College 4 Flashcards
Motivation
There are a lot of things that can motivate you, what are the different categories for these motivational factors?
- Person related (P)
- Task related (T)
- Social/Context related (C)
What is motivation?
Motivation is
- What a person does (direction)
- How hard a person works (intensity)
- How long a person works (persistence)
You need motivation for all types of behaviour.
How can you motivate other people as a leader?
First it is important to energize behaviour. One way to do this is to search for underlying needs or values, things that people find interesting. Because if you know that, you can energize people’s behaviour and make them really enthusiastic for instance and motivate them to perform this behaviour.
The next thing is to direct the behaviour towards a certain goal, either an individual goal or an organisational goal. Ideally the individual goal is in line with the organisational goal.
Then it’s about sustaining behaviour, it’s about persistence. One way of doing this is, is providing rewards. You could also use punishment or sanctions.
It’s important to use feedback to see if the energizing behaviour and the directing behaviour are still in line. So giving feedback on what people are doing can also be helpful for motivating people to energize the behaviour again.
Goal setting
A good way to motivate yourself but especially other people, is by setting goals.
“A goal without a plan is just a wish”
One way to come up with really good goals is to use SMART Goal Setting.
You can differ in how promotion or prevention focused you are.
The goals you set should really fit with the regulatory focus of people, otherwise they work less.
One is not better than the other, people just differ.
SMART Goal Setting
- Specific
o The more specific the better - Measurable
o How far are you in obtaining the goal?
o Have you reached your goal? - Achievable
- Relevant
o It needs to be relevant for the person and the organisation - Time-Based
o It is clear when the goal needs to be reached, but in an obtainable time
Regulatory Focus Theory (RFT)
- Promotion-Focused-Individuals have a need for achievement, focus on advancement, and set learning goals.
- Prevention-Focused-Individuals are vigilant and careful, emphasize fears, focus on avoiding threats, and set prevention goals.
o E.g., goals that are clearly written in the job description
It can differ per situation.
It is not a very clear difference usually, so people can sort of fall in between, but everyone has a tendency to promotion focused or prevention focused.
What is the following connected to? “Setting goals is a sort of interaction between an individual and the leader. But the job itself could also be motivating or less motivating.”
The job characteristics theory.
What are the five core dimensions of the Job Characteristics Theory?
- Skill variety
- Task identity
- Task significance
- Autonomy
- Feedback
Skill variety in the job characteristics theory
- Not the same skill over and over again.
- You will have to use different skills in order to be motivated to do the job.
Task identity in the job characteristics theory
- People need to identify with the task.
- You need to feel like an owner of the process, from beginning to the end.
- The ikea effect
- When you work on a task from beginning to end you automatically give it more meaning and you value it more. As a consequence you’re more motivated to do the task or to repeat the task at a later stage.
Task significance in the job characteristics theory
- It has to have some significance, some impact on other people for instance.
Autonomy in the job characteristics theory
- You need to feel freedom.
- You shouldn’t feel monitored all the time.
- This is a very important dimension in order to feel motivated.
Feedback in the job characteristics theory
- The job needs to give some sort of feedback.
- You need to know when you are doing the right thing.
The ikea effect
An example of task identity (job characteristics theory).
The ikea effect: when you work on something you value it more than if you just buy it.
What happens when people are motivated or when the job characteristics are present?
It results in:
- More satisfaction with the work.
- Higher internal work motivation.
- Higher quality work performance.
- Less absenteeism and turnover.
What do job characteristics theory-designed jobs do?
They give internal rewards.
What is a moderating factor of the job characteristics theory?
The employee growth need strength.
The positive effects only occur if people have a need to grow.
If they don’t have a need to grow the positive effects are less likely to occur.
What must jobs have/be to be motivating?
Motivating jobs must
- Be autonomous
- Provide feedback
- Have at least one of the three meaningfulness factors (skill variety, task identity or task significance).
When does the job characteristics theory work less well?
It works less well in a collectivistic culture as opposed to an individualistic culture.
Job crafting
This can really motivate people and can lead to more sustainable employability.
The extent to which individuals can demonstrate initiative in designing their own work.
