Motivation at Work PPT #7 FINAL Flashcards
Why So Many Motivation Theories?
“Different men are moved by different incentives or combinations of incentives, and by different incentives or combinations at different times. Men are unstable in their desires, a fact partly reflecting the instability of their environments” (pp. 148-
149).
- Barnard (1938)
Assumptions about Motivation Influence Employee Treatment (Theory X and Y)
Theory X:
* People inherently dislike work
* Control & threat of punishment needed to align people w/org objectives
* Inherent avoidance of responsibility
* Creative potential resides in a select few
Theory Y:
*Work can be a source of satisfaction
*Employees can become committed to org objectives
*Avoidance is learned; people can also seek out responsibility
*Creative potential widely distributed
Theory Y Insights:
Meaningful objectives: People need to know not just what or how, but can
also benefit from understanding why
* Helps to people a sense of purpose in the workplace
Empowerment: Through ownership, commitment, and responsibility
Organizational learning: Inclusive problem solving
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
If don’t have a need met you will focus on them first before moving up the
pyramid.
From bottom to top:
Physiological: Food, water and such
Safety and Security: Workplace safety and security is nice to have
Love (Social): Fitting in and wanting to belong and relatedness
Esteem: How much positiveness you have in yourself
Self Actualization: Hitting your peak performance and contribute
something to the input you are putting in
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
Hygiene Factors avoid job dissatisfaction
* Policies
* Supervision
* Working conditions
* Salary – Can be unsatisfied with salary
* Status
* Security
Motivation factors increase job satisfaction
* Achievement
* Achievement recognition
* Work itself
* Responsibility
* Advancement
* Growth
* Salary? – Can be motivating; commission paid jobs
McClelland’s Need Theory
Used a photo and evaluated based on how people replied to said photo,
based on their answer he would tell which one of the needs a person would be high in.
Three main categories of needs:
Achievement:
Concerns individuals’ issues of excellence, competition, challenging
goals, persistence, and overcoming difficulties
Linked to performance
High Achievers will likely respond well to moderate goals,
feedback, no interference
Power:
Concerns individuals’ need to make an impact/exert control
Socialized power vs. personalized power
Those high in need for power will likely respond well to situations in
which they have the chance to influence, make decisions, etc.
Affiliation:
Concerns individuals’ need to have good relations with others
Those high in need for affiliation will likely do better in environments
providing opportunities for socialization and in environments that
foster cooperation vs. competition
Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985)
Psycholigical Needs:
* Relatedness: The need to feel connected and a sense of belonging
* Autonomy: The need to feel free to make choices and act on them
* Comptenece: The need to feel effective and in control of one’s actions
Intrinsic: Happy to do the activity for its own thing
Extrinsic: Need an external prompt to do the task, if you give them
rewards for a task then they might be more focused on the concept of the
reward than the actual activity itself
Expectancy Model of Motivation
Effort –> Performance –> Reward
Between Effort and Reward is Expectancy: The belief that increased effort will lead to better performance
Between Performance and Reward is Instrumentality: The belief that better performance will result in a certain outcome
Reward is linked to Valence: The perceived value of the rewards of an outcome
Expectancy Theory
Focuses on personal perceptions of the performance process
* What do I have to do?
* Can I achieve it?
* What happens when I am successful?
* Is it worth the effort?
Strengthening the Link between Effort and Results:
* Match people to jobs and tasks
* Provide training, resources, and support so employees believe they can be successful
* Respond to strong, moderate, and weak performances differently
* Be sensitive to the valence of various rewards to individuals and use appropriate rewards
Equity Theory
Motivation involves perceived fairness (equity) in a social exchange
Inequity (unfairness) is an important motivator
It is perceived as unfair if there is umbalnce so think of outcomes/inputs of 2 people eqauling each other. If one is higher than the other than there is an imbalance
Other Aspects of Equity
Individual differences:
* Equity sensitives (majority of people fall here)
* Entitleds (takers)
* Benevolents (givers)
Types of justice:
* Distributive: Fariness of outcomes; good pay for good work
* Procedural: Fairness in process; worked for 1 year and got promotion
* Interactional: Involes fairness in interpersonal treatment, such as respectful communication during feedback.
Goal Setting Theory (Locke and Latham)
How Do Goals Make a Difference?
* They focus attention
* They energize
* They affect persistence
With complex tasks it is better to switch to a learning goal (not a
performance goal)
Reinforcement Theory
Increase a Behaviour via:
Positive Reinforcement: Give positive consequences; praising employee
Negative Reinforcement: Removing/withholding negative consequences; parent nagging kid to take out garbage, the reward is taking garbage to remove nagging from parent
Decrease a behavior via:
Punishment:: Either bestowing negative consequences or withholding positive consequences (getting grounded, you won’t do the behaviour again as you don’t want to get grounded)
Extinction:: The attempt to weaken a behavior by attaching no
consequences to it (not reacting when a baby cries, doing so makes baby stop crying as they no longer get a reaction out of you)
Schedules of Reinforcement for Reinforcemnt Theory
Continous: Reinforcement after every instance
Intermittent: Reinforcement more sporadic
Ratio:
* Fixed: Reinforcemnt after fixed # responses (paid for every 100 cars sold)
* Variable: Reinforcement after varying # responses (slot machine, no fixed # of pulls but eventually get some reward)
Interval:
* Fixed: Reinforcemnt after fixed amount of time (paycheck every 2 weeks)
* Variable: Reinforcement after varying amount of time (waiting for an elevator, sometimes short sometimes long)
Ethics and Motivation:
Organizations get the performance they reward, not the performance they say they want.
Conclusions:
Motivation theories vary in terms of their focus (content vs. needs vs. process)
Each of these motivation theories helps us see a part of the picture
