Chapter 14 Motivating Employees
What is Motivation?
● Refers to the process by which a persons efforts are energized, directed, and sustained
toward attaining a goal.
3 Key Elements
1. Energy
2. Direction
3. Persistence
Energy
● A measure of intensity, drive, and vigor
● High levels of effort don't necessarily mean favorable hob performance
Direction
● Effort directed toward and consistent with organizational goals is whats needed
Persistence
● Need employees to persist in putting forth effort to achieve goals
Early Theories of Motivation
➔ Maslow's Hierarchy
➔ Theories X & Y
➔ McClelland's Three-needs theory
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
- The best-known theory, Maslow wa sa psychologist who proposed every person is a hierarchy
of 5 needs
1. Physiological needs
a. A person's needs for food, drink shelter, sex, and other physical requirements
2. Safety needs
a. A person's need for security and protection from physical and emotional harm as
well as assurance that physical needs will continue to be me.
3. Social Needs
a. A person's needs for affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship
4. Esteem needs
a. A person's needs for internal esteem factors, such as self-respect, autonomy, and
achievement, and external esteem factors, such as status, recognition, and
attention
5. Self-actualization needs
a. Persons needs for growth, achieving potential, and self fulfillment; the drive to
become what one is capable of becoming
- This theory says that once a need is substantially satisfied an individual is no longer
motivated to satisfy that need.
McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y
- Douglas McGregor proposed 2 assumptions about human nature
● Theory X
○ Negative view of people that assumes workers have little ambition, dislike
work, want to avoid responsibility, need to be closely controlled
● Theory Y
○ Positive view that assumes employes enjoy work, seek out and accept
responsibility, and exercise self-direction
- No evidence confirming one way works better than the other
Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory (Motivation-hygiene theory)
● Proposes
○ Intrinsic factors
■ related to job satisfaction
○ Extrinsic factors
■ associated with job dissatisfaction
- Study found that when people were happy then tended to cite intrinsic factor such h\as
achievement, recognition, and responsibility.
- Dissatisfied they cited extrinsic factors such as company policy and administration,
supervision, interpersonal relationships, and working conditions.
● Believed that the opposite of satisfaction was not dissatisfaction. Removing dissatisfying
characteristics would not make that job more satisfying.
● Proposed
○ Opposite of "satisfaction" is "no satisfaction"
○ Opposite of "dissatisfaction" is "no dissatisfaction"
● Hygiene Factors
○ extrinsic factors
that remove job
dissatisfaction
○ When these are
adequate people
wont be
dissatisfied but
they wont be satisfied
● Motivators
○ Intrinsic factors having to do with the job itself and relating to motivating people
Three Needs Theory
- Says three acquired (not innate) needs are major motives to work
The three are
1. Need for achievement (nAch)
a. Drive to succeed and excel in relation to a set of standards
2. Need for power (nPow)
a. Need to make other behave in a way they would not have behaved otherwise
3. Need for affiliation (nAff)
a. The desire fro friendly and close interpersonal relationships
● People with high need for achievement are striving for personal achievement rather than
for rewards of success.
Contemporary Theories of Motivation
Goal-Setting Theory
● Specific goals increase performance and that difficult goals, when accepted, result in
higher performance than do easy goals.
Tells us
● Specific goals produce a higher out put, the specificity of the goal itself acts as an
internal stimulus
● Feedback helps people grow and identify discrepancies between what they have done and
what they need to do
3 Contingencies influence the goal-performance relationship
● Goal setting theory
○ Assumes an individual is committed to the goal
● Self-efficacy
○ An individuals belief that they are capable of performing a task
○ Higher self-efficacy, more confidence you have
● National culture
○ Assumes that subordinates will be reasonably independent
○ People will seek challenging goals
○ Performance is considered important
Reinforcement Theory
● Behavior is a function of its consequences
● Ignored factors such as goals, expectations, and needs and focuses on what happens to a
person when they do something
- Using this theory, managers can influence employees' behavior by using positive reinforcers for
actions that help the organization achieve its goals. Managers should ignore, not punish,
undesirable behavior.
