“A job will only be motivating if it leads to rewards that the individual values”, before considering the statement it is first important to understand motivation. Motivation is a broad, decision-making concept in which behaviour can be commenced and conducted, by a desire for fulfilment (Huczynski and Buchanan, 1991). Having a motivated workforce is vital for a firm’s productivity and growth, however how best to motivate employees is subject to much debate, with many theories providing conflicting opinions. In this essay I will outline and use Expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964), a popular motivational theory, to evaluate and provide a convincing case for why I believe the statement above is weak at helping us understand motivation, expressing how I believe motivation is not always explicitly linked to rewards, including the fact individuals may be unmotivated by valued rewards. Additionally, I will discuss how expectancy theory has been applied in management, explaining some issues and implications this theory has created for employees, managers and the organisations themselves.
Expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964) is a process theory of motivation in which an employee’s endeavour is a function of the desirability of fixed outcomes together with an individual’s estimate of attainment (Starke and Behling, 1975). Vroom (1964) devised a set of algebraic formulae to argue how individual motivation is achieved by conscious choices. “F = V x E x I “. According to Vroom, one’s
This can also relate to the process theories such as the expectancy and equity theories. The expectancy theory (Appendix c) predicts that individuals will be motivated if they value the reward given for work and believe this is a just reward. By working hard and professionally they can achieve promotion and so become motivated. The basis of the equity theory is related to one’s perception of job input and outcomes and those of their colleagues (Appendix d). Employees in Primark who have high input and outcomes can see these outcomes through the opportunity of promotion. However such fairness does not always arise in Primark.
Inkson and Kolb discuss the issue of expectancy theory, which is how an employee values the outcome of putting in a lot of effort in order to achieve a goal. ?Motivation declines when there is uncertainty of the lineages between performance and effort? (Inkson and Kolb, 1999, p.327) Outcomes can include bonuses and or praise (extrinsic rewards) and feelings of accomplishment (intrinsic rewards).
According to researcher Lindner (1998), motivated employees are needed in our rapidly changing workplaces to aid in the survival of organizations. Not only is it important to meet the needs of the consumer, it is equally important that to make sure that associates are taken care of and remain motivated. For this reason, Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly and Konopaske (2012) “states much of management’s time is spent addressing the motivation of their employees” (p. 125). According to the Encyclopedia of Small Business (2007), employee motivation is the level of energy, commitment, and creativity employees bring to their jobs; the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational goals (Lindner, 1988). Despite its obvious importance, employee motivation can be an elusive quest for managers due to the multiplicity of incentives that can influence employees to do their best work. The reality is that every employee has different ways to become motivated and the knowledge of how to motivate them is key to organizational success. It is imperative that employers get to know the personal needs and wants of their employees in order to establish tactics in which to motivate each of them. Once achieved, “managers are in a better position to encourage and reward employees to behave in effective ways” (Gibson et al, 2012, p.
The expectancy theory was developed by Victor H. Vroom in 1964 as a systematic explanation of individual motivation within the workplace. This theory put forth three key components: expectancy, performance, and valence. From the base component of the theory, which is expectancy, behavior is built by an individual’s value of the reward or valence. Vroom’s theory of expectancy is used by manager to understand how individual employees are motivated and how they will respond to rewards closely tied to the tasks given. Expectancy is proposed to be an individual’s understanding of how their effort leads to a given performance level. Vroom put forth in his theory that individuals believe the more effort put into a task or objective, the better
The Expectancy Theory suggests that individuals choose a particular course of action after they have – often subconsciously – evaluated three critical components of the theory.
This paper explores a contemporary and widely accepted motivational theory known as Expectancy theory of motivation introduced by Victor Vroom in 1964. It will first explain the three key components and relationships of the expectancy theory of motivation. These components include Expectancy, Instrumentality and Valence. In addition, it will explain how to enhance the motivation of employees in a fictional but real-life modeled scenario using the Expectancy theory of motivation. After studying this paper, the reader should be able to explain the main components of the Expectancy
One view held by cognitive theorist an individual’s motivation is based on value and expectation (Textbook 370). According to this theory, people are motivated to preform behaviour to the extent
This case is about Paul Reed, a vice president and supervisor at Magic Eye, who is trying to understand the reason his programmers in his firm, are not reaching their potential. For that matter, Paul sought Muriel Tremblay, who is responsible for the personal to discover the issue. Muriel then interviewed an employee named Jeannie Savaria who has worked for the company for over a year and discovered that there had been some lack of motivation from Paul. According to Robbins, S. P. & Judge, (184). Motivation is the process that accounts for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of effort towards attaining a goal. In this paper, I will use the Vroom Expectancy Motivation Theory to explain Jeannine Savaria’s motivation and what can her supervisor do to improve her motivation.
Motivation according to Kelley (2014) is the ‘process through which managers build the desire to be productive and effective in their employees’. If an employee is motivated, they are more likely to be productive and generally staff turnover is low. The problem of worker motivation is that workers are not seen as humans, they have a lack of freedom at the workplace and lack of job fulfilment. Taylor and McGregor Theory X argue that there is not a problem with worker motivation, workers will be obedient because of fear of losing their job motivates them to do well. Whereas Maslow and McGregor’s Theory Y argues that there is a problem with worker motivation because of class conflict between the worker and the manager. The
that employees remain motivated if they are rewarded to achieve goals of a company. And when they are
Motivation in the workplace is one of the major concerns that managers face when trying to encourage their employees to work harder and do what is expected of them on a day-to-day basis. According to Organizational Behavior by John R. Schermerhorn, James G. Hunt and Richard N. Osborn the definition of motivation is "the individual forces that account for the direction, level, and persistence of a person's effort expended at work." They go on to say that "motivation is a key concern in firms across the globe." Through the years there have been several theories as to what motivates employees to do their best at work. In order to better understand these theories we will apply them to a fictitious organization that has the following
Expectancy theory of motivation Hausser Food. Employees and organization both of them have expectation and needs. Organization have expectation to their employees through target. Employees have expectation to the organization or company through their reward if they can reach or above the target. In this point of view The employees of Florida team are feel under rewarded which although they have high E to P that have good P to O
2. Explain the motivation of these three employees in terms of the expectancy theory of motivation.
Motivation is one of the most discussed topics in the present era’s organisations, especially since renowned psychologists like Maslow and Herzberg are dedicating their efforts to understanding it. Companies are investing a significant amount of resources in improving productivity in order to maximise profits. One of these important resources is of human nature. In order to get the very best out of employees, some motivational approaches need to be used. But what is motivation and how do I successfully motivate? I will try to relate one of my personal experiences with a friend to some of the most influential motivational theories. After introducing my story and making a definition of motivation I will address the ideas of Taylor,
The expectancy theory of motivation has become an increasingly popular model for predicting work performance and job preference. The empirical tests of this model have typically employed correlation analysis to