IE 001

Engineering Manage-
ment
Motivating
Employees
MOTIVATION
INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES:
1. What is motivation?
2. Compare and contrast the:
● early theories of motivation
● contemporary theories of motivation
3. Discuss current issues in motivation
4. Some suggestions for motivating employees
MOTIVATION
What is Motivation?
- the processes that account for an individual’s
willingness to exert high levels of effort to reach
organizational goals, conditioned by the effort’s
ability to satisfy some individual need.
- refers to the process by which a person’s efforts
are energized, directed, and sustained toward
attaining a goal.
- Motivation works best when individual needs are
compatible with organizational goals.
MOTIVATION
- Three (3) elements in the definition:
● Effort: a measure of intensity or drive
● Direction: toward organizational goals
● Need: personalized reason to exert effort
(persistence – putting forth effort to
achieve the goals)
MOTIVATION

The Motivation Process:

EARLY THEORIES OF MOTIVATION:

Early Theories of Motivation:

1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
2. McGregor’s Theory X & Theory Y
3. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
4. Three-Needs Theory
EARLY THEORIES OF MOTIVATION:

Early Theories of Motivation:

I. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
- is probably the best known theory of motivation.
- Within every person, needs were categorized
into five levels.
● Individuals must satisfy lower-order needs before they
can satisfy higher order needs
● Satisfied needs will no longer motivate
● Motivating a person depends on knowing at
what level that person is on the hierarchy
- Hierarchy of needs as follows:
● Lower-order (external): physiological, safety
●Higher-order (internal): social, esteem, self-actualization
EARLY THEORIES OF MOTIVATION:

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

Source: Abraham H. Maslow, Robert D. Frager, Robert D., and James Fadiman,
Motivation and Personality, 3rd Edition, © 1987. Adapted by permission of
Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.
EARLY THEORIES OF MOTIVATION:
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Five Human Needs:
1. Physiological - food, drink, shelter, sex, and other
physical requirements
2. Safety - security & protection from physical and
emotional harm, as well as assurance that physical
needs will continue to be met
3. Social - affection, belongingness, acceptance, and
friendship.
4. Esteem – internal esteem factors such as self-
respect, autonomy, achievement & external esteem
factors such as status, recognition, & attention.
5. Self-actualization - growth, achieving one’s potential,
self-fulfillment; the drive to become what one is ca-
pable of becoming.
EARLY THEORIES OF MOTIVATION:

II. McGregor’s Theory X & Theory Y

- Douglas McGregor is best known for proposing
two assumptions about human nature:
● Theory X - is a negative view of people that
assumes employees have little ambition, dislike
work, avoid responsibility, and needs close su-
pervision to work effectively.
● Theory Y - is a positive view that assumes
employees enjoy work, seek out and accept re-
sponsibility, and exercise self-direction.
- Motivation is maximized by participative decision
making, interesting jobs, & good group relations
EARLY THEORIES OF MOTIVATION:

II. McGregor’s Theory X & Theory Y (cont’d)

- There are 2 types of motivators:
● extrinsic motivators – factors that are external
to the individual
● intrinsic motivators – factors that are internal
- Another way of looking at the X and Y theories:
● Theory X assumes that lower-order needs
(Maslow’s) dominate individuals
● Theory Y assumes that higher order needs
dominate.
EARLY THEORIES OF MOTIVATION:

III. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

- also called motivation-hygiene theory
- Job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are created
by different factors:
● Hygiene factors: extrinsic (environmental) factors that create
job dissatisfaction
● Motivators: intrinsic (psychological) factors that create job
satisfaction
- Attempted to explain why job satisfaction does not
result in increased performance
● No satisfaction - opposite of satisfaction (not dissatisfaction)
● It suggests that intrinsic factors are related to job satisfaction
and motivation, and extrinsic factors are associated with job dis-
satisfaction
EARLY THEORIES OF MOTIVATION:

Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

Source: Based on F. Herzberg, B. Mausner, and B. B. Snyderman, The Motivation

to Work (New York: John Wiley, 1959).
EARLY THEORIES OF MOTIVATION:

Contrasting Views of
Satisfaction–Dissatisfaction

- The basis of Herzberg’s theory is that he believed that the oppo-

site of satisfaction was not dissatisfaction.
- Removing dissatisfying characteristics from a job would not
necessarily make the job satisfying.
EARLY THEORIES OF MOTIVATION:

IV. Three-Needs Theory

- David McClelland and his associates proposed the
three-needs theory, which says there are three
acquired (not innate) needs that are major
motives in work:
● need for achievement (nAch) - which is the
drive to succeed and excel in relation to a set of
standards
● need for power (nPow) - which is the need to
make others behave in a way that they would
not have behaved otherwise
● need for affiliation (nAff) - which is the desire
for friendly & close interpersonal relationships
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION

Contemporary Theories of Motivation:

