Alderfer’s ERG Theory

Works Cited cont.

Lee, H.& Park, J. (2019). Understanding the motivation process of the players

experiencing homelessness in the Homeless World Cup. International Journal of Applied Sports Sciences, 31(2), 138–154.

MrGrath, J. & Bates, B. (2013). The Little Book of Big Management Theories.

Theory 24 Alderfer's existence, relatedness and growth (ERG) theory:

Pearson. Retrieved June 11, 2020 from https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/the-little-book/9780273785262/html/chapter-029.html

VLIET, V. (2014). Clayton Alderfer. Retrieved June 10, 2020 from https://

www.toolshero.com/toolsheroes/clayton-alderfer/

Works Cited

Caulton, J. (2012). The development and use of the theory of ERG: A

literature review. Emerging Leadership Journies. Vol 5 issue 1 p 2-6. Retrieved https://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/elj/vol5iss1/ELJ_Vol5No1_Caulton_pp2-8.pdf

Alderfer’s ERG Theory

Clayton Alderfer's Biography. (2010). Retrieved June 10, 2020 from http://

management4best.blogspot.com/2010/02/clayton-alderfers-biography.html

By: Andrea Byers

Clayton P. Alderfer obituary. (2015). Retrieved June 9, 2020

from https://www.cantelmifuneralhome.com/notices/Clayton-Alderfer

INTRODUCTION: loss of a great taecher. Retrieved June 9, 2020

https://tntp.org/assets/documents/TNTP_Irreplaceables_2012.pdf

Kessler, E. H. (2013). Encyclopedia of Management Theory. SAGE

Publications, Inc. p. 254

Connection with ERG Theory

Clayton Alderfer summarized human motivation factors into three categories rather than the five Maslow used. He called the categories existence, relatedness and growth. ERG was developed between 1961 and 1987 after testing data and writing publications.

Alderfer maintains that although there is a progression but all three needs can be operating as motivators simultaneously and it is not uncommon for people to regress to a lower level set of needs.

How would ERG motivation theory helped in the case study? continued...

She also mentions administration gave her little recognition and failed to take advantage of her instructional expertise. The principal did not even ask her what it would take to keep her? These qualities fit in the growth category where employees need to know they have creative growth, see one's ideal self in their work, they need to feel involved, and meet their goals. Administration could have built on this highlighting her successes and had her mentor other teachers, lead professional development, and gave her compliments on all the goals she was meeting.

Sarah mentions how school leaders stymied the sort of team- building and collaboration that had helped her students and fellow teachers at other schools for decades. In the category, relatedness, employees strive to have goals and want to be satisfied with relationships, feel safe, and feel important. It sounds like Sarah was doing a great job with this on her own helping others but she wasn't being supported in what she was doing in these areas which made her feel like she wasn't meeting this category. An administrator should have acknowledged her work in this area and gave positive support so she felt more satisfied with this area.

All three sets/categories of needs will be worked through simultaneously. Focusing on just one at a time will lead to discontent. Employees work to satisfaction in each category.

Case Study

Sarah, a successful 4th grade public school veteran teacher with more than three decades of experience is dissatisfied with her school when she felt she was supporting a failing system. She is known as an "irreplaceable" teacher with great results for student learning. Her principal didn't even as her to stay.

How would ERG motivation theory have helped?

Sarah's administrator would have met with Sarah as well as the rest of the staff to help them meet the needs of their existence, relatedness, and growth with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The administrator should have recognized that Sarah was beginning to regress in these categories and lead her back to meeting these goals.

Application to School Administration

Advantages

Performance and motivation can be increased by continually providing opportunities for people to satisfy these needs in a balanced way. Administrators need to be aware of these needs and guide their staff in meeting these goals in these categories so that they can be success in their job. An administrator needs to build relationships with their teachers and know how they can be guided and recognized to feel important, safe, and that they can meet their goals.

