Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Foundations of Employee Motivation

Employee Motivation

• Definition: The forces within a person that impact the direction, intensity, and persistence of voluntary behavior.

  • Direction: The goal or outcome toward which people steer their efforts.

  • Intensity: The amount of physical, cognitive, and emotional energy expended at a given moment.

  • Persistence: The duration for which people sustain their efforts.

Employee Drives and Needs

Human Drives

• Definition: Innate brain activities that produce emotions motivating us to correct deficiencies or maintain equilibrium.

• Universality: Everyone possesses the same drives, though there is no definitive consensus on the specifics.

• Role of Emotions: These emotions can energize individuals and put them in a state of motivation.

Human Needs

• Definition: Goal-directed forces that individuals experience with energy from emotions directed toward specific goals.

• Influences: The self-concept, social norms, and personal experiences help shape individual goals and differences in needs.

Four Drive Theory

• Drive to Acquire: The desire to seek, acquire, control, and retain objects or experiences.

• Drive to Bond: The need to form social relationships and develop caring commitments.

• Drive to Comprehend: The urge to satisfy curiosity and understand the self and the environment.

• Drive to Defend: The need to protect oneself physically and socially.

• Source: Based on Lawrence and Nohria's research (2002).

How Drives Motivate Behaviour

1. Drives tag specific emotions to incoming sensory information.

2. These emotions lead to a state of readiness (motivation) that becomes needs when conscious.

3. A mental skill set directs this motivation into goal-directed efforts.

Practical Implications of Four Drive Theory

• Effective workplaces help employees fulfill all four drives, maintaining balance:

  • Drive to bond counterbalances the drive to acquire.

  • Drive to comprehend counterbalances the drive to defend.

Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy Theory

• Framework: Primary needs are categorized into seven categories, with five forming a hierarchy.

• Dynamics: The lowest unmet need is the strongest motivator until satisfied.

• Self-Actualization: This need continuously develops and is only temporarily satisfied.

• Critique: Lacks empirical support and shows variability across individuals and time.

• Emphasis: Provides a holistic, positive perspective on motivation.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

• Intrinsic Motivation: Occurs when individuals fulfill needs for competence and autonomy by engaging in the activity itself.

• Extrinsic Motivation: Occurs when individuals seek to engage in an activity for external rewards beyond their control.

• Effect on Motivation: Extrinsic motivators may reduce intrinsic motivation, though the effect is usually minimal.

ERG Theory of Motivation

• Introduced by Clayton Alderfer in 1969, it redefines Maslow's hierarchy to align with empirical findings.

• Argument: No specific order exists; individuals do not follow a strict hierarchy for pursuing needs.

David McClelland’s Learned Needs Theory

• Definition: Needs that are learned through self-concept, social norms, and past experiences.

• Elements:

  • Need for Achievement (nAch): Desire to accomplish goals, seek feedback, and take moderate risks.

  • Need for Affiliation (nAff): Instinct to seek approval and avoid conflict.

  • Need for Power (nPow): Desire to gain power for personal or social purposes.

Vroom’s Expectancy Theory of Motivation

Increasing Expectations

• E-to-P Expectancies: Hire/train staff to align job duties with skills, provide necessary resources, and offer coaching to build self-efficacy.

• P-to-O Expectancies: Accurately measure performance, clarify reward-performance linkages, and showcase examples of rewarded peers.

• Outcome Valences: Ensure rewards are valued, individualized, and minimize countervalent outcomes.

A-B-Cs of Behaviour Modification

• Antecedents: What happens before behavior occurs.

  • Example: Checking phone for a message.

• Behaviour: The actions or words of a person.

• Consequences: What happens after behavior.

  • Example: Receiving a useful message.

Reinforcement Contingencies and Schedules

• Contingencies of Reinforcement: Includes positive reinforcement, punishment, extinction, and negative reinforcement.

• Schedules of Reinforcement:

  • Continuous reinforcement: Every time a behavior occurs.

  • Variable ratio: Reinforcement delivered after varying amounts of responses.

Social Cognitive Theory

• Learning through observation of behavioral consequences.

  • Anticipate consequences and model observed behaviors.

• Self-Regulation: Involves setting goals, anticipating consequences, and self-reinforcement.

Effective Goal Setting Features

• Specific: Clear details about the task.

• Measurable: Criteria for assessing progress.

• Achievable: Challenge accepted by the employee.

• Relevant: Within the employee’s control.

• Time-Framed: Established deadlines.

• Exciting: Aims for commitment beyond mere compliance.

• Reviewed: Incorporates regular feedback and recognition.

Characteristics of Effective Feedback

• Specific: Clear behaviors or outcomes identified.

• Relevant: Behavior within employee's control.

• Timely: Delivered as soon as possible.

• Credible: From a reliable source.

• Sufficiently Frequent: Frequency adjusted based on learning stage or task cycle.

Strengths-Based Coaching

• Focuses on employee strengths rather than weaknesses.

• Process:

  • Employee identifies strengths.

  • Coach aids in leveraging strengths.

  • Discuss barriers and solutions.

• Motivation arises from feedback about strengths rather than flaws.

Sources of Feedback

• Nonsocial Sources: Feedback not provided directly by people (e.g., electronic displays).

• Social Sources: Feedback from individuals such as managers and co-workers.

• Preferred Source: Use nonsocial feedback for progress and social sources for positive reinforcement.

Organizational Justice

• Definition: The perception of appropriate rules being applied.

  • Types:

    1. Distributive Justice: Perceived fairness in outcomes.

    2. Procedural Justice: Fairness in processes and procedures.

    3. Interactional Justice: Treatment and explanation fairness.

Adam’s Equity Theory Model

• Developed by John Stacey Adams in 1963.

• Base Principle: Individuals are motivated by fairness; perceived inequity prompts behavior adjustments.

• Example: An employee may reduce their work output if they perceive unfair wage discrepancies.

How Inequity Motivates Behaviour

• Inequity Tension: Negative emotions arising from perceived inequity.

• Actions to reduce inequity include:

  1. Lessening inputs.

  2. Increasing outcomes.

  3. Altering perceptions.

  4. Changing comparison partners.

  5. Leaving the field if necessary.

Procedural Justice Rules

• Key principles include self-interest-free decision-making, consideration of all information and affected interests, ethical compatibility, consistency in application, opportunity for employee input, and the ability to appeal decisions.

Interactional Justice Rules

• Critical elements include respectful treatment, thorough explanations, honest communication, and timely information delivery.