A number of various theories attempt to describe
employee motivation within the discipline of
industrial and organizational psychology. At the macro level, work motivation can be categorized into two types, endogenous process (individual, cognitive) theories and exogenous cause (environmental) theories. Many theories fit simply into one type, but hybrid types such as
self-determination theory attempt to account for both. It can be helpful to further divide theories into the four broad categories of need-based,
cognitive process,
behavioral, and job-based. The theory is referred to as Need for Achievement because these individuals are theorized to be the most effective employees and leaders in the workplace. These individuals strive to achieve their goals and advance in the organization. They tend to be dedicated to their work and strive hard to succeed. Such individuals also demonstrate a strong desire for increasing their knowledge and for feedback on their performance, often in the form of
performance appraisal . In this way, it could be said Equity Theory is more useful in describing factors that contribute to a lack of motivation rather than increasing motivation in the workplace. Concepts of
organizational justice later expanded upon the fundamentals of Equity Theory and pointed to the importance of fairness perceptions in the workplace. There are four fairness perceptions applied to organizational settings: •
Distributive justice, or the perception of equality of an individual's outcomes • Procedural justice, or the fairness of the procedures used to determine one's outcomes •
Interactional justice, or the perception that one has been treated fairly with dignity and respect If the employees foresee a high probability that they can successfully carry out a desired behavior, and that their behavior will lead to a valued outcome, then they will direct their efforts toward that end. Expectancy theory has been shown to have greater validity in research in within-subject designs rather than between-subjects designs. That is, it is more useful in predicting how an employee might choose among competing choices for their time and energy, rather than predicting the choices two different employees might make. Following
S.M.A.R.T criteria is also suggested. Studies have shown both feedback from the employer and
self-efficacy (belief in one's capabilities to achieve a goal) within the employee must be present for goal-setting to be effective. However, because of the tunnel vision focus created by goal-setting theory, several studies have shown this motivational theory may not be applicable in all situations. In fact, in tasks that require creative on-the-spot improvising, goal-setting can even be counterproductive. Furthermore, because clear goal specificity is essential to a properly designed goal-setting task, multiple goals can create confusion for the employee and the result is a muted overall drive. Despite its flaws, Goal-setting Theory is arguably the most dominant theory in the field of I–O psychology; over one thousand articles and reviews published in just over thirty years. Locke suggested several reasons why goals are motivating: they direct attention, lead to task persistence and the development of task strategies for accomplishing the goal. In order for a goal to be motivating, the employee or work group must first accept the goal. While difficult goals can be more motivating, a goal still needs to appear achievable, which in turn will lead to greater goal acceptance. The person or group should have the necessary skills and resources to achieve the goal, or goal acceptance could be negatively impacted. Specific goals that set a performance expectation are more motivating than those that are vague. Similarly, more proximal goals have greater motivation impact than those that are very long range or distal goals. Feedback while the employee or group is striving for the goal is seen as crucial. Feedback keeps employees on track and reinforces the importance of the goal as well as supporting the employees in adjusting their task strategies. Goal-setting Theory has strong empirical support dating back thirty years. However, there are some boundary conditions that indicate in some situations, goal-setting can be detrimental to performance on certain types of tasks. Goals require a narrowing of one's focus, so for more complex or
creative tasks, goals can actually inhibit performance because they demand cognitive resources. Similarly, when someone is learning a new task, performance-related goals can distract from the learning process. During the
learning process, it may be better to focus on mastering the task than achieving a particular result. • Self-efficacy, or an individual's confidence in accomplishing a behavior • Behavioral capability, or knowledge and skill to execute a behavior • Expectations, or anticipation of outcomes of a behavior • Expectancies, or giving values to the outcome of behavior change • Self-control, or regulating behavior or performance • Observational learning, or watching the actions and outcomes performed by others • Reinforcements, or encouraging motivations and rewards to promote behavior change
Behavioral approach to motivation The behavioral approach to workplace motivation is known as Organizational Behavioral Modification. This approach applies the tenets of behaviorism developed by
B.F. Skinner to promote employee behaviors that an employer deems beneficial and discourage those that are not. Any
stimulus that increases the likelihood of a behavior increasing is a reinforcer. An effective use of
positive reinforcement would be frequent praise while an employee is learning a new task. An employee's behavior can also be shaped during the learning process if approximations of the ideal behavior are praised or rewarded. The frequency of reinforcement is an important consideration. While frequent praise during the learning process can be beneficial, it can be hard to sustain indefinitely.
Job characteristics theory Shortly after Herzberg's Two-factor theory, Hackman and Oldham contributed their own, more refined, job-based theory;
Job characteristic theory (JCT). JCT attempts to define the association between core job dimensions, the critical psychological states that occur as a result of these dimensions, the personal and work outcomes, and growth-need strength. Core job dimensions are the characteristics of a person's job. The core job dimensions are linked directly to the critical psychological states. The
Job Characteristics Model (JCM), as designed by Hackman and Oldham attempts to use job design to improve employee intrinsic motivation. They show that any job can be described in terms of five key job characteristics: According to the JCT, an organization that provides workers with sufficient levels of
skill variety (using different skills and talents in performing work),
task identity (contributing to a clearly identifiable larger project), and
task significance (impacting the lives or work of other people) is likely to have workers who feel their work has meaning and value. Sufficiently high levels of
autonomy (independence, freedom and discretion in carrying out the job) will inspire the worker to feel responsibility for the work; and sufficiently high levels of
Task Feedback (receiving timely, clear, specific, detailed,
actionable information about the effectiveness of their job performance) will inspire the worker to feel the organization is authentically interested in helping to foster their professional development and growth. The combined effect of these psychological states results in desired personal and work outcomes: intrinsic motivation,
job satisfaction, performance quality, low absenteeism, and low turnover rate.
Self-regulation theory A theory based in self-efficacy, Self Regulation is "A theory of motivation based on the setting of goals and the receipt of accurate feedback that is monitored to enhance the likelihood of goal attainment". It is presumed that people consciously set goals for themselves that guide and direct their behavior toward the attainment of these goals. These people also engage in self-monitoring or self-evaluation. Self-evaluation can be helped along if feedback is given when a person is working on their goals because it can align how a person feels about how they are doing to achieve a goal and what they are actually doing to achieve their goals. In short, feedback provides an "error" message that a person who is off-track can reevaluate their goal. there are three dimensions to work engagement. • Vigor- a sense of personal energy for work • Dedication- experiencing a sense of pride in one's work and challenge from it • Absorption- The Capacity to be engrossed in work and experiencing a sense of flow. Work Engagement forwards the notion that individuals have the ability to contribute more to their own productivity than organizations typically allow. An example would be to allow workers to take some risks and not punish them if the risks leads to unsuccessful outcomes. "In short, work engagement can be thought of as an interaction of individuals and work. Engagement can occur when both facilitate each other, and engagement will not occur when either (or both) thwarts each other." Some critics of work engagement say that this is nothing new, just "old wine in a new bottle." ==Applications of motivation==