Motivation - Essentials of Management

Implications for Management (from Expectancy Theory)

1. Individual differences among employees must be taken into account
2. rewards should be closely tied to chose actions the organization sees as worthwhile
3. Employees should be given the appropriate training and encouragement
4. Employees should be presented with credible evidence that good performance does lead to anticipated rewards
5. The meaning and implications of outcomes should be explained

Expectancy Theory
An individual will be motivated when:

• The individual believes effort (E) will lead to favorable performance (P) - that is, when E->P (also referred to as expectancy)
• The individual believes performance will lead to favorable outcome (O) - that is, when P->O (also referred to as instrumentality)
• Outcome or reward satisfies an important need (in other words, valence is strong)
• Need satisfaction is intense enough to make effort seem worthwhile

Equity Theory
Employee satisfaction and motivation depend on how fairly the employees believe they are treated in comparison to peers. Outcomes include pay, benefits, status, intrinsic job factors such as interesting work, and anything else stemming from the job that workers perceive as useful. Inputs include all factors that employees perceive as their investment in the job or anything of value they bring to the job. Among such inputs are job qualifications, skills, education, effort, and cooperative behavior.
Equity occurs when (Outcomes of Individual)/(Input of Individual)=(Outputs of Others)/(Input of Others)

Topics related to violation of anti-discrimination laws
Unless job-related, direct or indirect questions about the following items could be interpreted as discriminatory.

1. Race
2. Religion
3. Sex (male or female)
4. Pregnancy
5. Number of children
6. Ages of children
7. Marital status
8. Child-care plans
9. Height or weight
10. Disability
11. Age
12. Criminal record
13. Union affiliation
14. Worker's compensation claims on previous job
15. Medical problems (except information about medical history that can be taken by a medical specialist as part of the medical exam)