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Motivation Theories Essay

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Motivation is defined as “the desire to achieve a goal or a certain performance level” (Bauer & Erdogen, 2009, p.97). Motivation theories are useful tools that organizations can use to energize employees and foster a stimulating work environment. These theories are categorized as either content or process theories. Today, Bauer and Erdogen (2009) state that many organizations have applied motivation theories ,such as the goal setting theory and reinforcement theory, in order to modify their employees’ behavior in the workplace through goals and reward systems. According to the reinforcement theory, behavior that is rewarded is often repeated. As a result, many organizations have utilized this theory by tying rewards to performance (Bauer & …show more content…

Fallon and McConnell (2007) define a performance appraisal as a “structured event” in which employee performance is examined. Such reviews are normally based on documents such as the job description and a performance appraisal form. Bauer and Erdogen (2009) strongly believe that the organizational use of performance appraisals is beneficial for many reasons.
“When employees have goals, they tend to be more motivated if they also receive feedback about their progress” (Bauer & Erdogen, 2009, p.132).Both Nickols (2007) and Fallon and McConnell (2007) agree that performance appraisals are excellent tools that can be use to provide employees with feedback on their performance. “The goal of providing performance feedback is to help the rater solve performance problems to motivate the employee to change behavior” (Bauer & Erdogen, 2009, p.134). Nickols (2007) also believes that such appraisals also provide the opportunity to identify training and performance options and for employees to establish their personal goals. Further, “performance appraisals afford the corporation legal protection against employee lawsuits for discrimination and wrongful termination” (Nickols, 2007, p.14) Bauer and Erdogen (2009) state that when a supervisor uses the performance appraisal interview to give employees constructive criticism, encourage employee participation, and focus on the employee’s behavior , the employees tend to react positively. However,

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