Motivation

1. Motivation 6

2. Learning Goals • What is motivation? • Expectancy theory: What three beliefs help determine work effort? • Goal setting theory: What two qualities make goals strong predictors of task performance? • Equity theory: What does it mean to be equitably treated, and how do employees respond to inequity?

3. Learning Goals, Cont’d • Psychological empowerment: What four beliefs determine empowerment levels? • How does motivation affect job performance and organizational commitment? • What steps can organizations take to increase employee motivation?

4. What is Motivation? Motivation • A set of energetic forces • Originates both within and outside an employee • Initiates work-related effort • Determines the direction, intensity, and persistence of effort • Motivation is a critical consideration because job performance often requires high levels of both ability and motivation. • Employees who are engaged completely invest themselves and their energies into their jobs.

5. Expectancy Theory Expectancy theorydescribes the cognitive process that employees go through to make choices among different voluntary responses. • Employee behavior is directed toward pleasure and away from pain or, more generally, toward certain, valued outcomes and away from others.

6. Figure 6-2 Expectancy Theory

7. Expectancy Theory, Cont’d Expectancyrepresents the belief that exerting a high level of effort will result in the successful performance of some task. • Expectancy is a subjective probability, ranging from 0 to 1, that a specific amount of effort will result in a specific level of performance (abbreviated E → P). • Self-efficacyis the belief that a person has the capabilities needed to execute the behaviors required for task success. • Past accomplishments, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, emotional cues

8. Expectancy Theory, Cont’d Instrumentalityrepresents the belief that successful performance will result in some outcome(s). • Instrumentality is a set of subjective probabilities, each ranging from 0 to 1 that successful performance will bring a set of outcomes (abbreviated P → O). Valencereflects the anticipated value of the outcomes associated with performance (abbreviated V). • Can be positive, negative, or zero

9. Expectancy Theory, Cont’d • Extrinsic motivationis motivation that is controlled by some contingency that depends on task performance. • Intrinsic motivationis motivation that is felt when task performance serves as its own reward.

10. Table 6-2 Extrinsic and Intrinsic Outcomes

11. Expectancy Theory, Cont’d • Total “motivational force” to perform a given action can be described using the following formula: Motivational Force = E  P x Σ[(P  O) x V] • The Σ symbol in the equation signifies that instrumentalities and valences are judged with various outcomes in mind. • Motivational force equals zero if any one of the three beliefs is zero.

12. Goal Setting Theory • Goal setting theoryviews goals as the primary drivers of the intensity and persistence of effort. • Assigning employees specific and difficult goalswill result in higher levels of performance.

13. Figure 6-4 Goal Difficulty and Task Performance

14. Goal Setting Theory, Cont’d Why do specific and difficult goals have such positive effects? • Shape people’s own self-set goals— the internalized goals that people use to monitor their own task progress • Trigger the creation of task strategies used to achieve successful performance

15. Goal Setting Theory, Cont’d Moderators of goals’ effects on task performance • Feedback • Task complexity • How complicated the information and actions involved in a task are • How much the task changes • Goal commitment • Degree to which a person accepts a goal • How determined a person is to try to reach it.

16. Table 6-4 Strategies for Fostering Goal Commitment

17. Figure 6-5 Goal Setting Theory

18. Equity Theory Motivation doesn’t just depend on your own beliefs and circumstances, but also on what happens to other people. • Employees create a “mental ledger” of the outcomes (or rewards) they get from their job duties.

19. Equity Theory, Cont’d • You compare your ratio of outcomes and inputs to the ratio of some comparison other • “Cognitive calculus” • Ratio of outcomes to inputs is balanced between you and your comparison other. My Outcomes Other’s Outcomes vs. My inputs Other’s Inputs

20. Equity Theory, Cont’d “Cognitive calculus,” cont’d • Your ratio of outcomes to inputs is less than your comparison other’s ratio • Any imbalance in ratios triggers equity distress—an internal tension that can only be alleviated by restoring balance to the ratios • Your ratio of outcomes to inputs is greater than your comparison other’s ratio • Change your comparison other

21. Table 6-5 Some Outcomes and Inputs Considered by Equity Theory

22. Figure 6-6 Three Possible Outcomes of Equity Theory Comparisons

23. Psychological Empowerment An energy rooted in the belief that work tasks contribute to some larger purpose. • Meaningfulness - the value of a work goal or purpose, relative to a person’s own ideals and passions • Self-determination - choice in the initiation and continuation of work tasks • Competence - person’s belief in his or her capability to perform work tasks successfully. • Impact – the sense that a person’s actions make a difference

24. Figure 6-7 Why Are Some Employees More Motivated than Others?

25. How Important is Motivation? Strongest predictors of performance • Self-efficacy/self-confidence • Difficult goals • High levels of valence, instrumentality, and expectancy • Perceptions of equity

26. Application: Compensation Systems • Do the elements provide difficult and specific goals for channeling work effort? • Lump sum bonuses and gainsharing have been credited with improvements in employee productivity. • Look at the correspondence between individual performance levels and individual monetary outcomes. • Merit pay represents the most common element of organizational compensation plans.