HR Motivation Interview Questions And Answers

Motivation can be defined as the enthusiasm of an employee which causes him to take actions at work.

Following are some of the effective ways to motivate employees:

i.) Respectful treatment
ii.) Recognising the individual and performance
iii.) Training
iv.) Regular performance and behavioural feedback
v.) Clear communication from the management
vi.) Involvement in activities that desire responsibility
vii.) Challenges
viii.) Clearly defined goals and plan of action

Following are some of the characteristics of the culture that increases motivation level of an employee:

i.) Suggestions and feedback from the employees are heard
ii.) Employees are well informed about the things affecting them
iii.) Communication among the team members and with the superiors is open in nature
iv.) Employees are trusted and treated with respect
v.) Employees work and deliver as a team
vi.) Employees see a path to grow and are regular trained for development

Frederick Taylor put forward a theory about worker’s motivation. Its main features are:

i.) Workers do not enjoy work.
ii.) They need constant supervision
iii.) They are motivated mainly by the “salary”

Mayo’s theory believes that money is not the only motivation for workers. They are highly motivated by factors like:

i.) Communication between them and managers
ii.) More involvement of manager in their work life
iii.) Working in teams

i.) Taylor’s theory focuses on the negative aspect of a worker’s behaviour while Mayo’s theory focuses on positive aspects.
ii.) Taylor’s theory treats money as the biggest motivation while Mayo’s theory lays more emphasis on non-monetary factors.

- Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs believes that each individual has some needs arranged in hierarchical order. Only when a lower need is satisfied, does the higher need come into picture.
- Thus the incentives offered to the workers at each level have to be different.

These needs are classified as grouped as below:

Level 1 – Basic needs – Food, clothes, shelter
Level 2 – Safety needs – Security and protection
Level 3 – Social needs
Level 4 – Esteem needs
Level 5 – Self actualization

Herzberg came out with two-factor theory of motivation which believed that there are certain factors which enthuse motivation in workers while others de- motivate them. The factors demotivating the workers are called the hygiene factors.

Motivators are the factors that give satisfaction. For e.g.
- Recognition
- Challenges
- Responsibility

The other set of factors are hygiene factors – their presence doesn’t motivate the employees but their absence surely de-motivates them. For e.g. –
- Work conditions
- Salary
- Job security etc.

Theory X and Y of motivation was proposed by Douglas McGregor. The major difference between these theories are:

- Theory X takes a negative view of the employees while the Theory Y takes a positive view.
- Theory X believes that employees are lazy and do not like work while Theory Y believes that employees enjoy work.
- Theory X believes that money is the only motivation for work while Theory Y believes that the satisfaction that employees achieve after doing a work well is a bigger motivation.
- Theory X believes in doing the business in an authoritarian way while Theory Y tries to remove the barriers employees find in the way of their work.

Explain Employee Motivation.
List out effective ways to motivate employees.
Which factors do you think develop or destroy motivation of an employee?
What kind of work culture do you think increases the motivation level of an employee?
Which non-monetary benefits do you think help in building up the motivation level of employees?

What do you think employees want from work?
Explain Taylor's theory of motivation.
What are the main points of Mayo's theory of motivation?
How is Mayo's theory different from Taylor's theory of motivation?
With which of these - Taylor's or Mayo's theory - do you agree more?

Explain Maslow's theory of hierarchy of needs. Do you think it applies in real life?
What is Herzberg's theory of motivation?
Who proposed theory X and Y of motivation? What were the major differences between X and Y observations?