Motivation

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Group assignment #5: brief presentation of stereotypes experiences
Motivation: Definition and key elements
Causes and effects of demotivation/low motivation
From early to contemporary theories of motivation
 Group Assignment #5
Stereotypes experiences
1. Think about some stereotype that you have personally experienced in your life (as
the one being stereotyped).

2. Share briefly the situation within the group: how you felt at the time, how did you
react, and how you think the other party could have made the situation better.

3. Each group is expected to:

a) Summarize the situations that the members have experienced.

b) Explain what we can do to prevent our stereotypes, prejudices, “isms” views

and behaviors from becoming a barrier to understanding, valuing, working
with, and managing today’s diverse workforce?

Upload the report as usual

 Motivation
One of the most frequently researched topics in OB

What motivates employees?

In what ways can managers help employees to increase their

motivation?

How to make work more motivating?

Central aim of this chapter? To examine the extent to which the

organizational scientists have advanced our understanding of
motivation

Current state of the art…

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We’re exceptionally good at loosing motivation
 Definition
Motivation:
- forces from within individuals that stimulate and drive them to
achieve goals
- the process that account for an individual’s intensity, direction,
and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal (organizational
goal)
Motivation:
§ is not a personal trait
§ is the result of the interaction of the individual and the situation
Therefore, motivation varies between individuals and within
individuals at different times
 Key elements/ingredients/dimensions

Intensity: how hard a person tries

Direction: in a way that benefits the organization
Persistence: how long a person can maintain his/her effort

Motivation gives us energy, determination and a sense of

purpose
 Demotivation:
lack of interest in and enthusiasm with the work

Most common causes of workplace demotivation

???

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 Workplace demotivation
Common causes
- Job insecurity and precariousness
- Lack of progress or growth opportunities
- Low trust in company leadership
- Poor communication
- Unpleasant coworkers
- Boredom (tedious tasks and unchallenging and roles)
- …

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 Workplace demotivation
Major consequences

Main effects on employees’ behaviors at work

???

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 The direct and hidden costs of low motivation…
Behavioural consequences of low levels of motivation:
§ lowered productivity
§ high levels of turnover
§ high levels of absenteeism and lateness at work
§ lack of focus on daily tasks
§ poor communication and impoverished relationships
§ negative impact on overall team
§ creates a negative atmosphere/working environment
§ increased counterproductive behaviours (sabotage, fraud, tardiness)
§ poor organizational citizenship
§ unwillingness to engage in discretionary behaviours
§ other…
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 Explaining motivation
Main theories

From early (classic)

to
contemporary theories of motivation
 Hierarchy of Needs Theory
A. Maslow
People are motivated by their desire to satisfy specific needs, and those needs are
arranged in a hierarchy
Each lower need must be met before moving to the next higher level…
Once we satisfy a need at one level in the hierarchy, its impact on our behavior
diminishes, and the need at the next level up become the major influence on our
behavior.

Managers have to:

1. identify the level of the hierarchy that person is currently on

2. provide opportunities for employees to satisfy their needs

Although it received wide recognition among practitioners, research does not generally
validate the theory; only little empirical evidence for the hierarchy of needs…

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
How can managers use it?
 Theory X and Theory Y
Douglas McGregor
Douglas McGregor drew a distinction between the assumptions
about human motivation which underlie two contrasting
approaches:
- Theory X: assumes that people dislike work and must be
controlled, directed and even coerced toward organizational
goals. Furthermore (due to such preference), they can avoid
responsibility
- Theory Y: emphasizes the average person’s intrinsic interest
in his/her work, his/her desire to be self-directing, and
his/her capacity to be creative in solving business problems.
Therefore, they seek responsibility
 Theory X and Theory Y
Douglas McGregor
Theory x
1. People do not like work and try to
avoid it.
2. People do not like work, so managers
have to control, direct, coerce, and
threaten employees to get them to work
toward organizational goals.
3. People prefer to be directed, to avoid
responsibility; they have
little ambition.
Theory y
1. People do not naturally dislike work;
work is a natural part of their lives.
2. People are internally motivated to
reach objectives to which they are
committed.
3. People are committed to goals to the
degree that they receive personal rewards
when they reach their objectives.
4. People will seek and accept
responsibility under favourable conditions.
5. People have the capacity to be
innovative in solving organizational
problems.
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Two-factor theory or motivation-hygiene theory
F. Herzberg
What do people want from their jobs?
Herzberg asked people to describe situations in which they felt exceptionally
good or bad about their jobs
Certain characteristics tend to be consistently related to job satisfaction and
others to job dissatisfaction
ì Motivators (intrinsic)
î Hygiene factors (extrinsic)
To motivate people:
§ Emphasize factors associated with the work itself or outcomes directly
derived from it
§ Job enrichment
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 Motivators versus hygiene factors

