KITA Theory

An area in organizations where both employees and leaders often have difficult with is in motivation. Leaders complain that employees are not doing what they want them to do and employees complain they have no desire or that there is no reason to do many of the tasks they are given in the workplace. Author Herzberg (1968) states that the best way to get someone to do something is to ask him or her. If there is still an issue with motivations, there are other options leaders have. While leaders may consider complicated methods of getting an employee to do something, many have a clear answer. The most direct approach is to give the person a “kick in the pants” or as the author refers to it, KITA (Herzberg, 1968, p. 54). The various forms of KITA the author discusses comes with a bit of humor because although they can bring about

A step above the negative physical KITA is the negative psychological approach. Herzberg (1968) states that its advantages include no visible cruelty, reduces possible physical response, a continued effect because of the physical pains individuals are capable of experiencing, and no physical evidence of an attack (p. 54). These negative approaches do little to actually motivate employees and instead only leads to forced movement. Positive KITA involves giving rewards. Herzberg (1968) notes that the person offering the reward is the one motived and the individual receiving the reward moves, so the difference between a positive and negative KITA is a pull rather than a push. These examples are similar to the carrot and stick approach Daft (2015) explains in the discussion of motivation. Herzberg (1968) stated that positive KITA allows individuals to “kick themselves” while Daft (2015) states that this also causes individuals to focus on the reward above anything