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Process Perspective

Process Perspectives on Employee Motivation

  • process perspectives: concerned with the thought processes by which people decide how to act

    • how employees choose behavior to meet their needs

  • process theories:

    • equity or justice theory

    • expectancy theory

    • goal-setting theory

Equity/Justice Theory

  • equity theory: a model of motivation that explains how people drive for fairness and justice in social exchanges or give-and-take relationships

    • employees are motivated to seek fairness in the rewards they expect for task performance and are motivated to resolve feelings of injustice

      • based on cognitive dissonance

  • “equity” is not the same as “equality of outcome”

  • pioneered by psychologist J. Stacey Adams

Some Ways Employees Try To Reduce Inequality

  • they will reduce their inputs

    • they will do less work, take long breaks, etc.

  • they will try to change the outputs or rewards they receive

    • they will lobby the boss for a raise

  • they will distort the inequity

    • they will exaggerate how hard they work so they can complain they’re not paid what they’re worth

  • they will change the object of comparison

    • they may compare themselves with another person instead of the original one

  • they will leave the situation

    • they will quit, transfer, or shift to another reference group

The Elements of Justice Theory

  • equity theory later expanded into an area called organizational justice made up of 3 components:

    1. distributive justice - “How fairly are rewards being given out?”

    2. procedural justice - “How fair is the process for handing out rewards?”

    3. interactional justice - “How fairly am I being treated when rewards are given out?”

      1. requires managers to communicate truthfully and treat others with dignity and respect

  • organizational justice: concerned with the extent to which people perceive they are treated fairly at work

5 Practical Lessons From Equity and Justice Theories

  1. employee perceptions are what count

  2. employees want a voice in decisions that affect them

  3. employees should be given an appeals process

  4. leader behavior matters

  5. a climate for justice (fairness) makes a difference

Process Perspective

Process Perspectives on Employee Motivation

  • process perspectives: concerned with the thought processes by which people decide how to act

    • how employees choose behavior to meet their needs

  • process theories:

    • equity or justice theory

    • expectancy theory

    • goal-setting theory

Equity/Justice Theory

  • equity theory: a model of motivation that explains how people drive for fairness and justice in social exchanges or give-and-take relationships

    • employees are motivated to seek fairness in the rewards they expect for task performance and are motivated to resolve feelings of injustice

      • based on cognitive dissonance

  • “equity” is not the same as “equality of outcome”

  • pioneered by psychologist J. Stacey Adams

Some Ways Employees Try To Reduce Inequality

  • they will reduce their inputs

    • they will do less work, take long breaks, etc.

  • they will try to change the outputs or rewards they receive

    • they will lobby the boss for a raise

  • they will distort the inequity

    • they will exaggerate how hard they work so they can complain they’re not paid what they’re worth

  • they will change the object of comparison

    • they may compare themselves with another person instead of the original one

  • they will leave the situation

    • they will quit, transfer, or shift to another reference group

The Elements of Justice Theory

  • equity theory later expanded into an area called organizational justice made up of 3 components:

    1. distributive justice - “How fairly are rewards being given out?”

    2. procedural justice - “How fair is the process for handing out rewards?”

    3. interactional justice - “How fairly am I being treated when rewards are given out?”

      1. requires managers to communicate truthfully and treat others with dignity and respect

  • organizational justice: concerned with the extent to which people perceive they are treated fairly at work

5 Practical Lessons From Equity and Justice Theories

  1. employee perceptions are what count

  2. employees want a voice in decisions that affect them

  3. employees should be given an appeals process

  4. leader behavior matters

  5. a climate for justice (fairness) makes a difference

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