Chapter 9: Employee Motivation

EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION

the internal force that drives a worker to action as well as the external factors that encourage that action.

WORK MOTIVATION

the internal force that drives a worker to action as well as the external factors that encourage that action; ability and skill determine whether a worker can do the job, while motivation determines whether the worker will do it properly.

MEASURING MOTIVATION

motivation is difficult to measure directly, so behaviors that imply high levels of motivation are often used.

BEHAVIORS ASSOCIATED WITH MOTIVATION

high performance, exemplary attendance, organizational citizenship, and self-improvement efforts.

INCREASED WORKER MOTIVATION

generally associated with increased job performance.

IS AN EMPLOYEE PREDISPOSED TO BEING MOTIVATED?

Some employees come to most jobs with a tendency to be motivated, whereas others tend to be unmotivated.

FOUR INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES RELATED TO WORK MOTIVATION

personality, self-esteem, intrinsic motivation, and need for achievement.

PERSONALITY

individual differences that can influence work motivation.

FIVE MAIN PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS

openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and stability.

CONSCIENTIOUSNESS

the best personality predictor of work performance, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and academic performance.

STABILITY

associated with salary and setting high goals.

EXTRAVERSION

highly correlated with the number of promotions received.

SELF-ESTEEM

the extent to which a person views himself or herself as a valuable and worthy individual.

KORMAN’S CONSISTENCY THEORY

employees are motivated to perform at levels consistent with their levels of self-esteem.

HIGHER SELF-ESTEEM

associated with higher motivation and performance.

WAYS ORGANIZATIONS CAN INCREASE SELF-ESTEEM

self-esteem workshops, experience with success, and supervisor behavior.

SELF-ESTEEM WORKSHOPS

employees are given insights into their strengths; activities provide opportunities for learning, teamwork, success, and positive reinforcement; such programs can increase self-esteem and self-efficacy.

EXPERIENCE WITH SUCCESS

employees are given a task that is easy enough to almost certainly succeed; success is expected to increase self-esteem, performance, and further self-esteem.

SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY

the basis loosely underlying the experience-with-success approach.

GALATEA EFFECT

relationship between self-expectations and performance.

SUPERVISOR BEHAVIOR

supervisors can communicate confidence in an employee; if employees feel that managers have confidence in them, self-esteem and performance may increase.

PYGMALION EFFECT

increased performance resulting from others’ expectations of an individual.

INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

work motivation in the absence of external factors such as pay, promotion, and coworkers.

INTRINSICALLY MOTIVATED EMPLOYEES

perform well because they enjoy the actual tasks and enjoy the challenge of successfully completing the task.

EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION

motivation arising from external factors such as pay, coworkers, and opportunities for advancement.

INTRINSICALLY MOTIVATED PEOPLE

do not necessarily need external rewards such as pay or praise.

EXTERNAL REWARDS AND INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

research regarding whether external rewards reduce intrinsic motivation remains debated.

WORK PREFERENCE INVENTORY (WPI)

measures orientations toward intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

WPI – INTRINSIC

enjoyment and challenge.

WPI – EXTRINSIC

compensation and outward orientation.

NEEDS FOR ACHIEVEMENT AND POWER

McClelland’s theory proposes that employees differ in their need for achievement, affiliation, and power.

NEED FOR ACHIEVEMENT

desire to be successful.

STRONG ACHIEVEMENT NEED

motivated by challenging jobs over which they have some control.

MINIMAL ACHIEVEMENT NEED

more satisfied with jobs involving little challenge and a high probability of success.

NEED FOR AFFILIATION

desire to be around other people.

STRONG AFFILIATION NEED

motivated by jobs involving working with and helping others.

NEED FOR POWER

desire to be in control of other people.

STRONG POWER NEED

motivated by the desire to influence others.

ARE EMPLOYEES EFFECTIVELY INVOLVED IN SELF REGULATING BEHAVIOR?

employees monitor their own progress toward goals they set and adjust their behavior to reach those goals.

SELF-REGULATION

employees monitor their own progress toward goals they set and adjust their behavior to reach those goals.

EMPLOYEES MUST BE AWARE OF THEIR GOALS

employees need awareness of the goals they are trying to achieve.

MONITOR GOAL PROGRESS

employees monitor their progress toward their goals.

SET PRIORITIES

employees set priorities among competing goals.

ADJUST BEHAVIOR WHEN GOALS COMPETE

employees adjust their behavior when goals compete.

MULTIPLE AND COMPLEX GOALS

make self-regulation more difficult.

SUCCESS IN SELF-REGULATION

depends partly on the ability to select and set goals wisely, monitor goals, and adjust goals when necessary.

HAVE THE EMPLOYEES VALUES AND EXPECTATIONS BEEN MET?

motivation is influenced by the discrepancy between what employees want, value, and expect and what the job actually provides.

EMPLOYEE VALUES AND EXPECTATIONS

employees are more likely to be motivated when the job and organization are consistent with their values and expectations.

CHANGING EMPLOYEE VALUES

employee values can change over time, so motivation can also change.

