Industrial/ Organizational Psychology
And is
Chapter 9: Work Motivation Reviewer
Aamondt
work motivation
 the internal force that drives a worker to action
as well as the external factors that encourage
that action (Locke & Latham, ).
“motivation determines whether the worker will do it
properly”
Self-esteem
 It is the extent to which a person views himself
as valuable and worthy.
 Korman’s consistency theory, there is a positive
correlation between self-esteem and
performance.
 employees try to perform at levels consistent
with their self-esteem level
Three types of self esteem
1. Chronic self-esteem is a person’s overall
feeling about himself.
2. Situational self-esteem (also called self-
efficacy) is a person’s feeling about himself
in a particular situation such as operating a
machine or talking to other people.
3. Socially influenced self-esteem is how a
person feels about himself on the basis of
the expectations of others.
Self-Esteem Workshops
 To increase self-esteem, employees can attend
workshops in which they are given insights into
their strengths.
 Outdoor experiential training is another
approach to increasing self-esteem
Experience with Success
 It is thought that this success increases self-
esteem, which should increase performance,
which further increases self-esteem, which
further increases performance, and so on
 Self-fulfilling prophecy, which states that an
individual will perform as well or as poorly as he
expects to perform.
 This relationship between self-expectations and
performance is called the Galatea effect.
Supervisor Behavior
 Another approach to increasing employee self-
esteem is to train supervisors to communicate a
feeling of confidence in an employee.
known as the Pygmalion effect
 The Pygmalion effect is that if an employee
feels that a manager has confidence in him, his
self-esteem will increase, as will his
performance.
 In contrast, the Golem effect occurs when
negative expectations of an individual cause a
decrease in that individual’s actual performance
 Expectations can be delivered through non-
verbal cues
“The Pygmalion and Golem effects can be explained by
the idea that our expectations of others’ performance
lead us to treat them differently”
Intrinsic Motivation
 When people are intrinsically motivated, they
will seek to perform well because they either
enjoy performing the actual tasks or enjoy the
challenge of successfully completing the task.
 People who are intrinsically motivated don’t
need external rewards such as pay or praise
 Individual orientations toward intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation can be measured by the
Work Preference Inventory (WPI)
o yields scores on two dimensions of
intrinsic motivation
 enjoyment
 challenge
o two dimensions of extrinsic motivation
 compensation
 outward orientation
Needs for Achievement and Power
 Employees who have a strong need for
achievement are motivated by jobs that are
challenging and over which they have some
control
 Employees who have a strong need for
affiliation are motivated by jobs in which they
can work with and help other people
 Employees who have a strong need for power
are motivated by a desire to influence others
rather than simply to be successful
Job Expectations
 A discrepancy between what an employee
expected a job to be like and the reality of the
job can affect motivation and satisfaction
  it is important that applicants be given a
realistic job preview (RJP)
o These are devices used in the early
stages of personnel selection to provide
potential applicants with information
on both positive and negative aspects of
the job
Job Characteristics
 Job characteristics theory, employees desire
jobs that are:
o meaningful,
o provide them with the opportunity to
be personally responsible for the
outcome of their work (autonomy)
o provide them with feedback of the
results of their efforts
 According to job characteristics theory, jobs will
have motivation potential if:
o they allow employees to use a variety of
skills (skill variety) and
o to connect their efforts to an outcome
(task identification)
o which has meaning, is useful, or is
appreciated by co-workers as well as by
others in society (task significance)
Needs, Values, and Wants
 A discrepancy between an employee’s needs,
values, and wants, and what a job offers can
also lead to low levels of motivation and
satisfaction
 Three theories focus on employees’ needs and
values:
o Maslow’s needs hierarchy
 Basic Biological Needs
 Safety Needs
 Social Needs
 Ego Needs
 Self-Actualization
o ERG theory
 Existence
 Relatedness
 Growth
o two-factor theory
 Hygiene factors are those job-
related elements that result
from but do not involve the job
itself.
 Motivators are job elements
that do concern actual tasks
and duties.