Motivators Hygiene
Intrinsic factors Extrinsic factors

n The work itself n Physical working conditions

n Achievement n Company policies
n Recognition n Salary
n Career development and promotion n Relationship with others (peers,
opportunities superiors)
n Responsibility n Quality of supervision

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 McClelland’s Acquired Needs Theory
Holds that our needs are shaped over time and influenced by our
experiences and cultural background
McClelland classified needs into three categories:
Need for achievement (nAch): to strive to succeed, desire to do
things better
Need for power (nPow): the need to make others behave in a way
they could not have behaved otherwise; desire to be influential and
control others
Need for affiliation (nAff): the desire for friendly and close
interpersonal relationships; need to be liked and accepted by others

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 Contemporary theories of motivation
- Current state of thinking in explaining motivation
- Each has a reasonable degree of valid supporting documentation
- But it doesn’t mean they are unquestionably right

Equity Theory, J. Stacy Adams

Reinforcement Theory, Skinner
Goal-Setting Theory, Locke and Latham
Expectancy Theory, V. Vroom
 Equity Theory
J. Stacy Adams
The perception of what individuals get from a job compared to what they
put into it

§ Inputs: ????
§ Outcomes: ???

and then they compare their outcome-input ratio with that of relevant
others (referents)

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 Equity Theory
J. Stacy Adams
§ Inputs: education, intelligence, training, skill, seniority, the effort we put
into work...
§ Outcomes: salary levels, raises, promotion, working conditions, status
symbols (such as a large office)...
Four referent comparisons:
§ Self-inside: an employee’s experiences in a different position inside the current
organization
§ Self-outside: an employee’s experiences in a situation or position outside the current
organization
§ Other-inside: another individual or group of individuals inside the employee’s
organization (friends, neighbours, co-workers)
§ Other-outside: another individual or group of individuals outside the employee’s
organization (friends, neighbours, co-workers)
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 Equity Theory
Ratio comparisons
Equity exists when input/output ratios are equal:

Inputs/contributions of Inputs/contributions of
the individual the referent
=
Outcomes/rewards of the Outcomes/rewards of
individual the referent

Equity è perception of fairness

Inequity due to being under rewarded è anger; resentment
Inequity due to being over rewarded è fault; guilt
Employees respond to eliminate any inequities. HOW?
 Responses to inequity
1. Change inputs
2. Change outcomes
3. Distort perceptions of self
4. Distort perceptions of others
5. Choose a different referent
6. Leave the field (the job)
The resultant feelings of perceived under/over reward can lead
employees to reduce/increase their efforts in an attempt to redress
the balance (restore equality)

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 Reinforcement theory
Skinner
Behaviouristic approach that believes that behavior is:
...environmentally caused
...a function of consequences
What controls behaviour are reinforcers (any consequence that, when
immediately following a response, increases the probability that the
behaviour will be repeated)
Ignores the inner state of the individual (feelings, attitudes, expectations,
and other cognitive variables); concentrates on what happens when
he/she takes some action
Some argue: this is not motivation. This is manipulation!
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 Reinforcement theory
How does it work?
Operant conditioning theory: people learn to behave to get something they want or
to avoid something they don’t want
Reinforcers:
- Positive reinforcement: adding something positive in order to increase a
response (e.g. reward)
- Negative reinforcement: taking something negative away in order to increase a
response (e.g. remove control seen an unpleasant)
- Extinction: remove something in order to decrease a behavior (e.g. transfer an
individual with a conflictual behavior to a non supportive group)
- Punishment: adding something aversive in order to decrease a behavior

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 Goal-setting theory
Locke & Latham
Intentions to work toward a goal are a major source of work motivation
Goals tell an employee what needs to be done and how much effort is
needed
How to make goal-setting theory operational?

Goals have to be SMART:

Specific (“do your best”)
Measurable (verifiable)
Agreed (participation in decision making)
Realist, although difficult/challenging (attainable)
Timed (explicit time period)
 Expectancy Theory
V. Vroom
The tendency to act a certain way depends on the strength of our expectations of
a given outcome and its attractiveness

Employees will be more motivated to exert a high level of effort when they believe
it will lead to u a good performance appraisal Ž a good appraisal will lead to v
organizational rewards (salary increases, bonuses, promotions) Ž rewards will w
satisfy employees’ personal goal

u Effort-performance relationship - Expectancy

If I give a maximum effort, will it be recognized in my performance appraisal?
v Performance-reward relationship - Instrumentality
If I get a good performance appraisal, will it lead to organizational rewards?
w Rewards-personal goals relationship - Valence
If I’m rewarded, are the rewards attractive to me?
 Expectancy Theory
V. Vroom
Practical applications:
- Expectancy theory is based on the subjective assessments of each
individual: the motivation will depend on the person
- Cafeteria plans (i.e. to choose between a variety of benefits) may be
very useful because…
- …

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 To sum up...

- The theories of motivation are complementary

- They differ in their predictive strength
- One size fits all doesn’t exist
- Challenging times call for new avenues of research
What theories would you apply here?