Chapter 4

Motivating
Self and Others
Motivating Self and Others

Questions for Consideration

 What do theories tell us about
motivating ourselves and others?
 How do we motivate for specific
organizational circumstances and/or
individual differences?
 Are rewards always necessary?
What Is Motivation?
 Motivation
 The processes that account for an
individual’s intensity, direction, and
persistence of effort toward attaining a
goal
 Intensity: how hard a person tries
 Direction: where effort is channeled
 Persistence: how long effort is maintained
Theory X and Theory Y

 Theory X
 Assumes that employees dislike work, will
attempt to avoid it, and must be coerced,
controlled, or threatened with punishment if
they are to perform.

 Theory Y
 Assumes that employees like work, are
creative, seek responsibility, and can exercise
self-direction and self-control.
Motivators
 Intrinsic
 A person’s internal desire to do something,
due to such things as interest, challenge, and
personal satisfaction.
 Extrinsic
 Motivation that comes from outside the
person, such as pay, bonuses, and other
tangible rewards.
Needs Theories of Motivation
 Basic idea:
 Individuals have needs that, when
unsatisfied, will result in motivation
 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
 Herzberg’s two factor theory (motivation-
hygiene theory)
 Alderfer’s ERG theory
 McClelland’s theory of needs
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 Physiological
 Includes hunger, thirst, shelter, and
other bodily needs
 Safety
 Includes security and protection from
physical and emotional harm
 Social
 Includes affection, belongingness,
acceptance, and friendship
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 Esteem
 Includes internal esteem factors such as
self-respect, autonomy, and
achievement; and external esteem
factors such as status, recognition, and
attention
 Self-actualization
 The drive to become what one is capable
of becoming; includes growth, achieving
one’s potential, and self-fulfillment
Exhibit 4-1

Self-
actualization
Esteem

Social

Safety

Physiological
Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene
Theory
 Hygiene factors are necessary, but
not sufficient, for healthy adjustment
 Extrinsic factors; context of work
 Company policy and administration
 Unhappy relationship with employee's
supervisor
 Poor interpersonal relations with one's
peers
 Poor working conditions
Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene
Theory
 Motivators - the sources of
satisfaction
 Intrinsic factors; content of work
 Achievement
 Recognition
 Challenging, varied or interesting work
 Responsibility
 Advancement
Exhibit 4-3 Contrasting Views
of Satisfaction and
Dissatisfaction

Traditional view

Satisfaction Dissatisfaction

Herzberg's view
Motivators
Satisfaction No satisfaction

Hygiene Factors
No dissatisfaction Dissatisfaction
Criticisms of Motivation-
Hygiene Theory
 The reliability of Herzberg’s
methodology is questioned
 No overall measure of satisfaction
was used
 The theory is inconsistent with
previous research
Alderfer’s ERG Theory
 Existence
 Concerned with providing basic material
existence requirements
 Relatedness
 Desire for maintaining important
interpersonal relationships
 Growth
 Intrinsic desire for personal development
McClelland’s Theory of Needs
 Need for Achievement
 The drive to excel, to achieve in relation to a set
of standards, to strive to succeed
 Need for Power
 The need to make others behave in a way that
they would not have behaved otherwise
 Need for Affiliation
 The desire for friendly and close interpersonal
relationships
Exhibit 4-4 Summarizing the
Various Needs Theories

