Motivation in the Workplace

1. Motivation in the Workplace

2. Motivation Motivation refers to the forces within a person that affect the direction, intensity, and persistence of voluntary behavior. Motivated employees are willing to exert a particular level of effort (intensity) for a certain amount of time (persistence) toward a particular goal (direction).

3. Challenges of Motivating Employees • Revised employment relationship • Due to globalization, technology, restructuring • Potentially undermines trust and commitment • Flatter organizations • Fewer supervisors to monitor performance • Changing workforce • Gen-X/Gen-Y bring different expectations

4. Needs, Drives, and Employee Motivation • Needs • Deficiencies that energize or trigger behaviors to satisfy those needs. • Drives • Instinctive or innate tendencies to seek certain goals or maintain internal stability.

5. Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy Objectives • Holistic • integrative view of needs rather than studying each need in isolation of others • Humanistic • responses to higher needs are influenced by social dynamics, not just instinct • Positivistic • need gratification is just as important as need deprivation

6. Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy Theory Self-actual-ization Seven categories capture most needs Need to know Need for beauty Five categories placed in a hierarchy Esteem Belongingness Safety Physiological

7. Deficiencies… Esteem Needs • Recognition (external motivator), Attention (external motivator), Social Status (external motivator), Accomplishment (internal motivator), Self-respect (internal motivator) Social Needs • Friendship, Belonging to a group, Giving and receiving love Safety Needs • Living in a safe area, Medical insurance, Job security, Financial reserves Physiological Needs • Air, Water, Food, Sleep

8. Self-actual-ization Need to know Need for beauty Esteem Belongingness Safety Physiological Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy Theory • Lowest unmet need has strongest effect • When lower need is satisfied, next higher need becomes the primary motivator • Self-actualization -- a growth need because people desire more rather than less of it when satisfied

9. Characteristics of Self-Actualized People • Acceptance and Realism: have realistic perceptions of themselves, others and the world around them. • Problem-centering: are concerned with solving problems outside of themselves, including helping others and finding solutions to problems in the external world. • Spontaneity: are spontaneous in their internal thoughts and outward behavior. While they can conform to rules and social expectations, they also tend to be open and unconventional. • Autonomy and Solitude: have the need for independence and privacy. • Continued Freshness of Appreciation: tend to view the world with a continual sense of appreciation, wonder and awe. • Peak Experiences: have what Maslow termed peak experiences, or moments of intense joy, wonder, awe and ecstasy.

10. Self-actual-ization Need to know Need for beauty Esteem Belongingness Safety Physiological Evaluating Maslow’s Theory • Lack of support for theory • Values influence needs • People have different needs hierarchies -- not universal • Maslow’s categories don’t cover all needs • Needs change more rapidly than Maslow stated

11. Four-Drive Theory Drive to Acquire • Need to take/keep objects and experiences • Basis of hierarchy and status Drive to Bond • Need to form relationships and social commitments • Basis of social identity Drive to Learn • Need to satisfy curiosity and resolve conflicting information • Basis of self-actualization Drive to Defend • Need to protect ourselves • Reactive (not proactive) drive • Basis of fight or flight

12. Features of Four Drives • Innate and hardwired -- everyone has them • Independent of each other (no hierarchy of drives) • Complete set -- no drives are excluded from the model

13. How Four Drives Affect Needs • Four drives determine which emotions are automatically tagged to incoming information • Drives generate independent and often competing emotions that demand our attention • Social skill set determines how to translate drives into needs and effort

14. Learned Needs Theory • Some needs can be learned • Need for achievement • Desire for challenging and somewhat risky goals, feedback, recognition • Need for affiliation • Desire to seek approval, conform, and avoid conflict • Try to project a favorable self-image • Need for power • Desire to control one’s environment • Personalized versus socialized power

15. Implications of Needs/Drives Theories • Four-drive theory • provide a balanced opportunity for employees to fulfill drives • employees continually seek fulfillment of drives • avoid having conditions support one drive over others • Maslow • allow employees to self-actualize • power of positive experiences • Offer employees a choice of rewards

16. Outcomes& Valences P-to-O Expectancy E-to-P Expectancy Effort Performance Expectancy Theory of Motivation Outcome 1 + or - Outcome 2 + or - Outcome 3 + or -

17. Increasing E-to-P Expectancy • Train employees • Select people with required competencies • Provide role clarification • Provide sufficient resources • Provide coaching and feedback

18. Increasing P-to-O Expectancy • Measure performance accurately • Describe outcomes of good and poor performance • Explain how rewards are linked to past performance

19. Increasing Outcome Valences • Ensure that rewards are valued • Individualize rewards • Minimize countervalent outcomes

20. Goal Setting at Speedera Speedera Networks employees achieved a challenging revenue goal in one quarter, for which all employees in California and India were rewarded with a free Hawaiian trip. Courtesy of Akamai

21. Specific Relevant Challenging Task Performance Commitment Participation Feedback Effective Goal Setting Task Effort

22. Goal Difficulty and Performance High Area of Optimal Goal Difficulty Task Performance Low Moderate Challenging Impossible Goal Difficulty

23. Characteristics of Effective Feedback Specific Effective Feedback Credible Relevant Sufficiently frequent Timely

24. Supervisor Customer Project leader Co-worker Co-worker Subordinate Subordinate Subordinate Multisource (360-degree) Feedback Evaluated Employee

25. Executive Coaching • Uses various behavioral methods to help clients identify and achieve goals • Just-in-time personal development using feedback and other techniques • Generally effective, but many techniques make it difficult to pinpoint what is effective

26. Preferred Feedback Sources • Depends on the situation • Nonsocial sources (gauges, printouts) • Better for goal progress • Considered more accurate, less damaging • Social sources (supervisor, co-workers) • Better for ‘good news’ feedback • Improves self-image and esteem

27. Motivation in the Workplace