Characteristics of Motivation:

Some significant characteristics of motivation that follow from the discussion of its determinants are:

i) Individuals differ in their motivation: There is no single economic drive that determines behaviour. As the desires and targets of individuals differ, so do their motivations; one might do a job since it is remunerative, another might do it because it provides a sense of achievement, or enables him/her to serve a cause that is dear to him/her.

ii)  Motivation is highly situational:  A person might work extremely well in one organisation and poorly in another in the similar position or type of the job. The performance might vary with working conditions and type of supervision.

iii) Motivation change: Motivation of every individual changes from time to time even if he/she might continue to behave in the similar way. For example, a temporary worker might generate more in the beginning to become permanent. After being made permanent, he/she might continue to generate more to gain promotion and so on.

iv) Motivation is expressed differently: Requires and the way in that they are translated within action may vary considerably from one individual to another. Various persons may also react differently to successful or unsuccessful fulfillment of their requirement. One may feel frustrated if his/her requirement has not been met, but the other might be motivated through his/her failure and redouble his/her effort to get his/her need met (say, by writing and publishing additional scholarly articles or books). Again one individual with strong security require may avoid accepting responsibility for fear of failure and dismissal and the other with a same need may find out responsibility for fear of being fired for low performance.

v) Motivation is complex: It is hard to explain and predict the behaviour of workers. Use of one motivational device might not produce the desired result if it brings an opposing motive into play. In a factory when a blue-green device was introduced to reduce eye strain, the output of male workers increased although that of female workers decreased. It was found in which the latter disliked this change as the new kind of light falling on them made them look easily ghastly in appearance.