- E.g., you can ask for feedback
I-deals
- Individuals can come to an individual agreement with their manager that can deviate from the formal regulations that apply to everyone.
o E.g., leaving work earlier to pick up your kids.
The importance of fairness
Fairness is an important aspect that has an effect on motivation.
This can be explained by:
- Equity theory
- Organisational justice
- Developing a fair reputation
Equity theory
What I put into my job (e.g., skills, effort) = What I get out of my job (e.g., pay, praise)
People compare themselves to co-workers, this relates to fairness. Is it fair that another coworker gets something and I don’t’? If people feel other people put in the same amount and get the same amount, then all is fine.
According to the equity theory, what happens if you find out you get paid less than your coworker for the same work?
You will feel demotivated.
According to the equity theory, what happens if you find out that you earn more than your co-worker even though you are putting in less/the same amount of work?
You will start making justifications and looking for explanations for why you earn more. You will not work harder or be more motivated.
Organisational justice
The perception of members/employees about how things have gone in terms of fairness.
Or
The “member’s sense of the moral propriety of how they are treated”.
What types of organisational justice are there?
- Distributive justice
- Procedural justice
- Interpersonal justice
- Informational justice
Distributive justice
- A form of organisational justice.
- Is your outcome justified, given your performance?
- Equity theory is a form of distributive justice.
Procedural justice
- A form of organisational justice.
- Have you been able to express your views and feelings during the process?
- Are the procedures fair, did you have a voice in procedures that affected you? Can you make an appeal if you think something was not fair?
This is more important than distributive justice. It is the best predictive factor of justice.
Interpersonal justice
- A form of organisational justice.
- Has your leader treated you with respect?
Informational justice
- A form of organisational justice.
- Has your leader explained the procedure thoroughly?
- Whether you think the supervisor/manager is truthful in their communication.
Expectancy theory
- Expectancy
- Instrumentality
- Valence
These processes predict independently how much effort people put in their work and how motivated they are.
Expectancy
Employees decide to put forth effort when they believe that their efforts will lead to good performance.
A task needs to be done, you expect that your effort will result in a certain performance.
Instrumentality
The employee’s performance will be evaluated accurately and lead to rewards (pay raises, bonuses).
You need to be rewarded on the performance that you show.
Valence
The employees value the rewards offered by the organization.
But there is also a negative value, for instance if you have to work late in order to perform and then you miss out on other important stuff that you value, then the motivation will drop.
How can a leader use the expectancy theory?
By selecting people who you think can actually perform the task (expectancy).
By giving positive feedback to increase people’s self-esteem and self-efficacy.
By selecting certain rewards, but only if you know what the employees value.
The pygmalion effect
The pygmalion effect boosts performance by leaders raising their expectations of followers.
Perceptions sometimes result in a self-fulfilling prophecy in which high expectations of performance by leaders actually create conditions in which followers succeed.
How can a leader use the pygmalion effect?
Communicate high expectations to followers in four ways:
- Create a warmer emotional climate.
- Teach more and increase challenge.
- Invite followers to ask questions.
- Provide feedback on performance.
The galatea effect
When an individual sets high expectation for him- or her- or themselves and then performs to these expectations.
The golem effect
Expectations may also work in the opposite direction, where lower expectations lead to lower performance.
Bosses can “kill” followers’ motivation by having low expectations.
Leaders can make a distinction between low and high performers in 5 minutes. Low performers get less feedback, less attention etc. which will make them lose motivation and perform worse.
Summary of motivation: what does motivation need and what is it affected by?
Needs a (SMART) goal.
Needs feedback.
Is affected by
- Job characteristics
- Expectations (by yourself and your boss)
- Perceptions of organizational fairness
Applications of motivation: money
Motivation via monetary incentives (money) is task dependent.
For some tasks a monetary incentive can induce the opposite of what you want.
Employee incentives: gift versus cash
The incentive for a water bottle is bigger than the incentive of money. Because the gift of a water bottle shows kindness.
Reinforcement theory
Individual personality, thoughts, and attitudes don’t motivate behavior. The environment motivates behavior.
Based on the law of effect.
