related, and it’s important to appreciate them. Both theories understand both theories because they are linked.

McLellan’s theory proposed that an individual needs are acquired over time and are shaped by one life experiences. It is one of the theories focusing on human motivation.

According to McClelland, Individuals possess three needs, and the needs that individuals have got are based on their background on their culture, age, education, and experiences.

According to this view, these needs are made up of past experiences and from culture, and from the environment in which the person I was brought up with exists.

McClelland believed that three main needs are learned through social interaction with the individual’s environment. We know that personality can be the right from nature according to psychology.

McClelland says that regardless of our gender, culture, or age, we all have three motivating drivers, and one of these will be our dominant motivating driver.

Thematic Apperception Test Mcclelland

McClelland used the thematic Apperception test (TAT) to try to work out experimentally to determine which need dominates and the needs’ nature.

Essentially, the test involves showing people pictures, drawings and asking them to analyze their response.  What their responses to each picture there is an indicator as to what type of need is being dominant in that person.

The individual responses determine what need was most powerful within the individual, and based on that, then the most suitable job role for each candidate can be worked out.

Mcclelland Need Theory of Motivation

McClelland’s Human Motivation Theory states that every individual has one of three main driving motivators: the needs for achievement, the needs for affiliation, or the power needs. These motivators are not inherent; each person develops them through them from culture and life experiences.

The three dominant motivators in McLellan’s theory.

• Need for achievement
• Need for affiliation
• Need for power

David Mcclelland Need for Achievement

People who are strongly needed for achievement  have the following characteristics;

• That people have a strong need to set and accomplish challenging goals.
• They take calculated risks to accomplish their goals.
• They also like to receive regular feedback on their progress and achievements.
• As well as likes to work alone.

Need for Achievement Example in Workplace.

• The desire for mastery drives people who are strongly achievement motivated.
• They prefer working on moderate difficulty tasks in which outcomes result from their effort rather than luck.
• They valued receiving feedback on their work.
• They are not risk-takers, preferring to work on a project with a 50 /50 chance of success that requires their skills.
• Employees who know their managers trust them arm or likely to meet or exceed performance goals
• They have higher levels of job satisfaction and encourage achievement in their coworkers,
• Giving employees the autonomy to decide how they will do their work in the context of the overall work process.
• The work is challenging, but it should be realistic and need constant feedback. They like to be told how well they’re doing or what issues they’re confronting or likely to confront on how to deal with them.Money is not the main motivator, but feedback and recognition, and praise are more valuable.They like to be grouped with other high achievers. They like to be seen as having done the same as other high achievers, who were recognized for their past achievements.

David Mcclelland Need for Affiliation.

This need emphasizes the act of connecting with a person or an organization. A person with a need for affiliation has the following characteristics;

• This person wants to feel belonged to a group.
• They need harmonious relationships with other people and need to feel accepted by them.
• They dislike uncertainty.
• They favored collaboration over competition or prefer work that provides significant personal interaction.
• They want to be liked by their friends.

Need for Affiliation Example in Working Environment

• People who are strongly affiliation motivated are driven by the desire to create and maintain social relationships. They enjoy belonging to a group and want to feel love and accepted.
• They may not make effective managers because they may worry too much about how others feel about them.
• The individuals who are motivated by affiliation is want to feel loved and accepted; thus, they have an urge for a friendly and supportive environment. Such individuals can be effective performance in a team because they want to be like them.
• However, the manager’s ability to make decisions is hampered if they have a high affiliation needs asses.
• If they prefer to be accepted and liked by others, thus weakened their objectivity. Also, individuals having high affiliation needs prefer working in an environment providing greater personal interaction.
• Such people need to be on the good books, and they worry about how others will feel about them.  They generally cannot be good leaders.
• These people performed best in groups, they’re friendly and like a cooperative environment.
• They don’t like to take on challenging tasks to prefer manageable tasks, tasks that can be done.
• They prefer personal feedback rather than constructive feedback. They like to be spoken to in a friendly manner.
• They like to be praised in private rather than in front of people. It’s embarrassing to be praised in front of their colleagues, and also, it may alienate them within their group.

David Mcclelland Need for Power

This need emphasizes the person’s need to have power and control. Characteristics are

• This is the need in the individual to control and influence others.
• People with the need for power like doing arguments.
• They also enjoy the competition and winning.
• They enjoy status and recognition.
• Those who have a strong power motivator are often divided into two groups.

