Organizational behaviour - Chapter 4: Theories of motivation

Motivation

The process that accounts for one’s intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward reaching a goal.

Theory X

Suggests that employees dislike work, will attempt to avoid it, and must be coerced, controlled, or threatened with punishment to achieve goals.

Theory Y

Suggests that employees like work, are creative, seek responsibility, and will exercise self-direction and self -control if they are committed to the objectives6

Intrinsic motivators

Come from a person's internal desire to do something; ties into theory Y

E.g interest, challenge, and personal satisfaction

Extrinsic motivators

Things that come from outside the person; ties into theory X

E.g. pay, bonuses, and other tangible rewards.

Needs theories

Describe the types of needs that must be met to motivate individuals

Process theories

Helps us understand the actual ways in which we and others can be motivated

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs

• Physiological. Includes hunger, thirst, shelter, and other bodily needs.

• Safety. Includes security and protection from physical and emotional harm.

• Social. Includes affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship.

• Esteem. Includes internal esteem factors such as self-respect, autonomy, and achievement; and external esteem factors such as status, recognition, and attention.

• Self-actualization. Includes growth, achieving one's potential, and self-fulfillment.

Lower-order needs

Needs that get satisfied externally

e.g. Physiological and safety needs

Self-actualization

The drive to become what one’s capable of becoming

Two-factor theory (motivation-hygiene theory)

Relates intrinsic factors to job satisfaction and associates extrinsic factors with dissatisfaction

Hygiene factors

Factors like company policy, supervision, salary, etc, which when adequate lead to neither satisfaction nor dissatisfaction

McClelland’s theory of needs

A theory stating achievement, power, and affiliation are the three important needs that help explain motivation

Need for achievement (nAch)

The drive to excel/achieve in relation to a set of standards and striving to succeed

Need for power (nPow)

The need to make other behave in a way they otherwise wouldn't

Need for affiliation (nAff)

The desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships

What’s the relationship between needs and motivation?

If people have an unfulfilled need, they’ll be motivated to fill it

Expectancy theory

An idea that people act based on their evaluation of whether their effort will lead to good performance, and if it’ll be followed by a given outcome that’s attractive

Expectancy

The belief that effort is related to performance

Instrumentality

The belief that performance is related to rewards

e.g. If I do a good job on this report, will I be promoted?

Valence

The value/importance one places on a reward

e.g. One works hard in hopes of a promotion, but gets a pay raise instead

Goal-setting theory

An idea saying specific and difficult goals (with feedback) lead to higher performance

Goal-setting theory (con’t)

Goals should follow the SMART format

What do goals tell an employee?

Goals tell an employee what needs to be done

Management by Objective (MBO)

A goal-setting approach where specific and measurable goals are jointly set by employees and managers, and said progress is periodically reviewed with rewards being appropriately given

How does goal setting motivate?

Goal setting can:

• Direct attention to where individuals should focus their efforts

• Regulate effort (i.e. focusing on what’s more important to you)

• Increase persistance

• Encourage the development of strategies and action plans

Promotion focus

A self-regulation strategy involving striving for goals via advancement and accomplishment

Prevention focus

A self-regulation strategy involving striving for goals through fulfilling duties and obligations

Self-efficacy theory/social cognitive theory

One’s belief in their abilities to perform a task influences their behaviour

Enactive mastery

Gaining relevant experience with the task or job. If you have been able to do the job successfully in the past, then you are more confident that you will be able to do it in the future.

Vicarious modelling

Becoming more confident because you see someone else doing the task;  is most effective when you see yourself as similar to the person you are observing.

Verbal persuasion

Becoming more confident because someone convinces you that you have the skills necessary to be successful. Motivational speakers use this tactic.

Arousal

An energized state, so the person gets "psyched up” and performs better. If

Arousal (con’t)

If the task is something that requires a steady, lower-key perspective (e.g., carefully editing a manuscript), arousal may, in fact, hurt performance even as it increases self-efficacy because we might hurry through the task.

Reinforcement theory

A theory stating that behaviour is a function of its consequences

Operant conditioning theory

Argues that people learn to behave to get something they want or to avoid something they don't want. 

