People working in an organisation are its greatest asset and the oil for human resources is Motivation. Dwight D Eisenhower gave a perfect explanation of motivation when he said that “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it” (Class Act Media LLC, n.d.).
Ryan & Deci (2000) affirm that to be motivated means “to be moved to do something”. A person who feels no inspiration or thrust to act is categorized as being unmotivated, whereas someone who has a boost towards attaining an end is considered motivated.
There are three groups of major motivational theories

Motivation embodies the forces acting within an employee that cause this same employee to behave in a particular, goal-directed manner and the motivational process begins with identifying a person’s needs.
Motivational theories try to explain what give reasons to people to behave in the manner that they do and what is a spur for them to perform better. This especially applies to employees where motivation gives reason to an employee to commit further and perform at peak levels.
There are several motivational theories that can be used at the workplace and these range from probably the most renowned motivational theory, that is, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, going on to Herzberg’s two factor theory, then on to Vroom’s expectancy theory, followed by McClelland’s achievement motivation model and then McGregor’s famous Theory X and Theory Y. Finally there is Locke & Latham’s goal setting theory.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
Undoubtedly the most renowned theory of motivation is the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory. Maslow (1954 cited Daniels & Spiker, 1994, p. 63) argued that motivational needs can be hierarchically organized into five basic needs that included:
• Physiological needs;
• Safety and Security needs;
• Social