So, my topic is Contemporary methods of motivation at work.

Let’s start
Slide 2
Motivation is a process in a person who moves towards a goal. Given that
employees represent the most valuable part of any organization, their motivation is
one of the most significant management functions. That's why we rely on the
foundation of the early management scholars, which enabled managers and the HR
department to better understand their workers and methods to motivate them in the
best way. Since then, new theories have given us an even dipper knowledge of
employee motivation. I suggest you consider four main theories: the expectancy
(экспЭктанси) theory, the equity (эквИти) theory, the goal-setting theory, and the
reinforcement (риинфОрсмэнд) theory.

Slide 3
Expectancy Theory

One of the best-supported and most widely accepted theories of motivation is

expectancy theory, which focuses on the link between motivation and behavior.
According to this theory, the probability of an individual acting in a particular way
depends on the strength of that individual’s belief that the act will have a particular
outcome and on whether the individual values outcome. The degree to which an
employee is motivated depends on three crucial relationships.

 The link between effort and performance, or the strength of the individual’s
expectation that a certain amount of effort will lead to a certain level of
performance;
 The link between performance and outcome, or the strength of the
expectation that a certain level of performance will lead to a particular
outcome;
 The link between outcomes and individual needs, or the degree to which the
individual expects the anticipated (антИсипэйтид) outcome to satisfy
personal needs. 

Slide 4
For example, let's say a manager tasked their employee with producing an
advertising campaign would get them the bonus they wanted as a reward (ривОд).
According to our theory, the employee must believe the task is achievable in order
for them, to put the effort into it. If the task is doable, the employee will be keen to
perform well in anticipation of the bonus.
Employees must also believe that this effort they put in, will get them the desired
outcome, so the organization must deliver on the outcomes it promises.
Luckily, our example organization bestows (бестОус) rewards often, so due to the
employee's trust and hard work, the advertising campaign is engaging and
performs well, and so the employee earns that satisfying bonus!
Slide 5
Equity Theory

Another contemporary method of motivation, this theory is based on individuals’

perceptions about how fairly they are treated compared to their coworkers. Equity
means justice or fairness, and in the workplace, it refers to employees’ perceived
fairness in the way they are treated and the rewards they earn. For example,
imagine that after graduation you were offered a job that paid $55,000 a year and
had great benefits. You’d probably be ecstatic (Экстатик), even more so if you
discovered that the coworker in the next cubicle was making $45,000 for the same
job. But what if that same colleague were making $59,000 for the same job? You’d
probably think it unfair, particularly if the coworker had the same qualifications
and started at the same time as you did. Your determination of the fairness of the
situation would depend on how you felt compared to the other person. Employees
evaluate their outcomes (like salary, benefits) about their inputs (number of hours
worked, education, and training) and then compare the outcomes-to-inputs ratio to
experience gained.

Slide 6
According to equity theory, if employees perceive that inequity exists, they will
make one of the following choices:
 Change their work habits (make less effort on the job)
 Change their job benefits and income (maybe ask for a raise)
 Distort their perception of themselves (“I always thought I was smart, but
now I realize I’m a lot smarter than my colleagues.”)
 Distort their perceptions of others (“Joe’s position is really much less
flexible than mine.”)
 Look at the situation from different angles (“I don’t make as much as the
other department heads, but I make a lot more than most graphic artists.”)
 Leave the situation (quit the job)

Managers can use equity theory to improve worker satisfaction. Knowing that
every employee seeks equitable (Эквитабл) and fair treatment, managers can make
an effort to understand an employee’s perceptions of fairness and take steps to
reduce concerns about inequity. However, I must say that it is really hard to give
all employees equal working conditions. I guess it takes more than one or two
years to set up all internal processes, so it's a very subtle (сатл) psychological
moment.

Slide 7
Goal-Setting Theory

Goal-setting theory is based on the premise that an individual’s intention to work

toward a goal is a primary source of motivation. Once set, the goal clarifies for the
employee what needs to be accomplished and how much effort will be required for
completion. The theory has three main components: 
 specific goals lead to a higher level of performance than do more
generalized goals (“do your best”); 
 challenging goals lead to better performance than do easy ones; 
 feedback on progress toward the goal enhances performance. Feedback is
particularly important because it helps the individual identify the gap
between the real (the actual performance) and the ideal (the desired outcome
defined by the goal).