Maslow Alderfer Herzberg McClelland

Self-Actualization
Growth Motivators Need for Achievement
Esteem
Need for Power
Affiliation Relatedness
Hygiene
Need for Affiliation
Security Factors
Existence
Physiological
Summary: Hierarchy of Needs
 Maslow: Argues that lower-order needs must be satisfied
before one progresses to higher-order needs.
 Herzberg: Hygiene factors must be met if person is not to
be dissatisfied. They will not lead to satisfaction, however.
Motivators lead to satisfaction.
 Alderfer: More than one need can be important at the same
time. If a higher-order need is not being met, the desire to
satisfy a lower-level need increases.
 McClelland: People vary in the types of needs they have.
Their motivation and how well they perform in a work
situation are related to whether they have a need for
achievement, affiliation, or power.
Summary: Impact of Theory
 Maslow: Enjoys wide recognition among practising
managers. Most managers are familiar with it.
 Herzberg: The popularity of giving workers greater
responsibility for planning and controlling their work can
be attributed to his findings. Shows that more than one
need may operate at the same time.
 Alderfer: Seen as a more valid version of the need
hierarchy. Tells us that achievers will be motivated by
jobs that offer personal responsibility, feedback, and
moderate risks.
 McClelland: Tells us that high need achievers do not
necessarily make good managers, since high achievers
are more interested in how they do personally.
Summary: Support and
Criticism of Theory
 Maslow: Research does not generally validate
the theory. In particular, there is little support
for the hierarchical nature of needs. Criticized
for how data were collected and interpreted.
 Herzberg: Not really a theory of motivation:
Assumes a link between satisfaction and
productivity that was not measured or
demonstrated.
 Alderfer: Ignores situational variables.
 McClelland: Mixed empirical support, but theory
is consistent with our knowledge of individual
differences among people. Good empirical
support, particularly on needs achievement.
Process Theories of Motivation
 Looks at the actual process of
motivation
 Expectancy theory
 Goal-setting theory
Expectancy Theory
 The strength of a tendency to act in a
certain way depends on the strength of an
expectation that the act will be followed by
a given outcome and on the attractiveness
of that outcome to the individual.
Expectancy Relationships
 The theory focuses on three relationships:
 Effort-performance relationship
 The perceived probability that exerting a given
amount of effort will lead to performance.
 Performance-reward relationship
 The degree to which the individual believes that
performing at a particular level will lead to a
desired outcome.
 Rewards-personal goals relationship
 The degree to which organizational rewards
satisfy an individual’s personal goals or needs
and and are attractive to the individual.
Exhibit 4-7
Steps to Increasing Motivation,
Using Expectancy Theory
Improving Expectancy
Improve the ability of the
individual to perform
• Make sure employees have skills
for the task
• Provide training
• Assign reasonable tasks and goals
Improving Instrumentality
Increase the individual’s belief that
performance will lead to reward
• Observe and recognize performance
• Deliver rewards as promised
• Indicate to employees how previous
good performance led to greater
rewards
Improving Valence
Make sure that the reward is
meaningful to the individual
• Ask employees what rewards they
value
• Give rewards that are valued
Goal-Setting Theory
 The theory that specific and difficult
goals lead to higher performance.
 Goals tell an employee what needs to be done and
how much effort will need to be expended.
 Specific goals increase performance
 Difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher
performance than do easy goals
 Feedback leads to higher performance than does
nonfeedback.
 Specific hard goals produce a higher level of output
than does the generalized goal of “do your best.”
 The specificity of the goal itself acts as an internal
stimulus.
Management by Objectives
 A program that encompasses
 Specific goals
 Participative decision-making
 Explicit time period
 Performance feedback
Responses to the Reward
System
 Equity Theory
 Fair Process
Equity Theory
 Main points
 Individuals compare their job inputs
and outcomes with those of others and
then respond so as to eliminate any
inequities.
 Equity theory recognizes that
individuals are concerned not only with
the absolute amount of rewards for
their efforts, but also with the
relationship of this amount to what
others receive.
Exhibit 4-8 Equity Theory