Behaviourism

A theory that argues that behaviour follows stimuli in a relatively unthinking manner

Continuous reinforcement

Desired behaviour is reinforced every time it’s demonstrated

Intermittent reinforcement

When a desired behaviour is reinforced enough to make it worth repeating, but isn’t rewarded every time

Equity theory

When one compares their job inputs and outcomes with those of others, and then responds to get rid of questions

The 4 comparisons an employee can use

•Self-inside. An employee's experiences in a different position inside his or her

current organization.

• Self-outside. An employee's experiences in a situation or position outside his or

her current organization.

• Other-inside. Another individual or group of individuals inside the employee's

organization.

• Other-outside. Another individual or group of individuals outside the employee's organization.

What might people do if they feel like they’re being treated unequally?

• Change their inputs (exert less effort if underpaid, or more if overpaid).

• Change their outcomes (individuals paid on a piece-rate basis can increase theirpay by producing a higher quantity of units of lower quality).

• Adjust perceptions of self ("I used to think I worked at a moderate pace, but now I realize I work a lot harder than everyone else.")

What might people do if they feel like they’re being treated unequally? (con’t)

• Adjust perceptions of others ("Mike's job isn't as desirable as I thought.")

• Choose a. different referent ("I may not make as much as my brother-in-law, but I'm doing a lot better than my Dad did when he was my age.")

• Leave the field (quit the job).

Organizational justice

A general perception of what’s fair in the workplace

e.g. interpersonal, informational, distributive procedural justice

Distributive justice

A concern with the fairness of the outcomes, such as pay and recognition, that employees receive.

Procedural justice

Looks at how outcomes are allocated and what makes them fair, as well as the process used to figure out the distribution of rewards

e.g. Having a say in decisions, knowing the criteria for promotions

Informational justice

The degree to which employees are given honest explanations for decisions; the clearer the explanations the better

Interpersonal justice

The degree to which employees are treated with respect and dignity

Self-determination theory

When people prefer to have control over their actions, so anything that makes a previously enjoyed task feel more like an obligation rather than a freely chosen activity will undermine motivation

Cognitive evaluation theory

Theorizes that extrinsic rewards will reduce intrinsic interest in a task

e.g. When people are paid for work, it feels less like something they want to do and more like something they have to do.

Self-concordance

Considers how strongly people's reasons for pursuing goals are consistent with their interests and core values

Ways of increasing intrinsic motivation

• Sense of clwice. The opportunity to select what one will do and perform the way one thinks best. Individuals can use their own judgment to carry out the task.

• Sense of competence. The feeling of accomplishment for doing a good job. Individuals are more likely to feel a sense of accomplishment when they carry out challenging tasks.

• Sense of meaningfulness. The opportunity to pursue worthwhile tasks. Individuals feel good about what they are doing and believe that what they are doing matters.

• Sense of progress. The feeling of accomplishment that one is making progress on a task, and that it is moving forward. Individuals feel that they are spending their time wisely in doing their jobs.

What can be done to increase intrinsic rewards for employees?

• Leading for clwice. Empowering employees and delegating tasks.

• Leading for competence. Supporting and coaching employees.

• Leading for meaningfulness. Inspiring employees and modelling desired

behaviours.

• Leading for progress. Monitoring and rewarding employees.

Job engagement

How invested someone is in their job in terms of their emotional, physical, and cognitive energy

Recognizing individual differences

Employees have different needs and shouldn’t be treated alike; managers should spend time to understand what is important to each employee and then align goals, level of involvement, and rewards with individual needs

Using goals and feedback

Employees should have challenging, specific goals, as well as feedback on how well they are doing in pursuit of those goals.

Checking for equality

Employees should be able to perceive rewards as equating with the inputs they bring to the job

i.e. experience, skills, abilities, effort, and other obvious inputs should explain differences in performance and, hence, pay, job assignments, and other obvious rewards.

Other ways to motivate employees

• Let employees have a say in decisions that affect them

• Be sure to reward desired performance when giving out rewards