To help employees during the peak of the holiday delivery season, UPS, FedEx,
and the U.S. Postal Service paid additional overtime to help achieve their goals.
UPS even deployed (деплОйд) some office personnel to help deliver packages and
created team goals to ensure there was cooperation and shared reward with
employees from different departments within the organization. The strategy seems
to have worked, with UPS reporting an on-time delivery rate of 99.1% for the
week before Christmas.

To my mind, this is a completely linear (линеар) method of performing their job

duties. The only thing I would like to emphasize here is the presence of feedback,
because employees, like no one else, see the situation from the inside and know
what can be corrected.

Slide 8
Reinforcement Theory

Reinforcement theory says that behavior is a function of its consequences. In other

words, people do things because they know other things will follow. So, depending
on what type of consequences follows, people will either practice a behavior or
refrain from it. There are three basic types of consequences: positive, negative, and
none. In general, we think of positive ones as rewards, but a reward is anything
that increases a particular behavior. By contrast, punishment is anything that
decreases behavior.

Motivating with the reinforcement theory can be tricky because it is functional. All
its components are defined by their function rather than their structure. That is,
consequences can operate differently for different people and in different
situations. What is considered a punishment by one person may be a reward for
another. Nonetheless, managers can successfully use reinforcement theory to
motivate workers to practice certain behaviors and avoid others. Often, managers
use both rewards and punishment to achieve the desired results.

Slide 9
That’s my Quick outline. I will not read it in order to save time, but if you are
interested in the topic of staff motivation, I really advice you to make a screenshot
of this slide. I suppose it will be so useful in our future career.
 equity theory
 A theory of motivation holds that worker satisfaction is influenced by
employees’ perceptions about how fairly they are treated compared with
their coworkers.
 expectancy theory
  A theory of motivation holds that the probability of an individual acting in a
particular way depends on the strength of that individual’s belief that the act
will have a particular outcome and on whether the individual values that
outcome.
 goal-setting theory
  A theory of motivation is based on the premise that an individual’s intention
to work toward a goal is a primary source of motivation.
 reinforcement theory
  A theory of motivation holds that people do things because they know that
certain consequences will follow.
 reward
  Anything that increases a specific behavior.
 punishment
  Anything that decreases a specific behavior.

Slide 10
Conclusion
I thought about whether it is possible to single out just one separate theory to rely
on it when building employee motivation. Many scientific articles that I read
helped to find the answer to this question, and no, it’s impossible. They are
remarkable in that they act in synergy, complementing each other and organizing a
big thing called "corporate culture".

Slide 11
That's all I wanted to say. Here are my sources.
Sources:
• Modern Approaches to employee motivation
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334310227_Modern_approaches_t
o_employee_motivation
• Contemporary Views on Motivation
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-osintrobus/chapter/contemporary-
views-on-motivation/#return-footnote-167-1
• How to Motivate Staff and Increase Performance
https://www.tsw.co.uk/blog/leadership-and-management/vrooms-
expectancy-theory/
• Financial Incentives: Types, Definitions and Examples
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/incentives-types
Slide 12
And yeah, that's it. Your questions, please, if you have any.

1. Give an example of bonuses used for Expectancy Theory.

Oh yes, this is a very important question. Such bonuses are divided into
material or tangible and nonmaterial or intangible. Material incentives
(инсЕнтивс) include awards, vacation trip, some gifts, even company
shares. Non-material incentives (инсЕнтивс) are more interesting, to my
mind, they include extra days off, compliment, diploma or certificate, and
maybe photo on the honor roll

And how does this theory differ from Reinforcement Theory.

Expectancy theory and reinforcement theory are similar in that both consider
the processes by which an individual chooses behaviors in a particular
situation. However, expectancy theory focuses more on behavior choices,
and reinforcement theory focuses more on the consequences of those
choices.

2. What methods can be used to punish employees?

Oh, there are a lot of them, and each company has its own. I know for sure
that the system of fines for being late, not fulfilling the KPI’s, and so on is
very common. It is also popular to work during weekends or in the evening
after the main work. And, probably, I can also name the deprivation of
bonuses. Also, not a very pleasant result.

3. Are there any ways to control Goal-setting theory?

this is a very good question. I could be wrong, but most likely yes. Setting
SMART goals, well-set KPIs and developing a corporate culture so that the
employee is satisfied to be in the place where he spends most of his working
hours