3.2. Work Motivation

Key Concepts

Motivation (Pinder, 2008) is defined as a set of energetic forces that originate both within as well as beyond an individual’s being, to initiate work-related behavior and to determine its form, direction, intensity, and duration.

Intensity: How hard someone works on a task.
Direction: Where their effort is focused.
Persistence: How long they keep trying to achieve the task.
These elements are important for ensuring employees stay motivated and perform well (Rothman & Cooper, 2015).

Many theories explain how motivation develops.
Older theories (not discussed here): Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Herzberg's two-factor theory, Theory X and Y.
The Job Characteristics Model (Hackman & Oldham, 1976) links motivation to five key job characteristics (like skill variety and feedback) but is not explored in these notes.
This material focuses on two selected theories, with a broader overview available from Latham and Pinder (2005):
- Goal-setting theory (Locke & Latham, 1990).
- Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000).

Core idea: Specific and challenging goals lead to better performance than vague or easy goals.
A goal is a clear aim, like achieving a specific level of performance in a set time.
How goals impact performance (four mechanisms):
1. Direction: Goals guide actions.
2. Effort: Goals motivate more effort.
3. Persistence: Goals help people keep going.
4. Task strategies: Goals help people use the right strategies and knowledge.
Research support:
- A meta-analysis by Zetik and Stuhlmacher (2002) showed that specific, challenging goals led to better results in negotiations than less challenging goals.
Note: In these notes, older and related models such as general motivation views (e.g., Maslow, Herzberg) are not the focus; the emphasis is on goal-setting with empirical backing.

Core idea: Intrinsic motivation (doing something for its own sake) arises when three basic psychological needs are satisfied:
- Need for competence: Wanting to feel effective and successful in achieving goals.
- Need for relatedness: Desiring connection and positive relationships with others.
- Need for autonomy: Wanting to control one’s actions and align them with personal values and goals.
When these needs are met, it leads to varying forms of motivation along a continuum from controlled to autonomous to intrinsic:
- Non-regulation (Amotivation): No motivation to act because the action feels pointless or lacks the ability to succeed.
- External regulation (Controlled extrinsic motivation): Action is driven by external pressures like rewards or punishments.
- Introjected regulation (Controlled extrinsic motivation): Action is driven by internal pressures, like self-esteem or guilt, even if no external force is involved.
- Identified regulation (Autonomous extrinsic motivation): Action is based on personal value or choice, but not fully identified with it.
- Integrated regulation (Autonomous extrinsic motivation): The action aligns with personal values and is seen as part of who you are.
- Intrinsic regulation (Intrinsic motivation): Action is driven by enjoyment or interest in the activity itself, with no external rewards needed.

From a practical perspective, key recommendations based on motivation theories:
- Personal motives and values: Ensure that employees' personal values align with the job by providing a clear view of the job during the hiring process.
- Goal setting: Involve employees in setting specific, challenging goals and provide feedback on their progress.
- Facilitating performance: Managers should help employees achieve goals by providing necessary resources and support.
- Using rewards and discipline appropriately: Rewards should always be tied to performance, and discipline should be used to reduce unwanted behavior, while rewards increase desirable behavior.

Motivation is multi-faceted, combining internal drives and external factors.
Specific, challenging goals can enhance performance across contexts, partly by aligning direction, effort, persistence, and strategies.
Autonomy-supportive environments that satisfy competence, relatedness, and autonomy can foster deeper, more sustainable motivation, including intrinsic motivation.
Practical HR practices (hiring alignment, participative goal setting, resource provision, and disciplined yet fair reward systems) can translate theory into improved performance and engagement.

Conceptual model of performance influenced by goal-setting:
\text{Performance} = f(\text{Direction}, \text{Effort}, \text{Persistence}, \text{Task strategies})
This expresses that performance depends on the chosen direction of effort, the amount of effort, how long perseverance is maintained, and the strategies used to accomplish the task.

Links between motivation elements and day-to-day work: clearly defined goals can shape what employees focus on and how they approach tasks.
SDT provides a framework for designing work that supports autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which is associated with higher engagement and well-being.
The evidence base (e.g., Zetik & Stuhlmacher, 2002) supports applying specific, challenging goals in negotiations and similar tasks to improve outcomes.

Balancing goal difficulty with fairness: Goals should be challenging but achievable to avoid demotivation or unethical behavior.
Reward systems should be tied to performance to avoid unintended behavior and ensure equity across employees.
Hiring practices should transparently convey job expectations to align personal values with organizational roles.
Autonomy-supportive leadership may improve intrinsic motivation but requires responsible management of resources and expectations.