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Organizational Behavior: Solutions for Management
Paul D. Sweeney, University of Central Florida
Dean B. McFarlin, University of Dayton
Motivating Employees to do Their Best

Chapter Outline

  1. Motivation: "The Big Issue"Motivation is argued to be the most important issue in organizational behavior.
    1. Managers can underestimate the complex connection between motivation and performance.

    2. In reality, many factors that affect performance have little or nothing to do with motivation.

    3. Managers must accurately diagnose both people and situations in order to be excellent at motivation.

    4. Managers cannot directly observe motivation.

      1. What is Motivation?

        1. The word motivation comes from the Latin word movere.
        2. It is best for managers to view motivation as a process that uses "triggers" to arouse employee effort along with steps to channel behavior toward achieving goals.
        3. Content theories of motivation: Perspectives that identify specific needs that energize behavior.
        4. Process theories of motivation: Explain the processes by which can be aroused and then directed.
  2. What Motivates?
    1. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:
      1. According to Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs individuals are motivated by five needs.
        • Psychological needs
        • Safety needs
        • Social needs
        • Esteem needs
        • Self-actualization needs
      2. Maslow's limitations:
        • Needs are not always triggered in the exact order as he described.
      3. Using Maslow:
        • Despite its limitations, Maslow's theory does alert managers to the possible needs that drive behavior.
    2. Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory:
      1. Frederick Herzberg's two-factor theory: classifies needs into two groups.
        • Hygiene factors: include working conditions, pay, and co-worker relations.
        • Motivating factors: include the need for achievement, challenge, and recognition.
        • Motivating factors are similar to Maslow's higher order needs.
        • Hygiene factors are similar to Maslow's lower order need.
        • Herzberg argues that what causes employees to be dissatisfied is different than what causes employees to be satisfied and engaged in their jobs.
      2. Herzberg's limitations:
        • His ideas have helped the development of the concept of job enrichment.
        • The distinction between hygiene and motivating factors is not clear as it appears to be.
      3. Using Herzberg's ideas:
        • The key message is that many people will respond more enthusiastically to motivating factors than anything else.
        • Ignoring hygiene factors can result in resentment.
  3. Managing the "How to Motivate" Process
    1. Equity Theory: How Fairness Drives Motivation: The heart of the equity theory indicates that when you feel unfairly treated you are motivated to restore a sense of fairness.
      1. Limitations of equity theory:
        • Does not precisely identify whom we choose to compare ourselves against.
        • Applying the ideas of this theory abroad can be highly complex.
      2. Inequity reduction strategies: implications for managers:
        • Ways employees attempt to reduce inequity:
        • Change their inputs and/or outcomes.
        • Engage in a variety of cognitive gymnastics to change their perceptions about inputs and/or outcomes.
        • Find a new comparison person that will result in a more balanced ratio.
        • Change venues to find better ratios.
      3. Creating an equitable workplace:
        • Perhaps the best way to create a sense of fairness is to convince employees that outcomes will be distributed fairly over the long haul.
        • Modify certain benefits to better address the needs of the employees.
      4. Wage tiers: building in unfairness:
        • Viewed by U.S. firms as a way to reduce labor costs.
        • Employees can perceive this system as being unfair and inequitable.
        • Research suggests that low-tier workers may be less committed to the firm and less trusting of management.
        • High turnover rates, poor moral, and low productivity is common to low-tier workers.
      5. "Churning" employees and other equity concerns:
        • "Churning": a process in which many employees are terminated while at the same time many new applicants are hired.
    2. Reinforcement Theory: Using Consequences to Motivate: If the equity theory is about fairness then it can be said that the reinforcement theory is about consequences.
      1. Reinforcing positive behavior:
        • Positive reinforcement:
        • Consequences such as praise
        • Negative reinforcement:
        • Stopping something unpleasant
      2. Snuffing out negative behavior:
        • Extinction: remove what is reinforcing the negative behavior.
        • Punishment: administering a sanction to extinguish the behavior.
        • Managers can underestimate the negative long-term side effects of punishment.
        • Anger
        • Resentment
        • Cynicism
        • Fear
        • Suggestions to prevent the potential side effects of punishment:
        • Always punish in private.
        • Focus specifically on the behavior in question and why it needs to be changed.
        • Discuss or specify alternative steps or behaviors that will help prevent mistakes from being repeated.
        • Explain what will happen if the behavior does not improve by a specific deadline.
        • Be consistent when enforcing policies.
      3. Understanding reinforcement schedules:
        • Positive reinforcement is generally the most powerful tool.
        • Understand there is a choice between continuous and partial approaches to reinforcement.
        • Partial reinforcement strategies are most often the most practical and desirable.
      4. Using reinforcement strategies to modify behavior:
        • The need for diagnosis is ongoing.
        • Situations are always changing and reinforcers do not last forever.
      5. Limitations of reinforcement theory:
        • Managers often find that applying reinforcement ideas is easier when the jobs involved are relatively simple and financial rewards can be used.
        • Cultural differences can be challenging in the context of reinforcement application.
    3. Goal Theory: Using Targets to Motivate:
      1. Goal theory: establishing future performance targets.
        • Goals can be useful for stimulating, guiding, and directing behavior.
      2. Goal attributes:
        • The old rule of thumb stated clear and challenging goals promote higher performance than ambiguous goals.
        • This holds true with relatively simple tasks but it may work less well with novel or complex tasks or tasks that involve working with others interdependently.
      3. Goal commitment and the goal-setting process:
        • Goal commitment is the employee's willingness to pursue a goal.
        • The manager's "goal" of goal setting is to obtain employee commitment.
        • Stretch targets: Virtually unattainable goals designed to encourage "doing it differently" rather than "doing what we already do" better.
      4. Applying goal setting: management by objectives:
        • Companies often practice goal setting through a management by objectives program.
        • Management by objectives: systematic use of goal setting throughout the organization.
        • Suggestions for a successful MBO program include:
        • Identify subordinate responsibility areas and how they fit together.
        • Discuss and establish performance targets. Discuss and agree on how performance will be assessed.
        • Prioritize goals.
        • Establish a time frame for achievement.
      5. Cultural barriers to using goal setting and MBO programs:
        • A basic assumption behind many MBO programs in the U.S. is that employees are comfortable talking about goals with their superiors.
        • Also assumes that employees embrace risk since reaching goals is not guaranteed.
        • Other cultures would have different philosophies on these concepts.
    4. Expectancy Theory: Pulling Things Together:
      • This is the most inclusive of the theories examined here.
      • Expectancy theory starts with the assumption that employees are rational.
      • It suggests that employees will choose to give maximum effort to their jobs if they believe that their jobs will give them what they want.
      • Overall, expectancy theory suggests our assessments of expectancy, instrumentality, and valence all must be strong for motivation to be high.
      1. Using expectancy theory: advice for managers:
        • Find out which rewards have valence for subordinates.
        • Take steps to maintain high expectancies among subordinates.
        • Make sure valued rewards are clearly linked to performance.
        • Skill-based pay programs.
      2. Culture and expectancy theory:
        • Expectancy theory generally fits well with American culture.
        • In other cultures, employees' perspectives may be different.
        • This theory implicitly suggests that reward systems should reflect employees' cultural values.




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