Top five motivations of 1990:

good wages, full appreciation for the work done, job security, growth in the organization, and interesting work

Growth

• supported more and less rigid than Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory
• can implement intrinsically motivating programs
• employees who feel involved/connected will try to maintain and build upon this
• satisfaction of growth influence performance and will yield better self-esteem
• employees who feel satisfied in these categories work hard towards their goals and are productive.
• build relationships with all staff by learning about their goals and expectations.

Existence

Relatedness

Clothing

One's Ideal Self

Safety

Family

Affection

Importance

Food

Took Maslow's lower needs Physiological and Safety to categorize as existence.

Took Maslow's areas of interpersonal love and esteem to categorize as relatedness.

Took Maslow's self actualization and self esteem needs and categorized into growth.

Physical

Love

Family Life Mr. Alderfer

Water

Creative and Productive Efforts

Relationships

Secure

Air

• desires healthy, meaningful relationships with important people

• fundamental physical aspects a person desires to have or achieve well-being

• desire a person has for contribution, to feel involved, accomplish goals, and improve

-husband of Charleen Frankenfield Alderfer

-53 years of marriage before his death

-he was the only child

-one daughter, Kate Alderfer-Candela

-one son, Benjamin P. Alderfer

-5 grandchildren

Disadvantages

• ERG was developed for cultures in the U.S. and may deviate in some cultures and locations (ex. Japan puts place social over psychological)
• Need to be careful about the extrinsic factors and not lean on that piece.
• There could be regression times as higher levels are not obtained or satisfied
• assumes all human activities are motivated by needs.
• it is not a straight forward principle and may require surveys, etc.
• Frustration for the administrator may come on occasions when you can’t stop a person regressing.
• some say it lacks respect for the organization and supervisor.

Publications and Books

2010. The practice of organizational diagnosis: Theory and methods. Oxford University Press.

2005. The Five Laws of Group and Intergroup Dynamics.

2002. Diversity in organizations. Handbook of psychology.

1992. Changing race relations embedded in organizations: Report on a long-term project with the XYZ Corporation.

1986. The invisible director on corporate boards. Harvard Business Review, 64, 38-52.

1975. Learning from changing: Organizational diagnosis and development. Sage Publications.

1973. A New Design for Survey Feedback. PN.

1972. Existence, relatedness, and growth: Human needs in organizational settings. New York, NY.

1967. Convergent and discriminant validation of satisfaction and desire measures by interviews and questionnaires. Journal of Applied Psychology, 51(6), 509.

Clayton Alderfer

and many other publications

ERG Theory

-It is an analytical framework to explain human motivation that simplifies Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

-Differs from Maslow in that Maslow says the lowest basic needs should be fulfilled first. Alderfer's motivational theory says as you move up lower level needs could regress even if higher needs are met. Higher levels could be used as motivation even if lower levels are not met as well. Some may move to lower levels if higher ones are harder to obtain to be more comfortable. There can be a regression period called the frustration-regression process.

-ERG is more flexible and realistic. It shows that different needs can exist simultaneously .

-American psychologist, speaker, writer,

entrepreneur, consultant and scholar

-Born Sept 1, 1940 and died Oct 30, 2015

-Born in Sellersville, Pennsylvania

-BA in psychology in 1962, Yale University

-PhD in psychology 1966

-1977 he obtained certification by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP)

-started his academic career at Cornell University in 1966

-1968 he returned to Yale University, where he was researcher, lecturer and program director

-After 1992, Clayton Alderfer joined Rutgers, a university in New Jersey

-Clayton Alderfer eventually became more interested in working as a consultant and he set up his own consulting firm: Alderfer and Associates. This still exists today.

ERG Theory

Existence, Relatedness and Growth

ERG Theory continued

-Needs based theory based on 3 areas of basic needs to influence human behavior.

-Signifies an important development in the understanding of motivation: what needs must be satisfied at an intrinsic and extrinsic.

-Grouped needs are based on a range rather than a hierarchy.

-Based on two key elements: desire and satisfaction. The desire notions of want, preference, and the strength. The satisfaction being the fulfillment.

-Used Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and categorized to have the ERG Theory