Motivation (Part 3 of 3) Flashcards
What is the job characteristics model (by Hackman and Oldham)?
According to the job characteristics model, five core job characteristics – skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback from job – influence three critical psychological states – experienced meaningfulness of the work, experienced responsibility for outcomes of the work, and knowledge of the actual results of the work activities – which in turn influence the outcome of internal work motivation.
Job design theory argues that motivation is influenced by the way a job is designed.
- focuses on motivating people by starting with the job (e.g. racecar) and designing the job to be motivating. The person (e.g. driver) performing the job then becomes motivated because the job is motivating.
- One of the big appeals of the theory is the idea that many people can be motivated at once, if they all perform same job. For example, if Walmart has 50,000 cashiers, instead of motivating each cashier (e.g. by assessing each cashier’s hierarchy of needs), make the cashier job motivating and then each cashier will be motivated.
Describe the 5 core job characteristics.
Skill variety: The degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities in carrying out the work, involving the use of a number of different skills and talents of the person.
Task identity: The degree to which a job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work, that is, doing a job from beginning to end with a visible outcome.
Task significance: The degree to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives of other people, whether those people are in the immediate organization or in the world at large.
Autonomy: The degree to which the job provides substantial freedom, independence, and discretion to the individual in scheduling the work and in determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out.
Feedback from job: The degree to which carrying out the work activities required by the job provides the individual with direct and clear information about the effectiveness of his or her performance.
What are the 3 critical psychological states that are influenced by the 5 core job characteristics?
Experienced MEANINGFULNESS of the work: The degree to which the individual experiences the job as one which is generally meaningful, valuable, and worthwhile.
Experienced RESPONSIBILITY for outcomes of the work: The degree to which the individual feels personally accountable and responsible for the results of the work he or she does.
KNOWLEDGE of the actual results of the work activities: The degree to which the individual knows and understands on a continuous basis how effectively he or she is performing the job.
What is the motivating potential score (MPS)? How do you calculate it?
Motivating potential score (MPS): An overall score that summarizes the overall motivating potential of a job. Higher score = more motivating. Lower score = less motivating. Ranges from 1 to 343.
Formula:
MPS = [skill variety+task identity+task significance]/3
* autonomy * feedback
What are the 3 moderators?
- Knowledge and skill: The degree to which a person has the knowledge and skills to perform his/her job.
- Growth need strength: The degree to which a person has a need for personal accomplishment, learning, and developing beyond where he/she is now.
- Context satisfactions: The degree to which a person is satisfied with his/her job.
The higher a person’s knowledge and skill and/or growth need strength and/or context satisfactions, the more the person’s internal work motivation will rise from increasing the core job characteristics (e.g. if Kim and Kanye’s skill variety is increased the same amount, but Kim has higher context satisfactions than Kanye, Kim’s internal work motivation will rise more than Kanye’s).
