According to Williams (2013), motivation is the set of forces that initiates, directs and makes people persist in their efforts to accomplish a goal. The basic model of work motivation and performance shows the factors that make up motivation to create a positive performance. The basic model begins with effort and the initiation of that effort. The initiation includes the choices individuals make in how much effort that they will put into the job at hand. It is a question they ask themselves of whether they will do the best job they are capable of or just do a good enough job to get by. Next is the direction of effort. This speaks to the choices people make when deciding where to put forth the most effort in reference to the job they are working on. This could be putting more time and effort into a part of the job you enjoy and then quickly going through the motions during a part of the job you dislike. Finally is the persistence of effort. This includes the choices workers make when deciding how long they will put forth a good effort before either decreasing their effort or stopping them altogether. This could include a student working on a paper and deciding on stopping with a half page essay because they are tired or pushing forward and making it a page essay before they quit. Besides motivation, a worker’s ability and certain situational constraints also play a role in job performance. The second idea that affects performance is ability. This is the extent to which a worker holds the skills, knowledge and talent to perform the job required of them. The third characteristic that affects performance is situational constraints. These are forces that are out of the workers
References: Williams, Chuck (2013). MGMT: Principles of Management. Mason, OH. South-Western