Goal setting
 Should be used to increase motivation
 For it to be most successful, the goals
themselves should possess certain qualities,
SMART:
o Specific
o Measurable
o Attainable
o Relevant
o Time-bound
o Employee Participation
Feedback
 Feedback should be provided to employees on
their progress in reaching their goals to increase
the effectiveness of goal setting
 Can include verbally telling employees
o how they are doing
o placing a chart on a wall
o using nonverbal communication such
as smiles, glares, and pats on the back
 best increases performance when it is positive
and informational rather than negative and
controlling
Self-Regulation Theory
 Employees monitor their own progress toward
attaining goals and then make the necessary
adjustments
Rewards and Incentives
 An essential strategy for motivating employees
is to provide an incentive for employees to
accomplish the goals set by an organization
Operant conditioning principles
 It is the basis for these incentive systems are,
which state that employees will engage in
behaviors for which they are rewarded and
avoid behaviors for which they are punished
Six factors in determining the effectiveness of
incentive programs
1. timing of the incentive
2. contingency of the consequences
3. type of incentive used
4. use of individual-based versus group-based
incentives
5. use of positive incentives (rewards) versus
negative incentives (punishment)
6. fairness of the reward system (equity).
Timing of the Incentive
 Research indicates that a reinforcer or a
punisher is most effective if it occurs soon after
the performance of the behaviour
Contingency of Consequences
 If it is not possible to immediately reward or
punish a behavior, it should at least be made
clear that the employee understands the
behaviors that brought reward or punishment
Type of Incentive Used
 Different employees have different values,
which is why supervisors should have access to
and be trained to administer different types of
reinforcers
 It is important to conduct periodic employee
surveys about what employees want because
supervisors and employees often have different
ideas about what is rewarding and important
 The need for variety in rewards is also true of
punishment
Premack Principle
 States that reinforcement is relative and that a
supervisor can reinforce an employee with
something that on the surface does not appear
to be a reinforcer.
 construct a reinforcement hierarchy on which
an employee lists his preferences for a variety
of reinforcers
Financial Rewards
 It can be used to motivate better worker
performance either by making variable pay an
integral part of an employee’s compensation
package or by using financial rewards as a
“bonus” for accomplishing certain goals.
 in the form of bonuses or prizes are also used to
motivate employees
Recognition
 Rather than providing financial incentives, many
organizations reward employee behavior
through recognition programs
 In some organizations, recognition awards are
given by peers
o social recognition
 It is an Informal recognition
program, that can prove to be
tremendous sources of
employee motivation
Travel
 Many organizations are offering travel awards
rather than financial rewards
Individual Incentive Plans
 Individual incentive plans are designed to make
high levels of individual performance financially
worthwhile and the research is clear monetary
incentives increase performance over the use of
a guaranteed hourly salary
o Pay for Performance – Based according
to how much they individually produce
o merit pay – based on performance
appraisal scores
Group Incentive Plans
 It is to get employees to participate in the
success or failure of the organization
o Profit Sharing – provide employees
with a percentage of profits above a
certain amount
o Gainsharing – ties groupwide financial
incentives to improvements (gains) in
organizational performance
o Stock Options – employees are given
the opportunity to purchase stock in
the future
Expectancy Theory
 Expectancy (E): The perceived relationship
between the amount of effort an employee puts
in and the resulting outcome.
 Instrumentality (I): The extent to which the
outcome of a worker’s performance, if noticed,
results in a particular consequence.
 Valence (V): The extent to which an employee
values a particular consequence.
Motivation = E (I × V)
 It can also be used to suggest ways to change
employee motivation.
Reward Versus Punishment
 Rather than rewarding desired behaviors, we
can change employee performance by
punishing undesired behaviours
 if applied properly, punishment not only
reduces undesired behaviors in a particular
employee but also sets an example for other
employees
 For punishment to be effective, an employee
must understand why he is being punished and
 be shown alternative ways of behaving that will
result in some type of desired reinforcement.
 The punishment must also “fit the crime”
 punishment should usually be done in private
rather than in front of other employees.

Equity theory
 our levels of motivation and job satisfaction are
related to how fairly we believe we are treated
in comparison with others
 Three components:
o Inputs are those personal elements that
we put into our jobs
o Outputs are those elements that we
receive from our jobs
 Organizational justice
o procedural justice
o distributive justice
o interactional justice