Unit 5 Flashcards
Define employee engagement
Employee engagement is defined as an individual’s emotional and cognitive (rational) motivation, particularly a focused, intense, persistent, and purposive effort toward work-related goals. It is emo- tional involvement in, commitment to, and satisfaction with the work, as well as a high level of absorption in the work and sense of self-efficacy about performing the work
Explain how drives and emotions influence employee motivation.
Motivation consists of the forces within a person that affect his or her direction, intensity, and persistence of voluntary behaviour in the workplace. Drives (also called primary needs) are neural states that energize individuals to correct deficiencies or maintain an internal equilibrium. They gener- ate emotions, which put us in a state of readiness to act. Needs—goal-directed forces that people experience— are shaped by the individual’s self-concept (including personality and values), social norms, and past experience.
Summarize Maslow’s needs hierarchy, and discuss the employee motivation implications of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, learned needs theory, and four-drive theory
Maslow’s needs hierarchy groups needs into a hierarchy of five levels and states that the low- est needs are initially most important but higher needs become more important as the lower ones are satisfied. Although very popular, the theory lacks research support because it wrongly assumes that everyone has the same hierarchy. The emerging evidence suggests that needs hierarchies vary from one person to the next according to their personal values. Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation controlled by the individual and experienced from the activity itself, whereas extrinsic motivation occurs when people are motivated to receive something that is beyond their personal control for instrumental reasons. Intrinsic motivation is anchored in the innate drives for competence and auton- omy. Some research suggests that extrinsic motivators may reduce existing intrinsic motivation to some extent and under some conditions, but the effect is often minimal. McClelland’s learned needs theory argues that needs can be strengthened through learning. The three needs studied in this respect are need for achievement, need for power, and need for affiliation. Four-drive theory states that everyone has four innate drives—the drives to acquire, bond, comprehend, and defend. These drives activate emotions that people regulate through a skill set that considers social norms, past experience, and personal values. The main recommendation from four-drive theory is to ensure that individual jobs and workplaces provide a balanced opportunity to fulfil the four drives.
Discuss the expectancy theory model, including its practical implications.
Expectancy theory states that work effort is determined by the perception that effort will result in a particular level of performance (E-to-P expectancy), the perception that a specific behaviour or performance level will lead to specific outcomes (P-to-O expectancy), and the valences that the person feels for those outcomes. The E-to-P expectancy increases by improving the employee’s ability and confidence to perform the job. The P-to-O expectancy increases by measuring performance accurately, distributing higher rewards to better performers, and showing employees that rewards are performance-based. Outcome valences increase by finding out what employees want and using these resources as rewards.
Outline organizational behaviour modification (OB Mod) and social cognitive theory, and explain their relevance to employee motivation
Organizational behaviour modification takes the behaviourist view that the environment teaches people to alter their behaviour so they maximize positive consequences and minimize adverse consequences. Antecedents are environmental stimuli that provoke (not necessarily cause) behaviour. Consequences are events following behaviour that influence its future occurrence. Consequences include positive reinforcement, punish- ment, negative reinforcement, and extinction. The schedules of reinforcement also influence behaviour. Social cognitive theory states that much learning and motivation occurs by observing and modelling others as well as by anticipating the consequences of our behaviour. It suggests that people typically infer (rather than only directly experience) cause-effect relationships, anticipate the consequences of their actions, develop self-efficacy in performing behaviour, exercise personal control over their behaviour, and reflect on their direct experiences. The theory emphasizes self-regulation of individual behaviour, including self-reinforcement, which is the tendency of people to reward and punish themselves as a consequence of their actions.
Describe the characteristics of effective goal setting and feedback.
Goal setting is the process of motivating employees and clarifying their role perceptions by estab- lishing performance objectives. Goals are more effective when they are SMARTER (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-framed, exciting, and reviewed). Effective feedback is specific, relevant, timely, credible, and sufficiently frequent. Strengths-based coaching (also known as appreciative coaching) involves maximizing employee potential by focusing on employee strengths rather than weaknesses. Employees usually prefer nonsocial feedback sources to learn about their progress toward goal accomplishment
Summarize equity theory and describe ways to improve procedural justice
Organizational justice consists of distributive justice (perceived fairness in the outcomes we receive relative to our contributions and the outcomes and contributions of others) and procedural justice (fairness of the procedures used to decide the distribution of resources). Equity theory has four elements: outcome/ input ratio, comparison other, equity evaluation, and consequences of inequity. The theory also explains what people are motivated to do when they feel inequitably treated. Companies need to consider not only equity of the distribution of resources but also fairness in the process of making resource allocation decisions
