MGMT1011 OB

FOUNDATIONS OF EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION

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Learning objectives

Define employee engagement and motivation

Explain how human drives and emotions influence employee motivation.

Discuss the employee motivation implications of four-drive theory, Maslow’s

needs hierarchy, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and learned needs theory.

Discuss the expectancy theory model, including its practical implications.

Describe the characteristics of effective goal setting and feedback.

Summarise equity theory and describe ways to improve procedural justice.

Motivation

• The forces within a person

that affect the direction,
intensity and
persistence of voluntary
behaviour
• Essential driver of
individual behaviour and
performance
Employee engagement

AN INDIVIDUAL’S EMOTIONAL AND HIGH ABSORPTION IN THE WORK HIGH SELF-EFFICACY: BELIEVE
COGNITIVE (LOGICAL) YOU HAVE THE ABILITY, ROLE
MOTIVATION, PARTICULARLY A CLARITY AND RESOURCES
FOCUSED, INTENSE, PERSISTENT TO GET THE JOB DONE
AND PURPOSIVE EFFORT
TOWARDS WORK-RELATED
GOALS
Video: Employment Engagement

https://www.viddler.com/embed/f3aee887
Drives, needs and behaviour

Drives (primary needs):

• hardwired brain characteristics (neural states)

that energise individuals to maintain balance by
correcting deficiencies
• prime movers of behaviour by activating emotions

Needs:

• goal-directed forces that people experience

• drive-generated emotions directed towards goals
• goals formed by self-concept, social norms and
experience
Drives, needs and behaviour (cont.)
Four-drive theory of motivation
SOCIAL NORMS, PERSONAL VALUES AND EXPERIENCE TRANSFORM
DRIVE-BASED EMOTIONS INTO GOAL-DIRECTED CHOICE AND EFFORT
How drives influence motivation and behaviour

• Four drives determine which emotions are automatically tagged

to incoming information
• Drives generate independent and often competing emotions that
demand our attention
• Mental skill set relies on social norms, personal values and
experience to transform drive-based emotions into goal-directed
choice and effort

Practical implications of four-drive theory

• Create and maintain work content and contexts that help
employees to fulfil all drives: meaningful work, sufficient
rewards, social interaction
• Avoid too much or too little opportunity to fulfil each drive
Maslow’s needs hierarchy

• Motivation theory of needs arranged in

a hierarchy, whereby people are
motivated to fulfil a higher need as a
lower one becomes gratified

• Seven categories— five in a hierarchy

— capture most needs

• Lowest unmet need is strongest. When

satisfied, next higher need becomes
primary motivator

• Self-actualisation: a growth need

because people desire more rather
than less of it when satisfied
Maslow’s contribution to motivation
theories
• Holistic perspective:
― integrative view of needs
• Humanistic perspective:
― influence of social dynamics, not just instinct
• Positive perspective:
― pay attention to strengths (growth needs), not
just deficiencies
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation occurs when people seek need

fulfilment from doing the activity itself, not as a
means to some other outcome

Extrinsic motivation occurs when people are

motivated to receive something that is beyond their
personal control for instrumental reasons

Extrinsic motivators may reduce existing intrinsic

motivation, but the effect is minimal
Learned needs theory
• Needs are amplified or
suppressed through self-
concept, social norms and past
experience
• Therefore, needs can be
‘learned’:
― strengthened through
reinforcement, learning and
social conditions
• Weakened when conditions are
absent
Three learned needs
• Need for achievement (nAch):
― need to reach goals, take
responsibility
― want reasonably challenging goals
• Need for affiliation (nAff):
― desire to seek approval, conform to
others’ wishes, avoid conflict
― effective executives have lower need
for social approval
• Need for power (nPow):
― desire to control one’s environment
― personalised vs socialised power
Expectancy theory of motivation
A motivation theory based on the idea that work
effort is directed towards behaviours that people
believe will lead to desired outcomes
Applying expectancy theory

- develop employee competencies

- match employee competencies to
Increasing E-to-P jobs
expectancies: - provide role clarity and sufficient
resources
- provide behavioural modelling

- measure performance accurately

Increasing P-to-O - increase rewards with desired
outcomes
expectancies: - explain how rewards are linked to
performance
Increasing outcome valences

Anticipated satisfaction or
dissatisfaction that an Ensure that rewards are
individual valued
feels towards an outcome

Minimise countervalent
Individualise rewards
outcomes
Goal setting and feedback

• The process of motivating

employees and clarifying their
role perceptions by
establishing performance
objectives
• Amplifies the intensity and
persistence of effort
• Provides clearer role
perceptions leading to
improved work performance
Video: Goal setting

https://www.viddler.com/embed/9842378c
Goal-setting characteristics
Specific: what, how, where, when and with whom the
task needs to be accomplished

Measurable: how much, how well, at what cost

Achievable: challenging, yet accepted (E-to-P)

Relevant: within employee’s control

Time-framed: due date and when assessed

Exciting: employee commitment, not just compliance

Reviewed: feedback and recognition on goal progress

and accomplishment
Evaluating goal setting
• Goal setting:
― focuses employees on narrow
subset of performance
indicators
― sets easy goals for financial
rewards
― interferes with learning
process in new complex jobs
Organisational justice
Distributive justice:
perceived fairness in outcomes we
receive relative to our contributions
and the outcomes and contributions of
others
Procedural justice:
perceived fairness of the procedures
used to decide the distribution of
resources:
• the equality principle
• the need principle
• the equity principle
Equity theory

Based on organisational justice Explains how people develop We compare our outcome/input
perceptions of fairness in the ratio with that of a comparison
distribution and exchange other
of resources
Elements of equity theory

• Outcome/input ratio:
― inputs: what employee contributes (e.g. skill)
― outcomes: what employee receives (e.g. pay)
• Equity sensitivity
• Individual differences = equity sensitivity:
― how strongly people feel about outcome/input
ratios with regard to others
― not easily identifiable
• Equity evaluation:
― compare outcome or input ratio with the
comparison other
Equity theory model
Inequity and employee motivation
Correcting inequity tension

Actions to correct
Example
under-reward inequity
Reduce our inputs Less organisational citizenship
Increase our outcomes Ask for pay increase
Increase other’s inputs Ask co-worker to work harder
Ask boss to stop giving preferred treatment
Reduce other’s outputs
to co-worker
Start thinking that co-worker’s perks aren’t
Change our perceptions
really so valuable
Compare self to someone closer to your
Change comparison other
situation
Leave the field Quit job
Procedure justice

Perceived fairness of procedures used

to decide the distribution of resources

Greater procedural fairness when:

decision existing decision those who those who
maker decision policies maker has complain are complain are
employee based on all
given ‘voice’ perceived to applied listened to all treated given full
be unbiased information consistently sides respectfully explanation
Summary

• Employee engagement with work influences

motivation levels.
• Human drives play a significant role in
employee motivation and behaviour.
• The needs and drives theories have
implications for motivating employees.
• Goal setting and feedback influence
performance.
• Organisational justice explains fairness of
processes and resource decisions.