Designing Motivating Jobs
Job Design
● The way tasks are combined to form complete jobs
Job Enlargement
● Helps overcome the drawback of having a small job scope
● Focus solely on increasing the number of tasks that don't seem to work
Job enrichment
● Vertical expansion of a job through the addition of planning and evaluating
responsibilities
● Increases job depth
○ Degree of control employees have over their work
Job Characteristics model
● Identifies 5 core job dimensions, their interrelationships, and their impact on employee
productivity, motivation, and satisfaction
1. Skill Variety
a. Degree to which a job requires a variety of activities so that an employee can use
a number of different skills
2. Task Identity
a. The degree to which a job requires complexion of a whole and identifiable piece
of work
3. Task significance
a. The degree to which a job has a substantial impact on the lives or work of other
people
4. Autonomy
a. The degree to which a job provides substantial freedom, independence, and
discretion to the individual in scheduling the work and determining the
procedures to be used in carrying it out
5. Feedback
a. The degree to which doing work activities required by a job results in an
individual obtaining direct and lear information about the effectiveness of his or
her performance
Equity Theory
● Focuses on fairness (equity) in the workplace
● Employees compare:
○ Inputs (effort, experience, skills)
○ Outcomes (pay, recognition, benefits)
● Compare their input–outcome ratio to others (referents)
Outcomes:
● Equal ratios → Equity (fair)
● Unequal ratios → Inequity
○ Under-rewarded → ↓ effort, dissatisfaction
○ Over-rewarded → less impact (people justify it)
Referents:
● Persons → coworkers, friends
● Systems → company policies
● Self → past experiences
Justice Types:
● Distributive justice → fairness of outcomes
● Procedural justice → fairness of process
Key Impact:
● Inequity → changes in behavior (productivity, quitting, etc.)
Expectancy Theory
● Motivation depends on expected outcomes
3 Relationships:
1. Effort → Performance
○ Will effort lead to good performance?
2. Performance → Reward
○ Will performance lead to rewards?
3. Reward → Personal Goals (Attractiveness)
○ Do I value the reward?
Key Idea:
● Motivation is high only if ALL 3 links are strong
Important Points:
● Based on perception (not reality)
● Employees ask:
○ “Is it worth it?”
○ “Will I actually succeed?”
Integrating Motivation Theories
● Combines multiple theories into one model:
○ Expectancy theory (core)
○ Equity theory
○ Reinforcement theory
○ Job Characteristics Model (JCM)
○ Achievement need (nAch)
Flow:
● Effort → Performance → Rewards → Goals
Key Influences:
● Ability + job design → affect performance
● Fair evaluation system → strengthens effort-performance link
● Rewards system → reinforces behavior
● Equity comparisons → affect motivation
● Dominant needs → determine if rewards matter
Special Case:
● High achievers (high nAch) are:
○ Internally motivated
○ Care more about challenge than rewards
Current Issues in Motivation
1. Technology
● Can hurt motivation:
○ Faster pace → stress, loss of control
○ Remote work → less social interaction
● Can help motivation:
○ AI removes repetitive tasks → more meaningful work
○ Remote work → flexibility
2. Cross-Cultural Challenges
● Motivation theories are U.S.-focused (individualism)
Differences:
● Collectivist cultures:
○ Value group harmony over individual rewards
● Maslow varies by culture:
○ Some prioritize security or social needs first
Equity Differences:
● U.S. → pay tied to performance
● Other countries → pay may reflect needs + entitlement
Universal Motivators:
● Respect
● Work-life balance
● Good leadership
● Meaningful work
Motivating Unique Groups
1. Diverse Workforce
● Different groups value different things:
○ Men → autonomy
○ Women → relationships, flexibility
○ Millennials → teamwork
○ Gen Z → growth + feedback
● Solution:
○ Use flexible rewards + work options
2. Professionals
● Motivated by:
○ Challenging work
○ Problem-solving
○ Skill use
● Less motivated by:
○ Money or promotions
● Flow State:
○ Deep focus, lose track of time
○ Work itself becomes motivating
3. Contingent Workers
● Includes:
○ Temps
○ Contractors
● Motivation:
○ Flexibility
○ Opportunity for permanent job
○ Skill development
● Issues:
○ Inequity vs full-time workers → ↓ motivation
4. Remote Workers
● Motivated by:
○ Flexibility
○ Autonomy
● Challenges:
○ Isolation
○ Perceived unfair policies
● Manager strategy:
○ Focus on results, not time
○ Set clear expectations
Designing Rewards Programs
1. Open-Book Management
● Share financial info with employees
● Helps employees:
○ Think like owners
○ Understand impact of their work
2. Employee Recognition Programs
● Reward behavior through:
○ Praise
○ Awards
● Benefits:
○ Low cost
○ Builds motivation + relationships
3. Pay-for-Performance
● Pay based on performance (not time)
Examples:
● Bonuses
● Profit sharing
● Merit pay
Key Idea:
● Strong performance → reward link (Expectancy Theory)
Pros:
● Increases motivation + performance
Cons:
● Can reduce teamwork
● Employees focus only on rewarded tasks
Chapter 16
0
