Motivation of Employees and Expectancy Theory - Essay Example

Motivation Name Institution Course Date Motivation Every company requires leadership and management. Leaders are able to influence the behaviour of the employees and ensure that the goals of an organisation are achieved. The major impact of effective leadership is motivation (Kark and Diil, 2007). Successful managers are the ones who are able to influence employees by motivating them to be committed and engaged in their work. Motivation of employees is possible when they are assisted to achieve their own personal and career goals. Managers can only become leaders if they are able to motivate their followers. There are many leadership styles that managers use to lead the employees (Alan & Chuck, 2014). Examples of these leadership styles include transformational, charismatic, transactional, and visionary leadership styles among others. Managers should utilize leadership styles that are able to motivate the employees. Leaders are able to motivate their employees through open communication, rewards and recognition, training and development and group dynamics (Kark and Diil, 2007). This paper is focused on the role of management in motivating employees. The essay will discuss motivation and expectancy theory. The Essay will include a discussion of valence, instrumentality and expectancy. Motivation can be termed as both the external and internal factors that fuel desire in individuals and encourage them to be committed and engaged in their work or stimulate the desire to attain a goal (Bernard et al., 2005). Motivation stems from conscious and unconscious influences like reward value of a goal, intensity of desire and expectations of the individual. Leadership is an important influence of motivation and effective leadership leads to motivation of employees. Motivation is very important in an organisation since without it, operations are bound to fail (Bernard et al., 2005). Due to technology advancement and economy change, companies today are faced with stiff competition. There is thus a need to create competitive advantage in order to survive. For this to be possible, companies should focus more on the employees and should exploit their full potential (Kark and Diil, 2007). It is important for managers to motivate their employees in order to have a competitive edge. There are many motivation theories developed that explain how employees can be motivated. Needs theory of motivation such as the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Theory and Herzberg Motivation Theory explains what motivates employees (Bernard et al., 2005). Nevertheless, Expectancy theory of motivation is based on the assumption that behaviour results from conscious choices that maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Expectancy theory highlights the idea that people believe in the interrelationship between efforts put forth in doing a task, the performance achieved as a result of the efforts and rewards received from the efforts and good performance (Alan & Chuck, 2014). This means that people can only be motivated if they have confidence in the fact that their efforts will yield good performance and their good performance will yield anticipated rewards. Expectancy motivation theory is founded upon four important assumptions. First, expectancy theory assumes that people look for employment position in a company with anticipations about their needs and motivations which impact their reactions towards the organisation (Nimri, Bdair and Al Bitar, 2015). In addition, the theory also assumes that the behaviour of a person is due to their conscious choice (Nimri, Bdair and Al Bitar, 2015). This means that individuals have the freedom to choose behaviours proposed by their expectancy calculations. Third, expectancy theory of motivation assumes that people have different expectations from the organisation such as challenge, recognition, career advancement, job security, and compensation package etc. the fourth assumption highlights that people choose from different alternatives in order to enhance outcomes for themselves (Nimri, Bdair and Al Bitar, 2015). Based on the four assumptions, the expectancy theory of motivation has three fundamental components including expectancy, instrumentality and valence. An individual is motivated to an extent that there is a belief that effort will yield good performance (expectancy), good performance will yield anticipated reward (instrumentality) and due to good performance, the value of the reward is very positive (valence) (Lee, 2007). Figure 1. the basic expectancy theory of motivation model Expectancy can be defined as the estimation of an individual that increased effort is able to yield good performance (Lee, 2007). For instance, if an individual works hard then he is able to perform well. Expectancy is founded upon possibilities and ranges from 0 to 1. If an employee does not foresee a chance for their efforts to yield good performance level then the expectancy is said to be 0 (Lee, 2007). However, if the employee foresees a chance for desired performance from their efforts, then the expectancy theory is considered to have a value of 1. In the main, employee probability of expectancy is between these two extremes. Expectancy is affected by factors such as having necessary knowledge and skills to undertake the task, having the required resources such as time and raw material and having the right support like information