1. Goal-setting theory
2. Reinforcement theory
3. Job design theory
4. Equity theory
5. Expectancy theory
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
I. Goal Setting Theory:
- Says that specific goals increase performance
and that difficult goals, when accepted, result in
higher performance than do easy goals.
● working toward a goal is a major source of
job motivation, studies on goal setting have
demonstrated that specific and challenging goals
are superior motivating forces.
● goal-setting theory says that motivation is
maximized by difficult goals, whereas
achievement motivation is stimulated by mod-
erately challenging goals.
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
- the intention to work toward hard and specific
goals is a powerful motivating force, under the
proper conditions, it can lead to higher
performance. However, no evidence indicates
that such goals are associated with increased
job satisfaction.
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
Contingencies that Affect Goal Performance
Relationship:
1. Goal commitment – goal setting theory as-
sumes that an individual is committed to the
goal when:
● goals are made public
● the individual has an internal locus of control
● goals are self-set rather than assigned
2. Self-efficacy - refers to an individual’s belief
that he or she is capable of performing a task.
The higher your self-efficacy, the more
confidence you have to succeed in a task.
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
3. National culture – the value of goal setting
theory depends on the national culture. It is
well adapted to North American countries
because its main idea align with their cultures.
● it assumes that subordinates will be
reasonably independent
● that people will seek challenging goals
● that performance is considered important by
both managers and subordinates
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
Goal Setting Theory:
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
II. Reinforcement Theory:
- says that behavior is a function of its
consequences. Reinforcers are those
consequences that immediately follow a
behavior and increase the probability that the
behavior will be repeated.
- Reinforcement theory ignores factors such as
goals, expectations, and needs. Instead, it
focuses solely on what happens to a person
when he or she does something.
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
III. Job Design Theory:
- Job design
● refers to the way tasks are combined to form
complete jobs.
- Factors influencing job design:
● Changing organizational environment/structure
● The organization’s technology
● Employees’ skills, abilities, and preferences
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
- Job enlargement
● Increasing the scope (number of tasks) in a
job
● Job scope – is the number of different tasks
required in a job and the frequency with
which these tasks are repeated.
- Job enrichment
● Increasing responsibility and autonomy
(depth) in a job by adding planning and evaluat-
ing responsibilities.
● Job depth - is the degree of control employees
have over their work.
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
Job Characteristics Model (JCM):
- A framework for designing motivating jobs.
- Five primary job characteristics:
● Skill variety: how many skills and talents are
needed?
● Task identity: does the job produce a complete
work?
● Task significance: how important is the job?
● Autonomy: how much independence does the
jobholder have?
● Feedback: do workers know how well they are
doing?
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
Job Characteristics Model:

Source: J. R. Hackman and J. L. Suttle (eds.), Improving Life at Work

(Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman, 1977). With permission of authors.
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
Guidelines for Job Redesign:

Source: J. R. Hackman and J. L. Suttle (eds.), Improving Life at Work

(Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman, 1977). With permission of authors.
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
Guidelines for Job Redesign:
1. Combine tasks (job enlargement) to create
more meaningful work.
2. Create natural work units to make employees
work important and whole.
3. Establish external and internal client re-
lationships to provide feedback.
4. Expand jobs vertically (job enrichment) by
giving employees more autonomy.
5. Open feedback channels to let employees know
how well they are doing.
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
Redesigning Job Design Approaches:
1. Relational perspective of work design - focuses
on how people’s tasks and jobs are increasingly
based on social relationships.
2. Proactive perspective of work design - says
thatemployees are taking the initiative to
change how their work is performed; they are
more involved in decisions and actions that
affect their work.
● high-involvement work practices - are work
practices designed to elicit greater input or
involvement from workers.
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
IV. Equity Theory
- Proposes that employees perceive what they get
from a job situation (outcomes) in relation to
what they put in (inputs) and then compare
their inputs-outcomes ratio with the inputs-
outcomes ratios of relevant others.
● If the ratios are perceived as equal then a state of eq-
uity (fairness) exists
● If the ratios are perceived as unequal, inequity exists
and the person feels under- or over-rewarded
● When inequities occur, employees will attempt to do
something to rebalance the ratios (seek justice)
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
- Employee responses to perceived inequities:
● Distort own or others’ ratios
● Induce others to change their own inputs or
outcomes
● Change own inputs (increase or decrease
efforts) or outcomes (seek greater rewards)
● Choose a different comparison (referent)
other (person, systems, or self)
● Quit their job
- Employees are concerned with both the absolute
and relative nature of organizational rewards.
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
Equity Theory:

