Motivation: Theories and Application

1. Tuesday June 1st, 2010 Motivation: Theories and Application Chapter 5 & 6

2. What is Motivation? • The processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal. • Intensity – how hard a person tries • Direction – one that benefits the organization • Persistence – how long the effort is maintained

3. Early Theories of Motivation • Early motivation theories are important for two reasons: • They represent a foundation from which contemporary theories have grown, • Practicing managers still regularly use these theories and their terminology in explaining employee motivation. • However, Early theories have not been backed up by empirical research.

4. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory

5. Theory X Inherent dislike for work and will attempt to avoid it Must be coerced, controlled or threatened with punishment Will avoid responsibilities and seek formal direction Place security above all factors and will display little ambition Theory Y View work as being as natural as rest or play Will exercise self-direction and self-control if committed to objectives Can learn to accept, even seek, responsibility Can make innovative decisions on their own Theory X and Theory Y

6. Theory X and Y Cont. • This theory led to the suggestion that programs such as participative decision making, responsibility and challenging jobs, and good group relations could help maximize an employee's job motivation. • No evidence suggests that • Either set of assumptions are valid • Accepting the assumptions and modifying managerial style improves employee motivation

7. Hygiene factors affectjob dissatisfaction Motivator factors affectjob satisfaction • Quality of supervision • Pay • Company policies • Physical working conditions • Relations with others • Job security • Promotional opportunities • Opportunities for personal growth • Recognition • Responsibility • Achievement High Job Dissatisfaction 0 Job Satisfaction High Two-Factor Theory

8. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory • Managers who seek to eliminate factors that can create job dissatisfaction may bring about peace but not necessarily motivation. • If a manager wants to motivate people on their jobs, he should emphasize factors associated with the work itself or to outcomes directly derived from it.

9. McClelland's Theory of Needs • Need for achievement (nAch) - drive to excel • Need for power (nPow) - the need to make others behave in a way they would not have behaved otherwise • Need for affiliation (nAff) - the desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships

10. McClelland's Theory of Needs • High achievers prefer jobs with personal responsibility, feedback, and intermediate degree of risk. • High achievers are not necessarily good managers. • Affiliation and power closely related to managerial success • Employees can be trained to stimulate their achievement need.

11. Cognitive Evaluation Theory • Proposes that the introduction of extrinsic rewards for work that was previously intrinsically rewarding tends to decrease overall motivation • Verbal rewards increase intrinsic motivation, while tangible rewards undermine it • Implication: Managers need to provide both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to keep employees motivated.

12. Goal-Setting Theory • Specific goals lead to increased performance. • Difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher output than easy goals. • Self-generated feedback is a more powerful motivator than externally generated feedback. • Influences on goal-performance relationship: • Commitment • Task characteristics • National culture

13. Self-Efficacy Theory • Refers to an individual’s belief that they are capable of performing a task • Ways self-efficacy can be increased: • Enactive mastery – gain experience • Vicarious modeling – see someone else do the task • Verbal persuasion – someone convinces you that you have the skills • Arousal – get energized

14. Equity Theory • Employees weigh what they put into a job situation (input) against what they get from it (outcome). • Then they compare their input-outcome ratio with the input-outcome ratio of relevant others.

15. Equity Theory

16. Equity Cont. • Type of referents • Self inside Self outside • Other inside Other outside • Moderators • Gender • Length of tenure • Level in the organization • Amount of education

17. Choices when perceived inequity • Change their inputs • Change their outcomes • Distort perceptions of self • Distort perceptions of others • Choose a different referent • Leave the field

18. Expectancy Theory

19. The Job Characteristics Model • Proposes that any job can be described in terms of five core job dimensions: • Skill variety • Task identity • Task significance • Autonomy • Feedback

20. The Job Characteristics Model

21. How can jobs be Redesigned? • Job Rotation or Cross-training – the periodic shifting of an employee from one task to another • Job Enlargement – increasing the number and variety of tasks • Job Enrichment – increasing the degree to which the worker controls the planning, execution and evaluation of the work

22. Alternate Work Arrangements • Flextime – allows some discretion over when worker starts and leaves • Job Sharing – two or more individuals split a traditional job • Telecommuting – work remotely at least two days per week

23. Employee Involvement Programs • A participative process that uses the input of employees to increase their commitment to the organization’s success • Two types: • Participative Management – subordinates share a significant degree of decision-making power with their immediate superiors • Representative Participation – workers are represented by a small group of employees who participate in decisions affecting personnel

24. Rewarding Employees • Major strategic rewards decisions: • What to pay employees • How to pay individual employees • What benefits to offer • How to construct employee recognition programs

25. What to pay • Need to establish a pay structure • Balance between: • Internal equity – the worth of the job to the organization • External equity – the external competitiveness of an organization’s pay relative to pay elsewhere in its industry • A strategic decision with trade-offs

26. How to pay: Variable-Pay Programs • Bases a portion of the pay on some individual and/or organizational measure of performance • Piece-Rate Pay – workers are paid a fixed sum for each unit of production completed • Merit-Based Pay – pay is based on individual performance appraisal ratings • Bonuses – rewards employees for recent performance

27. Problems with Merit Pay Plans • Performance Appraisal is not a perfect process • Merit pay pool can fluctuate based on economic trends • Resistance from unions and others

28. Variable Pay Programs (cont.) • Profit-Sharing Plans – organization-wide programs that distribute compensation based on an established formula designed around profitability • Gain Sharing – compensation based on sharing of gains from improved productivity • Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) – plans in which employees acquire stock, often at below-market prices

29. How to pay: Skill-Based Pay Plans • Pay is based on skills acquired instead of job title or rank • Advantage: Flexibility • Disadvantages: • Employees top out • Skills become obsolete • May be no current need for certain skills • Doesn’t address the level of performance, only ability to perform skill

30. Flexible Benefits • Allows each employee to put together a benefit package tailored to their own needs and situation • Modular plans – predesigned packages to meet the needs of a specific group • Core-plus plans – core of essential benefits and menu of options to choose from • Flexible spending plans – full choice from menu of options

31. Employee Recognition Programs • Are in addition to extrinsic compensation systems • Are intrinsic rewards • Can be as simple as a spontaneous comment • Can be formalized in a program • Recognition is the most powerful workplace motivator