and supervisor support (Lee, 2007). On the other hand, instrumentality is defined as an approximation of the probability that good performance of a task will yield desired outcomes. Instrumentality also ranges from 0 to 1. If the employee is able to foresee good performance bringing about desired reward then the instrumentality score is 1 (Alan & Chuck, 2014). The lack of perceived interrelationship between good performance and reward outcome results to instrumentality score of 0. Instrumentality is influenced by factors such as trust in the decision makers of good performance and reward, transparency of the decision making process and a clear understanding of the connection between performance and reward (Lee, 2007). Valence may be termed as the importance placed upon expected outcomes. It is the employee preference for a specific outcome or reward. For instance, salary increases, appreciation, career development and promotion may have more or less value to an employee (Lee, 2007). Every employee has different preference for rewards of good performance. Valence can be positive or negative. Positive valence result when an employee has a strong preference for a given reward. When the employees are unresponsive to a given reward, then the valence is considered 0 (Lee, 2007). The valence range is -1 to +1.according to expectancy theory, expectancy, instrumentality and valence are interrelated; The equation illustrates that motivation of employees is higher when the three elements are all high. Expectancy theory is used to illustrate what motivates the employees. The theory does not give a specific method of motivating the employees (Nimri, Bdairand Al Bitar, 2015). What it does is to offer cognitive variables that replicate differences in employee motivation. To motivate employees, managers should modify effort-to-performance expectancy, reward valences as well as performance-to reward expectancy. In effort-to-performance expectancy variable, managers should believe that employees can perform their work successfully (Nimri, Bdairand Al Bitar, 2015). This can be done through training and development, and offering sufficient resources etc. In the performance-to reward expectancy, managers should believe that goof performance yield desired rewards (Nimri, Bdairand Al Bitar, 2015). This can be done through measurement of job performance, communication of methods of performance rewards and linking the performance to desired reward through pay-for-performance plans etc. Valence of rewards variable means that managers should increase the value of rewards that result from desired performance. This can be done through individualizing rewards and distributing rewards that are values by employees (Nimri, Bdairand Al Bitar, 2015). Working as a volunteer during the holidays, I was given the privilege of being a team leader. The major challenge that I faced was lack of employee morale and commitment for work. In order to motivate my followers, I decided to employ strategies such as involving employees in decision making, appreciating the people who do good work, advocating for open communication and enhancing teamwork. These strategies worked but not for every employee. Some employees appreciated group decision making while others did not perceive it as a motivating strategy. I realized that different people are motivated by different things. Motivation is possible when leaders clearly communicate expectations from employees and assist them achieve their performance level. In addition, good performance should also be linked to valued reward. I learnt that it is important to individualize rewards for good performance since employees perceive rewards differently (Lee, 2007). In conclusion, in order to be competitive, companies should focus their attention on the employees. Motivation is an important factor driving success in organisations. Expectancy motivation theory is different from other motivation theories such as Maslow and Herzberg motivation theories. Expectancy theory does not offer a specific way to motivate the employees. The theory offers a process of cognitive variables that highlights that different employees are motivated differently. According to the theory, employees do not act as a result of unmet needs or presentation of rewards. Employees are considered rational people whole perceptions and estimates influence their behaviour in the workplace. The theory has some implications for employee’s motivation. Expectancy theory offers a number of things that can be changes or done in order to motivate the employees by modifying reward valences, effort-to-performance expectancy as well as performance-to-reward expectancy. References Alan, M & Chuck W 2014, MGMT, edition 2, Cengage Learning Australia. Bernard, L.C. Mills, M., Swenish, L & Walsh. R.P 2005. An Evolutionary theory of motivation. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monography, vol.131, no. 2, pp. 129-184. Kark, R & Dijl, D.V 2007, Motivation to lead, Motivation to follow: The role of the self-regulatory focus in leadership processes. Academy of Management Review, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 500-528. Lee, S 2007, Vroom's expectancy theory and the public library customer motivation model. Library Review, vol. 56, no. 9, pp.788-796. Nimri, M., Bdair, A and Al Bitar, H 2015, Applying the Expectancy Theory to Explain the Motivation of Public Sector Employees in Jordan. MEJB, vol. 10, no. 3, pp.70-82. Read More