Person 1 is the employee; and person 2 is a relevant other or refer-

ent.
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
- Equity theory focuses on:
● Distributive Justice
– the perceived fairness of the amount and
allocation of rewards among individuals (i.e.,
who received what).
– influences an employee’s satisfaction
● Procedural Justice
– the perceived fairness of the process used
to determine the distribution of rewards (i.e.
how who received what)
– affects an employee’s organizational
commitment
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
V. Expectancy Theory
- states that an individual tends to act in a certain
way based on the expectation that the act will
be followed by a given outcome and on the
attractiveness of that outcome to the individual.
- Key to the theory is understanding & managing
employee goals and the linkages among and be-
tween effort, performance, and rewards
● Effort: employee abilities and training/development
● Performance: valid appraisal systems
● Rewards (goals): understanding employee needs
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
Simplified Expectancy Model:
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
Expectancy Variables or Relationships:
1. Expectancy (effort-performance linkage)
- the perceived probability that an individual’s
effort will result in a certain level of perfor-
mance
2. Instrumentality
- the perception that a particular level of per-
formance will result in attaining a desired outcome
(reward)
3. Valence
- the attractiveness/importance of the per-
formance reward (outcome) to the individual
 CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF
MOTIVATION
Increasing Motivation:
CURRENT ISSUES IN MOTIVATION

Current Issues in Motivation:

1. Cross-cultural Challenges
- Motivational programs are most applicable in
cultures where individualism and quality of life are
cultural characteristics.
● Uncertainty avoidance of some cultures inverts
Maslow’s needs hierarchy
●The need for achievement (nAch) is lacking in
other cultures
● Collectivist cultures view rewards as “entitlements”
to be distributed based on individual needs, not indi-
vidual performance
CURRENT ISSUES IN MOTIVATION

2. Cross-cultural Consistencies
- Interesting work is widely desired, as is
growth, achievement, and responsibility.
3. Motivating Unique Groups of Workers
- Motivating a diverse workforce through
flexibility.
● Men desire more autonomy than do women
● Women desire learning opportunities, flexible work
schedules, and good interpersonal relations
CURRENT ISSUES IN MOTIVATION
Snapshots of Cultural Differences in Motivation
(According to Studies):
CURRENT ISSUES IN MOTIVATION
4. Flexible Work/Job Schedules
- Compressed workweek
● Longer daily hours, but fewer days
- Flexible work hours (flextime)
● Specific weekly hours with varying arrival,
departure, lunch/break times around certain core
hours during which all employees must be present
- Job Sharing
● Two or more people split a full-time job
- Telecommuting
● Employees work from home using computer
links
CURRENT ISSUES IN MOTIVATION
5. Motivating Professionals
- Characteristics of professionals
● Strong and long-term commitment to their
field of expertise
● Loyalty is to their profession, not to the
employer
● Have the need to regularly update their
knowledge
● Don’t define their workweek as 8:00 am
to 5:00 pm
- Motivators for professionals
● Job challenge
● Organizational support of their work
CURRENT ISSUES IN MOTIVATION
6. Motivating in a Unionized Environment
- Unionized workplaces provide challenges to
motivation theories
- Unions worry that differential pay for doing
similar work can hurt cooperation
7. Motivating in the Public Sector
- Productivity is more difficult to measure because
the work carried out is often of a service nature
- Harder to make link between rewards and
productivity
- Research suggests that setting goals significantly
improves motivation of public sector employees
CURRENT ISSUES IN MOTIVATION
8. Motivating Contingent Workers
- Opportunity to become a permanent employee
- Opportunity for training
- Equity in compensation and benefits
9. Motivating Low-Skilled, Minimum-Wage Em-
ployees
- Employee recognition programs
- Provision of sincere praise
CURRENT ISSUES IN MOTIVATION

Designing Appropriate Rewards Pro-

grams:
1. Open-book management
- Involving employees in workplace decision by
opening up the financial statements of the em-
ployer
2. Employee recognition programs
- Giving personal attention and expressing
interest, approval, and appreciation for a job well
done
CURRENT ISSUES IN MOTIVATION
3. Pay-for-performance
- Variable compensation plans that reward
employees on the basis of their performance.
● Piece rates, wage incentives, profit-sharing,
and lump-sum bonuses
4. Stock option programs
- Using financial instruments (in lieu of monetary
compensation) that give employees the right
to purchase shares of company stock at a set (op-
tion) price.
 FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

Suggestions for Motivating Employees:

● Recognize individual differences in terms of
needs, attitudes, personality, and other impor-
tant individual factors.
● Match people to jobs by identifying what needs
are important to individuals and trying to provide
jobs that allow them to fulfill those needs.
● Individualize rewards. Because employees have
different needs, what is a reward and rein-
forcer to one may not work for another.
 FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

Suggestions for Motivating Employees (cont’d):

● Link rewards to performance by making rewards
contingent on desired levels of performance.
● Check the system for equity. Employees should
perceive that the rewards or outcomes are equal to
the inputs given.
● Use recognition. Using recognition is a powerful,
yet low-cost means to reward employees.
● Don’t ignore money. The allocation of per-
formance-based increases, piecework bonuses,
and other pay incentives is important in de-
termining employee motivation.
 FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

Suggestions for Motivating Employees:

 FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

Basic Principles to Remember in Motivation:

● Motivating employees starts with motivating
yourself
● Always work to align goals of the organization with
goals of employees
● Key to supporting the motivation of your employees
is understanding what motivates each of them
● Recognize that supporting employee motivation is
a process, not a task
● Support employee motivation by using or-
ganizational systems (for example, policies and pro-
cedures) -- don't just count on good intentions