Theories of Employee Motivation
Dionne Roberson
Chapter 8
What is Motivation?
 Motivation is defined as an internal state that
induces a person to engage in particular
behaviors
 Work motivation theories are concerned with
the reasons why some people perform their
job better than others.
Work Motivation Theories
 There are 7 Motivation Theories:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Need Theories
Reinforcement Theory
Expectancy Theory
Self-Efficacy Theory
Equity Theory
Goal-Setting Theory
Action Theory
Need Theories
 Need Theories view motivation as deriving
from people’s desires for certain things.
 There are three need theories:
1.
2.
3.
Need Hierarchy Theory
ERG Theory
Two-Factor Theory
Need Theories
Need Hierarchy Theory
 Maslow’s need hierarchy
theory states that human
needs are based on physical
and psychological health.
Self-Actualization
Esteem
Love
Safety
Physiological
Need Theories
ERG Theory
 Aldefer’s existence, relatedness, growth theory
focuses on three needs.
 According to Aldefer people can move back and
forth from one need to another.
Existence
Relatedness
Growth
Need Theories
Two-Factor Theory
 Herzberg’s two-factor theory states that
motivation comes from the job itself, not
external rewards.


Hygiene Factors- job aspects relevant to the
animal needs of human nature such as
psychological needs
Motivator Factors- job aspects relevant to growth
needs such as recognition.
Reinforcement Theory
 This theory describes how rewards can affect
behavior.
 Law of effect- states that probability of a
particular behavior increases if it is followed
by a reward.
 Rewards can be tangible (money) or
intangible (praise).
Expectancy Theory
 This theory attempts explain how rewards lead to
behavior by focusing on internal cognitive states
that lead to motivation .
 Vroom’s theory has been adapted to the I/O field.


Vroom’s theory explains motivation as a math function
of expectancy, valence, and instrumentalities.
Force = Expectancy x  (Valence x Instrumentalities)
Self- Efficacy Theory
 This theory states that motivation and performance
is determined by how effective people believe they
can be.


High self-efficacy = people believe that they are capable
of accomplishing a task and will be motivated put forth
effort
Low self-efficacy = people don’t believe they can do the
job and they are not motivated to put forth effort.
Equity Theory
 States that people are motivated to achieve a
condition of fairness in their dealings with other
people and with organizations.
 This theory specifies conditions under which
inequity will occur and how employees will react.
 Employees will evaluate how much they receive
from the job (outcomes) in relation to their
contributions( inputs)

Outcomes/ Inputs
 Inequity occurs when employees feel as if his/her
ratio is different from others
Goal-Setting Theory
 Basic principle states that people’s behavior
is motivated by their internal intentions,
goals, or objectives
 Goal is what a person consciously wants to
attain or achieve
Goal-Setting Theory
 Goals Affect behavior in 4 ways:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Direct Attention and action to behaviors that the
person believes will achieve the goal.
Mobilize effort in that the person tries harder
Increase persistence, resulting in more time spent
on the behaviors necessary for goal attainment
Motivate the search for effective strategies to
attain them.
Action Theory
 This theory states that work motivation
theories should focus mainly on goaloriented or or voluntary behaviors called
actions.

Action process- linking a hierarchy of cognitions
to both actions and feedback from the
environment
Desire for
something
Plan
Goal
Development Generation
Plan
Execution
Feedback