JOB EXPECTATIONS

a discrepancy between what an employee expected a job to be like and the reality of the job can affect motivation and satisfaction.

UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

can result in employees becoming unmotivated when the expected conditions are not present.

JOB CHARACTERISTICS

certain characteristics of a job make the job more or less satisfying depending on the particular needs of the worker.

JOB CHARACTERISTICS THEORY

certain characteristics of a job make the job more or less satisfying depending on the particular needs of the worker.

HIGH MOTIVATING POTENTIAL SCORE

associated with higher employee satisfaction, higher performance, and lower absenteeism.

SKILL VARIETY

an important job characteristic involving the variety of skills used in a job.

TASK IDENTITY

an important job characteristic involving the extent to which an employee completes an identifiable piece of work.

TASK SIGNIFICANCE

an important job characteristic involving the importance of the job or its impact.

AUTONOMY

an important job characteristic involving control over how the job is performed.

JOB FEEDBACK

an important job characteristic involving information about job performance.

NEEDS, VALUES, AND WANTS

a discrepancy between an employee’s needs, values, and wants and what a job offers can lead to low motivation and satisfaction.

MASLOW'S NEEDS HIERARCHY

Maslow proposed five major types of needs; needs are hierarchical, with lower-level needs needing to be satisfied before an individual becomes concerned with the next level.

BIOLOGICAL NEEDS

basic survival needs such as food, air, water, and shelter.

WORKPLACE BIOLOGICAL NEEDS

income can satisfy basic biological needs.

SAFETY NEEDS

need for security, stability, and physical safety.

PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY/JOB SECURITY

employees may value job security even when another job offers higher pay.

SOCIAL NEEDS

need to interact with other people, develop friendships, and feel needed.

ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIAL NEEDS

organizations can satisfy social needs through opportunities for employees to socialize and work together.

EGO NEEDS

need for recognition and success.

WAYS TO SATISFY EGO NEEDS

praise, awards, promotions, salary increases, and publicity.

SELF-ACTUALIZATION NEEDS

need to realize one’s potential.

EMPLOYEE SELF-ACTUALIZATION

employees seek challenge, growth, and opportunities to reach their potential.

LACK OF NEW CHALLENGES

can result in dissatisfaction and reduced motivation.

EVALUATION OF MASLOW'S THEORY

Maslow’s theory has not been strongly supported by research.

CONCERNS WITH MASLOW'S THEORY

five levels may be too many; some people skip levels; satisfying one level does not necessarily make the next level most important.

USEFULNESS OF MASLOW'S THEORY

can still provide useful guidelines for organizations.

MASLOW'S THEORY APPLICATION

recognition, enrichment, and a safe workplace can increase employee motivation.

IDENTIFYING EMPLOYEE NEEDS

the organization should identify which needs are most important to employees rather than assuming everyone is at the same level.

ERG THEORY

developed by Alderfer because of technical problems with Maslow’s hierarchy.

ERG THEORY LEVELS

existence, relatedness, and growth.

EXISTENCE

a level in ERG theory.

RELATEDNESS

a level in ERG theory.

GROWTH

a level in ERG theory.

ERG THEORY FLEXIBILITY

unlike Maslow’s theory, a person can skip levels.

FRUSTRATION-REGRESSION

if advancement to a higher level is blocked, employees may become frustrated and place more importance on a previous level.

ERG THEORY AND HIERARCHY

ERG theory allows more flexibility than Maslow’s strict hierarchy.

TWO FACTOR THEORY

developed by Herzberg; job-related factors are divided into hygiene factors and motivators.

HYGIENE FACTORS

job-related elements that result from, but do not involve, the job itself.

PAY AS A HYGIENE FACTOR

pay is a job-related element that results from, but does not involve, the job itself.

BENEFITS AS A HYGIENE FACTOR

benefits are job-related elements that result from, but do not involve, the job itself.

RELATIONSHIPS WITH COWORKERS AS A HYGIENE FACTOR

relationships with coworkers are job-related elements that result from, but do not involve, the job itself.

HYGIENE FACTORS AND SATISFACTION

necessary but not sufficient for job satisfaction and motivation.

POOR HYGIENE FACTORS

can cause dissatisfaction and reduced motivation.

MOTIVATORS

job elements that concern the actual tasks and duties.

RESPONSIBILITY AS A MOTIVATOR

responsibility is a job element that concerns the actual tasks and duties.

JOB CONTROL AS A MOTIVATOR

job control is a job element that concerns the actual tasks and duties.

INTEREST IN THE WORK AS A MOTIVATOR

interest in the work is a job element that concerns the actual tasks and duties.

MOTIVATORS AND SATISFACTION

motivation and satisfaction require the presence of motivators and adequate hygiene factors.

EVALUATION OF TWO FACTOR THEORY

Herzberg’s theory makes intuitive sense but has not received strong research support.

DO EMPLOYEES HAVE ACHIEVABLE GOALS?

goal setting is a method of increasing performance by giving employees specific performance goals to aim for.

GOAL SETTING

method of increasing performance by giving employees specific performance goals to aim for.