Chapter 16
Managing Employee Motivation and Performance
Process perspectives on motivation deal with how motivation occurs. Expectancy theory suggests that people are motivated to perform if they believe that their effort will result in high performance, that this performance will lead to rewards, and that the positive aspects of the outcomes outweigh the negative aspects. Equity theory is based on the premise that people are motivated to achieve and maintain social equity. Attribution theory is a new process theory.
The reinforcement perspective focuses on how motivation is maintained. Its basic assumption is that behavior that results in rewarding consequences is likely to be repeated, whereas behavior resulting in negative consequences is less likely to be repeated. Reinforcement contingencies can be arranged in the form of positive reinforcement, avoidance, punishment, and extinction, and they can be provided on fixed-interval, variable-interval, fixed-ratio, or variable-ratio schedules.
Two newly emerging approaches to employee motivation are goal-setting theory and the Japanese approach. Managers often adopt behavior modification, modified workweeks, work redesign, and participation programs to enhance motivation.
Organizational reward systems are the primary mechanisms managers have for managing motivation. Properly designed systems can improve attitudes, motivation, and behaviors.
Effective reward systems must provide sufficient rewards on an equitable basis at the individual level. Contemporary reward systems include merit systems and various kinds of incentive systems.Motivation The set of forces that cause people to behave in certain ways
Importance of Employee Motivation
Three things generally determine individual performance:
Motivation: the desire to do the job.
Ability: the capability to do the job
The work environment: the tools, materials, and information needed to do the job.
Historical Perspectives on motivation:
Motivation theory has evolved through three different eras:
The traditional approach,
The human relations approach, and
The human resource approach.
Content perspectives Approaches to motivation that try to answer the question "what factor or factors motivate people?"THE NEED HIERACHY APPPROACH
1. Mallow's hierarchy of needs Suggests that people must satisfy five groups of needs in order--physiological, security, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization
Physiological needs: things like food, sex, and air that represent basic issues of survival and biological function.
Satisfied by: wages, the work environment itself, which provides restrooms, comfortable temperatures, etc.
Security needs: for a secure physical and emotional environment: free from worry about money and job security, no layoffs, if illness no loose job. Etc.
Belongingness needs: relate to social processes. The need for love and affection. The need to be accepted by one peer.
Esteem needs: actually comprise two different set of needs: the need for a positive self-image and self-respect and the need for recognition and respect from others.
Self-actualization needs: realizing one's potential for continued growth and individual development.2. ERG theory of motivation Suggests that people's needs are grouped into three possibly overlapping categories--existence, relatedness, and growth
3. Two-factor theory of motivation Suggests that people's satisfaction and dissatisfaction are influenced by two independent sets of factors--motivation factors and hygiene factorsINDIVIDUAL Human Needs
1. Need for achievement The desire to accomplish a goal or task more effectively than in the past2. Need for affiliation The desire for human companionship and acceptance
3. Need for power The desire to be influential in a group and to control one's environment
Process Perspectives On Motivation:
Process perspectives Approaches to motivation that focus on why people choose certain behavioral options to fulfill their needs and how they evaluate their satisfaction after they have attained these goals1. Expectancy theory Suggests that motivation depends on two things--how much we want something and how likely we think we are to get it
Effort-to-performance expectancy The individual's perception of the probability that his or her effort will lead to high performance
Performance-to-outcome expectancy The individual's perception that her or his performance will lead to a specific outcome
Outcomes Consequences of behaviors in an organizational setting, usually rewards
Valence An index of how much an individual desires a particular outcome; it is the attractiveness of the outcome to the individual2. Equity theory Suggests that people are motivated to seek social equity in the rewards they receive for performance
Reinforcement perspective Approach to motivation that explains the role of rewards as they cause behavior to change or remain the same over timeKINDS Of Reinforcement in Organization
Positive reinforcement A method of strengthening behavior with rewards or positive outcomes after a desired behavior is performed
Avoidance Used to strengthen behavior by avoiding unpleasant consequences, which would result if the behavior were not performed
Punishment Used to weaken undesired behaviors by using negative outcomes or unpleasant consequences when the behavior is performed
Extinction Used to weaken undesired behaviors by simply ignoring or not reinforcing that behaviorPROVIDING REINFORCEMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS:
Fixed-interval schedules Provide reinforcement at fixed intervals of time, such as regular weekly paychecks
Variable-interval schedules Provide reinforcement at varying intervals of time, such as occasional visits by the supervisor
Fixed-ratio schedules Provide reinforcement after a fixed number of behaviors regardless of the time interval involved, such as a bonus for every fifth sale
Variable-ratio schedules Provide reinforcement after varying numbers of behaviors are performed, such as the use of complements by a supervisor on an irregular basisBehavior modification, or OB Mod Method for applying the basic elements of reinforcement theory in an organizational setting
Empowerment The process of enabling workers to set their own work goals, make decisions, and solve problems within their sphere of responsibility and authority
Participation The process of giving employees a voice in making decisions about their own work
Compressed work schedule Working a full forty-hour week in fewer than the traditional five days
Flexible work schedules, or flextime Allowing employees to select, within broad parameters, the hours they work
Job sharing When two part-time employees share one full-time job.
Telecommuting Allowing employees to spend part of their time working off-site, usually at home
Reward systems The formal and informal mechanisms by which employee performance is defined, evaluated, and rewarded
Merit system a reward system whereby people get different pay rises at the end of the year depending on their overall job performance
Incentive system A reward system whereby people get different pay amounts at each pay period in proportion to what they do
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