This is a very old approach that is still useful to some extent.
The law of effect
- Past actions leading to positive outcomes tend to be repeated.
- Past actions that led to negative outcomes will diminish.
- …led to the development of operant conditioning.
The four kinds of reinforcement according to the reinforcement theory
Pleasant event is added = positive reinforcement
Unpleasant event is removed = negative reinforcement
Pleasant event is removed = punishment by removal (extinction)
Unpleasant event is added = punishment by application
Applied behavior modification where the goal is to get the employee on time at work
Employee is on time + praise employee = positive reinforcement
Employee is on time + avoid criticizing employee = negative reinforcement
Employee is late + written reprimand = punishment by application
Employee is late + withhold praise = punishment by removal (extinction)
Social learning theory
Extends operant conditioning.
People can learn from watching other people succeed or fail. This also effects how they behave.
- Known as observational learning (or modeling).
What are the processes that are necessary for the social learning theory?
- Attention
- Retention
- Reproduction
- Motivation
Intrinsic motivation
Gain satisfaction from the task itself.
Extrinsic motivation
- Performance => outcome expectancies
- Satisfaction comes from the extrinsic reward (e.g., money)
What type of motivation do you use in an organisation?
In an organisation you use both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.
Self-determination theory
- They make a distinction between different types of extrinsic motivation.
- They also studied what is needed for people to be intrinsically motivated. => Not only the task itself should be interesting, but you also need certain needs fulfilled in order to be intrinsically motivated.
What is intrinsic motivation a function of?
A person’s need for
- Autonomy
- Competence
- Relatedness: you need to feel like your job is connecting you to others.
What is new with the self-determination theory?
That they made a distinction between different types of extrinsic motivation.
What different types of extrinsic motivation are there in the self-determination theory?
- External regulation (left)
- Introjected regulation
- Identified regulation
- Integrated regulation (right)
They move from a more controlled form of motivation on the left towards a more autonomous form of motivation on the right. It is a controlled-to-autonomous continuum.
External regulation
Part of the self-determination theory.
It’s about external rewards and punishments.
Introjected regulation
- Part of the self-determination theory.
- The task itself is not necessarily interesting, but you still feel worthy by performing the task because you feel less good about yourself if you don’t do it.
- It’s still external motivation because you feel a little bit controlled by it, but it is something you have internalized.
- Taken in but not accepted as your own: I work because it makes me feel like a worthy person.
Identified regulation
- Part of the self-determination theory.
- The task itself is not necessarily interesting, but it is in line with your own values and goals.
- Behavior is more congruent with their personal goals and identities: Although this work is not intrinsically interesting, it is important for me as a person because I value this work.
Integrated regulation
- Part of the self-determination theory.
- The behaviour that you perform is not necessarily interesting but it’s an integral part of who you are.
- It’s who you are as a whole person, not only because it’s part of your job, but it’s instrumental to your own personal goals.
- Behaviour is an integral part of who I am, it’s self-determined. Instrumental to reach personal goals.
As a manager, where do you want your employees to be on the controlled-to-autonomous continuum of the self-determination theory?
As a manager you want people to move away from the left side to the more autonomous right side, because:
- This leads to more creativity
- Better job performance
- More pleasure in work
- Less drop out
It has a positive impact on people’s organisational behaviour.
When can external rewards help motivation?
- When they are unexpected.
- When you use verbal rewards.
- When you are clear on why you use monetary rewards.
Performance management meeting
The performance management meeting is an opportunity to regularly discuss an employee’s performance and results.
It is a two way meeting, you can use it to craft your own job a little bit more.
Trust is an important expect here.
What are problems with performance reviews?
- Sometimes people get a grade/rating, and after getting this grade/rating people tune out.
- Employees don’t like negative feedback.
- Fear of punishment.
- Perceptions of bias in the process.
- Time consuming process.
What is a solution to the problems with performance reviews?
Reward for the results AND the behaviours.
This way, desired results are achieved, and the proper behaviours occur.
Not only during the annual review but also during the year.
How can leaders motivate followers?
- Frequent feedback.
- Proper rewards.
- Implementing a fair and rewarding compensation system.
