Motivating Employees

Motivating Employees

Defining Motivation

Key Elements 2.

Intensity: how hard a person tries

3.

Direction: toward beneficial goal

4.

Persistence: how long a person tries

Theories of Motivation 1.

Early Theories of Motivation - Hierarchy of Needs Theory - Theory X and Theory Y - Two-Factor Theory

2. Contemporary Theories of Motivation - ERG Theory - McClelland’s Theory of Needs - Cognitive Evaluation Theory - Goal-Setting Theory - Reinforcement Theory - Equity Theory - Expectancy Theory

Hierarchy of Needs Theory

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Theory X and Theory Y (Douglas McGregor)

Theory X and Theory Y (Douglas McGregor) Assumptions of Theory X 1.Employees inherently dislike work and, whenever possible, will attempt to avoid it; 2.Since employees dislike work, they must be coerced, controlled, or threatened with punishment to achieve goals; 3.Employees will avoid responsibilities and seek formal direction whenever possible; 4.Most workers place security above all other factors associated with work and will display little ambition.

Theory X and Theory Y (Douglas McGregor) Assumptions of Theory Y 1.Employees can view work as being as natural as rest or play; 2.People will exercise self-direction and self-control if they are committed to the objectives; 3.The average person can learn to accept, even seek, responsibility; 4.The ability to make innovative decisions is widely dispersed throughout the population and is not necessarily the sole province of those in management positions.

Two-Factor Theory (Frederick Herzberg)

Two-Factor Theory (Frederick Herzberg) Extrinsic Vs. Intrinsic Factors

* Intrinsic factors are related to job satisfaction and motivation. These are motivational factors. * Extrinsic factors are associated with job dissatisfaction. These are maintenance factors.

Factors characterizing events on the job that led to extreme job dissatisfaction

Factors characterizing events on the job that led to extreme job satisfaction

Comparison of Satisfiers and Dissatisfiers

Contrasting Views of Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction

Presence

Absence

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Criticisms of Two-Factor Theory

The procedure that Herzberg used is limited by its methodology. When things are going well, people tend to take credit themselves. Contrarily, they blame failure on the extrinsic environment.

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The reliability of Herzberg,s methodology is questioned. Raters have to make interpretations, so they may contaminate the findings by interpreting one response in one manner while treating a similar response differently.

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No overall measure of satisfaction was utilized. A person may dislike part of his or her job yet still think the job is acceptable.

Criticisms of Two-Factor Theory, Contd., 4. The theory is inconsistent with previous research. The twofactor theory ignores situational variables. 5. Herzberg assumed a relationship between satisfaction and productivity, but the research methodology he used looked only at satisfaction, not at productivity. To make such research relevant, one must assume a strong relationship between satisfaction and productivity. Regardless of criticisms, Herzberg’s theory has been widely read and few managers are unfamiliar with his recommendations.

ERG Theory (Clayton Alderfer) Concepts: More than one need can be operative at the same time. Core Needs

Existence: provision of basic material requirements. Relatedness: desire for relationships. Growth: desire for personal development.

If a higher-level need cannot be fulfilled, the desire to satisfy a lower-level need increases.

David McClelland’s Theory of Needs This theory focuses on three needs: achievement, power, and affiliation that help explain motivation. Some people have a compelling drive to succeed. They are for personal achievement rather than the rewards of success. The need for power is the desire to have impact, to be influential, and to control others. Affiliation needs are desires to be liked and accepted by others.

David McClelland’s Theory of Needs, Contd.,

nPow

nAch

nAff

David McClelland’s Theory of Needs, Contd., High Achievers will be Motivated, if

Cognitive Evaluation Theory

Cognitive Evaluation Theory, Contd., For example, extrinsic rewards such as, PAY for work effort that had been previously intrinsically rewarding due to the pleasure associated with the content of the work itself would tend to decrease the overall level of motivation. This theory argues that when extrinsic rewards are used by organizations as payoffs for superior performance, the intrinsic rewards, which are derived from individuals doing what they like, are reduced. In other words, when extrinsic rewards are given to someone for performing an interesting task, it causes intrinsic interest in the task itself to decline.

Goal-Setting Theory (Edwin Locke, 1960s)

Lockle proposed that intentions to work toward a goal are a major source of work motivation. Goals tell an employee what needs to be done and how much effort will need to be expanded. Specific goals increase performance; that difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher performance than do easy goals.

Reinforcement Theory A counterpoint to Goal-setting theory is Reinforcement Theory. The former is a cognitive approach, proposing that an individual’s purposes direct his or her action. This theory argues, reinforcement conditions behavior. Behavior is a function of its consequences. Reinforcement theorists see behavior as being environmentally caused. Reinforcement theory ignores the inner state of the individual and concentrates solely on what happens to a person when he or she takes some action.

Reinforcement Theory

Concepts: Behavior is environmentally caused. Behavior can be modified (reinforced) by providing (controlling) consequences. Reinforced behavior tends to be repeated.

Equity Theory

Referent Comparisons: Self-inside Self-outside Other-inside Other-outside

Equity Theory (cont’d) •

Self-inside: An employee’s experiences in a different position inside his or her current organization.

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Self-outside: An employee’s experiences in a situation or position outside his or her current organization.

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Other-inside: Another individual or group of individuals inside the employee’s organization.

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Other-outside: Another individual or group of individuals outside the employee’s organization.

Equity Theory (cont’d) Propositions relating to inequitable pay: 2.

Overrewarded employees produce more than equitably rewarded employees.

3.

Overrewarded employees produce less, but do higher quality piece work.

4.

Underrewarded hourly employees produce lower quality work.

5.

Underrewarded employees produce larger quantities of lowerquality piece work than equitably rewarded employees

Equity Theory (cont’d)

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Ken Thomas’s Model of Intrinsic Motivation Employees are intrinsically motivated

when rewards an employee gets from work result from: – Choice– the ability to freely self-select and perform task activities. – Competence– the sense of accomplishment from skillfully performing chosen tasks or activities. – Meaningfulness– pursuing a task that matters in the larger scheme of things. – Progress– the feeling of significant advancement in achieving the task’s purpose.

Flow and Intrinsic Motivation Theory

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Expectancy Theory Victor Vroom’s Expectancy Theory argues that an employee will be motivated to exert a high level of effort when he or she believes that effort will lead to a good performance appraisal; that a good appraisal will lead to organizational rewards such as bonus, a salary increase, or a promotion; and that the rewards will satisfy the employee’s personal goals. The theory, therefore, focuses on three relationships: 2.Effort-performance relationship 3.Performance-reward relationship 4.Rewards-personal goals relationship.

Expectancy Theory

Performance Dimensions

Integrating Contemporary Theories of Motivation