Effective School Management

particularly the case where the decision under discussion will affect the
person involved.
Involvement should produce the commitment to goals on which a sense of
achievement depends. By involving people we show them recognition and
increase their sense of responsibility. The interest of their job should be
increased and we are providing them with the broader view which provides
both a learning opportunity and experience which may be of use in seeking
advancement.
ACHIEVEMENT NEEDS
Motivational theorists are almost unanimous in giving a special place to the
need for achievement. In his book, Every Employee a Manager, Myers (1991)

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EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT
neatly specifies that a sense of achievement arises when an individual clearly
perceives a goal and is then able to
(1) plan how to achieve the goal;
(2) implement his or her own plan; and
(3) control (i.e. ‘monitor’) the results.
In this sense, whatever the other issues involved, public and internal
examinations provide a motivational loop in that teachers and pupils know
more or less what is expected; can plan how to achieve the required standard
with freedom to choose textbooks and other means; can carry out the
teaching/learning in line with the plan; and, finally obtain a result. In the
absence of examinations, learning goals and measures of achievement may
be less clear, and we may have problems in finding motivational substitutes.
Fundamental to the concept of achievement is the perception by the
individual to be motivated that the goal is relevant to him or her. In a world
where traditional learning is no longer linked to career prospects – GCSE or
GNVQ results do not guarantee a job – teachers and pupils have a further
motivational problem.
THE SELF-MOTIVATED ACHIEVER
As with all needs, the intensity of the need for achievement varies greatly
from person to person. In some pupils, particularly at secondary level, we
may feel that it has almost disappeared! McClelland’s (1985) interest is in
those with very strong achievement needs who offer great potential, but can
also pose problems where their own perception of goals may be different
from our own.
McClelland would claim that most of us have a motivation to achieve
something. He would also claim, however, that only in 10 per cent of the
population is this a highly developed motivation. According to McClelland,
the most convincing sign of a strong achievement motivation is the tendency
of a person who is not being required to think about anything in particular,
that is, who is free to relax or to let his or her mind wander, to think about
ways of accomplishing something. On a car journey the self-motivated
achiever will typically set him or herself time-targets or fuel-consumption
targets. On the way to work he or she will try out new routes to cut mileage or
time. He or she will work to achieve a standard in a sport, to take on new
challenges in his or her job, to produce a play, to organize a new function.
Such tendencies emerge at a very early age. In a series of experiments
McClelland provided young people with an upright pole and quoits. Some
would throw the quoits aimlessly around, build towers, drop them with ease
on to the pole or quickly lose interest. However, certain individuals would set
themselves a challenge by attempting to hit the pole or throw the quoits over
it from a distance chosen by them such that success would not come too
easily nor be impossible or subject to pure luck. Following his subjects’

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MOTIVATING PEOPLE
3 3
careers, McClelland found that those who showed a strong achievement
motivation in childhood tended to manifest the same drive in adult life.
Although only about 10 per cent of people are strongly motivated, the
percentage in certain occupations is likely to be much higher. This is
especially true of people in managerial positions, and independent
entrepreneurs. A person with a strong achievement motivation is likely to
surpass the accomplishments of equally able but less strongly motivated
people, especially in one of the above occupations.
McClelland’s studies have identified three major characteristics of the self-
motivated achiever, and why supervisory tactics, which may be appropriate
to other kinds of people, are often inappropriate when applied to a man or
woman with a strong achievement motivation.
First, achievers like to set their own goals. They are nearly always trying to
accomplish something. They are seldom content to drift aimlessly and let life
happen to them. They are quite selective about which goals they commit
themselves to and for this reason they are unlikely automatically to accept
goals which other people, including their bosses, select for them. Neither do
they seek advice or help except from experts or people who can provide
needed skills or information. Achievers prefer to be as fully responsible for
the attainment of their goals as it is possible to be. If they win they want the
credit, if they lose they accept the blame. Either way they want the victory or
defeat to be unmistakably theirs.
Second, achievers tend to avoid extremes of difficulty in selecting goals.
They prefer moderate goals which are neither so easy that winning them
would provide no satisfaction nor so difficult that winning them would be
more a matter of luck than ability. They will tend to gauge what is possible
and then select a goal that is as tough as they think they can fulfil, i.e. the
hardest practical challenge. This attitude keeps them continually straining
their abilities to their realistic limits, but no further. Above all else they want
to win and, therefore, they do not knowingly commit themselves to a goal
that is probably too difficult to achieve.
Third, achievers prefer tasks which provide them with more or less
immediate feedback, i.e. measurements of how well they are progressing
towards their goal. Because of the importance of the goal, they like to know
how well they are doing at all times.
The effect of a monetary incentive on an achiever is rather complex.
Achievers usually have a fairly high opinion of the value of their services and
prefer to place a fairly high price tag on them: they are unlikely to remain for
long in an organization that doesn’t pay them well. But it is questionable
whether an incentive payment actually increases their output since they are
normally working at peak efficiency anyway.
McClelland notes that monetary incentives are actually more effective
with people whose achievement drives are relatively weak, because they
need some kind of external reward to increase their effort. The main
significance of additional income to achievers is as a way of measuring their

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EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT
success. McClelland emphasizes that the achievement motive, as he defines
it, is not the only source of success attainment. Other drives can also lead to
high levels of attainment, but achievers have a considerable advantage.
Can the level of achievement motivation be increased in people whose
achievement drives are not usually strong? McClelland believes this may be
possible and indeed there are considerable reserves of latent untapped
achievement motivation in most organizations. The key is to build more
achievement characteristics into the job – personal responsibility, individual