Validating Haefner's Fourth Theory of Motivation

What works best to motivate employee and engage them toward commitment is an unending inquiry in the workplace. The interest in the quest for "appropriate" motivation models is strengthened by widespread assumptions that a motivated workforce is a critical antecedent of the organization's productivity. This study verified Haefner's Fourth Theory of Motivation by exploring the opinions of practitioners who are engaged in motivating people in their respective organizations. It looked into the qualitative responses from the professional-respondents on the following topics: situations that one looks forward to from leadership as sources of encouragement and motivation to commit and be part of the successful productivity program; specific work environment that best stimulates an individual to work with the team and go extra mile without counting the cost; and qualities an individual person brings to best contribute to the completion of a team project. The questions were open-ended ones and floated to one hundred (100) graduate and postgraduate students at Liceo de Cagayan University School of Graduate Studies. Following the guidelines of Heppner and Heppner (2004), responses were classified. Results were classified into themes and core ideas and summarized in a table. Findings confirmed most of the various elements in the motivation subsystems.  However, a scale should be developed to further test the validity of the constructs in the subsystems.

Keywords: Motivation, leadership, work environment, individual psychology