Employee Motivation
Employee Motivation
A question often asked by first-line supervisors and managers is “How do we motivate our employees?” Effectively motivating employees to achieve a desired outcome is one of the most important functions as a supervisor or manager. There is evidence to show organizations are facing challenges retaining employees due to limited opportunities for advancement and the current competitive labor market. It does not appear things will get any better in the future. The loss of employees represents a loss of skills, knowledge, and experiences and can create a significant economic impact and cost to corporations as well as impacting the needs of customers. Managers who can motivate employees assist the organization by improving employee retention and reinforcing positive behaviors (Ramlall, 2004).
Motivation What is motivation? The word motivation originates from the Latin word “to move” and is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as an “act or process of a motivating force, stimulus, or influence.” Motivation is known to be a predictive variable which influences employee job satisfaction (Pool, 1997).
The subject of motivation is a well-researched topic and many motivational theories have been written over the years. One in particular developed by Victor Vroom in 1964 still has application in today’s business environment (Quick 1988). His expectancy theory on motivation is a mathematical model based on three factors: expectancy, instrumentality, and valence. . All must work together to be highly successful, and all three together can have a powerful affect. The formula is Motivation = Expectancy * Instrumentality * Valence as illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1 – Expectancy Theory Managers should be aware of factors that can influence employee expectancy perceptions such as a: strong self-esteem, sense of accomplishment, personal effectiveness and efficiency, successful completion of tasks, pleasurable work environment (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2007).
A question often asked by first-line supervisors and managers is “How do we motivate our employees?” Effectively motivating employees to achieve a desired outcome is one of the most important functions as a supervisor or manager. There is evidence to show organizations are facing challenges retaining employees due to limited opportunities for advancement and the current competitive labor market. It does not appear things will get any better in the future. The loss of employees represents a loss of skills, knowledge, and experiences and can create a significant economic impact and cost to corporations as well as impacting the needs of customers. Managers who can motivate employees assist the organization by improving employee retention and reinforcing positive behaviors (Ramlall, 2004).
Motivation What is motivation? The word motivation originates from the Latin word “to move” and is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as an “act or process of a motivating force, stimulus, or influence.” Motivation is known to be a predictive variable which influences employee job satisfaction (Pool, 1997).
The subject of motivation is a well-researched topic and many motivational theories have been written over the years. One in particular developed by Victor Vroom in 1964 still has application in today’s business environment (Quick 1988). His expectancy theory on motivation is a mathematical model based on three factors: expectancy, instrumentality, and valence. . All must work together to be highly successful, and all three together can have a powerful affect. The formula is Motivation = Expectancy * Instrumentality * Valence as illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1 – Expectancy Theory Managers should be aware of factors that can influence employee expectancy perceptions such as a: strong self-esteem, sense of accomplishment, personal effectiveness and efficiency, successful completion of tasks, pleasurable work environment (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2007).
References: Halepota, H. A. (2005). Motivational theories and their application in construction. Cost Engineering, 47, 14-18. Isaac, R. G., Zerbe, W. J. & Pitt, D. C. (2001). Leadership and motivation: the effective application of expectancy. Journal of Managerial Issues, 13, 212-226 Kreitner, R., & Kinicki, A. (2007). Organizational Behavior (7th ed.). New York: The McGraw Hill Companies. Pool, S. W. (1997). The relationship of job satisfaction with substitutes of leadership, leadership behavior, and work motivation. The Journal of Psychology, 131. 271- 283. Ramlall, S. (2004). A review of employee motivation theories and their implications for employee retention within organizations. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 5, 52-63. Quick, T. L. (1988). Expectancy theory in five simple steps. Training and Development Journal, 42(7), 30-33. Quick, T. L. (1989). The best kept secret for increasing productivity. (Motivation). Sales & Marketing Management, 141, 34-39. Wang, P. (2004). Teacher as leader and student as follower: the implementation of e expectancy theory in English classes in Taiwanese College. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 5, 418-422.