Ratio of Output to Input Person 1’s Perception

Person 1
Inequity, underrewarded

Person 2

Person 1
Equity
Person 2

Person 1
Inequity, overrewarded

Person 2
Responses to Inequity
 Change Inputs
 Change Outcomes
 Adjust Perceptions
 Choose a Different Referent
 Leave the Field
Fair Process and Treatment
 Historically, equity theory focused on:
 Distributive justice
 However, equity should also consider
 Procedural justice
Fair Process
 Distributive Justice
 Perceived fairness of the amount and allocation
of rewards among individuals
 Procedural Justice
 Perceived fairness of the process used to
determine the distribution of rewards
 Interactional Justice
 The quality of the interpersonal treatment
received from another
Role of Money
 Money is most commonly used
reward in organizations
 Money certainly helps some needs get
met
 But, money is not all employees’ top
priority
 Many emphasize relationships in the
workplace
Motivating for Specific
Organizational Goals
 Employee Recognition: Motivating
to Show People Matter
 Employee recognition plans
 Variable-Pay Programs:
Motivating for Improved
Productivity
 Individual-based incentives: piece rate
 Group-based incentives: gainsharing
 Organizational-based incentives: profit
sharing, ESOPs
Variable-Pay Programs
 A portion of an employee’s pay is based on
some individual and/or organizational
measure(s) of performance.
 Individual-based
 Piece-rate wages, bonuses
 Group-based
 Gainsharing
 Organizational-based
 Profit sharing
 Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)
Variable Pay Programs
 Piece-rate pay plans
 Workers are paid a fixed sum for each
unit of production completed.
 Gainsharing
 An incentive plan where improvements in
group productivity determine the total
amount of money that is allocated.
Variable Pay Programs
 Profit-sharing plans
 Organization wide programs that
distribute compensation based on some
established formula designed around a
company’s profitability.
 Employee stock ownership plans
(ESOPs)
 Company-established benefit plans in
which employees acquire stock as part of
their benefits.
Motivating Professionals
 How are “professionals” different?
 Receive a great deal of “intrinsic”
satisfaction from their work.
 Strong and long-term commitment to
their field of expertise.
 Well paid/Chief reward is work itself.
 Value support.
 More focused on work as central life
interest.
Motivating Professionals
 How do we motivate professionals?
 Provide challenging projects
 Give them autonomy in follow interests
and structure work.
 Reward with educational opportunities.
 Recognize their contributions.
Motivating Contingent Workers
 No simple solutions to motivating
contingent workers.
 Contingent or temporary workers have little or
no job security/stability; therefore, they don’t
identify with the organization or display the
commitment of permanent employees.
 Contingent or temporary workers are typically
provided with little or no health care, pensions,
or similar benefits.
Motivating Contingent Workers
 Greatest motivating factor is the
opportunity to gain permanent
employment.
 Motivation is also increased if the
employee sees that the job he or she
is doing for the firm can develop
saleable skills.
Motivating Low-Skilled Service
Workers
 Many 15- to 24-year-olds have “McJobs” with
pay levels near minimum wage
 To motivate
 Employees want more respect
 Make jobs more appealing
 Raise pay levels
 Find unusual ways to motivate:
 Flexible work schedules
 Broader responsibility for inventory, scheduling,
and hiring
 Creation of a “family” atmosphere among
employees
Motivating Unionized
Employees
 Constraints of contract affect some forms of
rewards
 Some unions against pay-for-performance
 Additional ideas
 Create better work environments
 Show appreciation
 Provide opportunities for training and
advancement
 Listen to employees concerns
Motivating Public Sector
Employees
 Special challenge
 Much work is service-oriented, harder to
measure productivity
 Hard to link rewards to performance
 What to do
 Goal setting helps
 Goal difficulty and goal specificity help
improve motivation
Cross-Cultural Differences in
Motivation
 Canada and US rely on extrinsic
rewards more than other countries
 Japan and Germany rarely use
individual incentives
 Japan emphasizes group rewards
 China more likely to give bonuses to
everyone
Are Rewards Overrated?
Cognitive Evaluation Theory
 Allocating extrinsic rewards for
behaviour that had been previously
intrinsically rewarded tends to
decrease the overall level of
motivation.
Abolishing Rewards
 Alfie Kohn suggests that organizations
should focus less on rewards, more on
creating motivating environments
 Abolish incentives
 Re-evaluate evaluation
 Create conditions for authentic motivation
 Collaboration
 Content
 Choice
Summary
 Need Theories
 Be aware that individuals differ in their levels
and types of needs
 Goal Setting Theory
 Clear and difficult goals lead to higher levels of
employee productivity.
 Expectancy Theory
 Offers a relatively powerful explanation of
employee productivity, absenteeism, and
turnover.
Implications
 Recognize Individual Differences
 Employees have different needs.
 Don’t treat them all alike.
 Spend the time necessary to understand
what’s important to each employee.
 Use Goals and Feedback
 Allow Employees to Participate in
Decisions That Affect Them