According to Frederick Herzberg, ‘Motivation says do this because it is very meaningful for me to do it.’ Motivation is a personal notion. Employees are motivated by what they do for themselves. How they perceive their work, responsibility and contribution is more important to determine their motivation level. The motivation to take personal initiative must come from within.

Unlike other living beings, humans do not spend their lives in the basic processes of eating, sleeping, reproducing and dying. Instead of mere survival, human beings want to work and achieve great results both for their own self esteem and for the society. An individual who wants fulfilment must find out what propels him/her to seek objectives like education, career, wealth and family. It is the need to expand which is fundamental to this search. There is a constant longing for something more than what one has achieved. How much will one seek to feel fulfilled? This quest can be associated with the need for love, pleasure, power or money. As soon as a person meets these wants there is either an urge for more or the quest assumes some other form. It becomes imperative then to understand what drives man to constantly strive for something or the other.

The urge to grow and improve

What triggers the human urge to grow? It is obvious that it is the never ending quest for more that impels men to grow. It is a natural urge in people to work towards achieving goals that would take one beyond the restricted spheres. When this quest is unconscious it takes on materialistic form and such people try to fulfil needs through worldly pursuits.