Need for Power Example in the  Working Environment

• Provide leadership roles wherever possible for these individuals because these people are ambitious there. They want power. They want to be able to control the situation and exercise this thing’s power. It should be done carefully because they can cause problems amongst the other workers, who may see them as almost bullying their points of view by forcing others to accept the reviews.
• They are very competitive and goal-oriented. They want to achieve so they’re very competitive.
• They prefer direct feedback. They prefer to be told exactly how well they’re doing, and they will argue against the criticisms because most of the time, they are convinced of what they’re doing is correct, and they will not move from that position easily.
• They like career development opportunities and like to become head of the department or become managers responsible for some part of the organization. They like the status and the power.
• This type of need is associate with individuals who like to take control and lead others. There can be very argumentative and very strong opinions. They’re trying to push across their views to get the reviews accepted. They don’t give up easily.
• There may be suited for leadership roles as they like to dominate and be competitive; therefore, the organization will see someone who’s strong in charge of that particular section or department. However, the downside is that they may not instill a lot of motivation in the workers. The workers may not be motivated if not consulted or if their opinions are ignored.
• People who are strongly power motivated are driven by the desire to influence or encourage others.
• They enjoy work and place a high value on discipline. However, they may take a zero-sum approach to group work for one person to win or succeed; another must lose or fail.
• If channel appropriate, this can positively support group goals and help others in the group feel competent about their work.
• Those with a high need for power seek agreement and compliance. Approval and reconnection are not of their concern.
• Managers should provide the power-seekers an opportunity to manage others. However, they must pay special attention to the type of power seeker. Power seekers who are after personal power have a strong desire to control others.For example, an employee who has a high need for personal power will often manipulate his colleagues to do his work for him. He then let it takes credit for I

 

People with a personal power drive want to control others, while people with an institutional power drive like to organize a team’s efforts to further the company’s goal.

 Institutional Power

• It’s an institutional part individual like to organize the department, think it could be organized better. They want to take control, and they want to coordinate members of a group in order to reach organizational goals.
• They want to organize people to achieve the goals that they’re setting. They need to be involved with the institutional organization.

Personal Power.

• They feel that they’ve got a right to control others, which doesn’t really take others’ feelings into account. They feel that their views should be accepted. Everyone should understand the views and do agree with them because their views they see as the best.
• Generally, it’s an effective method. It’s not a good method because others do have feelings, and others do have other ways of doing things, and others have experienced it, and their opinions matter as well. But the person who has got a need for power may not see that there may.

 

 

Conclusion

McLelland proposes that those in top management positions should have a high need for power and alone it for affiliation.

This jury does not claim that people can be categorized into one of these three types. Rather, it claims that people are motivated by all of these three needs in different proportions.

The effectiveness of each need is only dependent on the individual. McClelland suggested that each need is a motivator, and these motivators are present in varying degrees.

According to McClelland, we’ve all got the need for achievement and affiliation to the need for power, just that some have different ratings to the needs.

McClelland’s theory is useful in helping managers identify how they can motivate individuals to perform best.

According to McClelland, all individuals possessed the three needs. However, one of the three is always more dominant.

 

 

The Need for Achievement.

Individuals who acquire this need like to take on calculated risks to excel and achieve their goals.

These individuals like to set themselves goals that are challenging and exciting, and realistic that can be done.

They like to work alone but failing that; they will work with other achievers, people of similar dispositions.

Achievers need regular feedback, as that’s the only means that they can assess their progress. They like to be told how well they’re doing and what issues they’re confronting, and how to solve them, and discuss their work.

Money is a type of motivator as it allows achievers to analyze their success. It could be that money on salary or bonuses or whatever are linked to achievement. The more they achieved, the more they get.

 

They don’t need to be constantly praised to keep them motivated; generally speaking there, self-motivated, they need to achieve for themselves. They know what they want because that gives them the honor.

 

The Need for Affiliation.

 

They are concerned about being liked on accepted; they’re worried about their image. They’re worried about being liked and being accepted.

These individuals form informal relationships within the organization. There are formal organization organizations and formal groupings within the organization within companies. Like production, people will mix, and marketing people will mix, and accountants, etc.

They like to work in a team and prefer a more cooperative environment; they like teamwork and work together.  They don’t like working on their own and the need to mix mixed with other individuals.

They’re good at customer service on their good in team situations customer service. They like to be liked even by the customers. It may be answering the telephone about returns, but they want to be liked walking in a team.

 

 

Applying the Theory

 

People possess different needs; therefore, there need to be motivated differently. Some people need to be motivated differently according to the needs, so it’s important to recognize which needs are dominant in people and try to fulfill those needs.

Managers need to be careful of identifying individual needs and how they should motivate each individual. Managers should be aware of the three needs and see if they can allocate the person to a situation that will maximize their interest in work, productivity, and application because they’re working in the situation where their needs are being met.