Process theories of motivation
Content theories attempt to explain those specific things which motivate the individual at work and are concerned with identifying people's needs and the strength of those needs
Process theories of motivation look at motivation as the outcome of a dynamic interaction between the person and their experiences of an organisation and its management and are concerned with how behaviour is initiated, directed and sustained i.e the actual process of motivation - the thought processes behind work and effort
Such processes depend critically on the sense individuals make of their experiences at work
Process theories of motivation focus upon what people think when they decide whether or not to place effort into a particular work activity
Vroom's expectancy theory
Based on the idea that people are influenced or motivated by the expected results of their actions
The extent to which an employee will be motivated to complete a task depends on the degree to which they think that task will help them achieve outcomes that are important to them
First level outcome
The immediate result of the effort put into the task
Eg by assisting a manager with a task, an employee may learn new skills which would be a positive first level outcome. A negative first level outcome might be arriving late because they the snooze button on their alarm too many times that morning
Second level outcome
Arises as a result of achieving or not achieving a first level outcome
Eg having acquired new skills may lead to opportunities for promotion, a positive second level outcome and continuously coming in late can lead to disciplinary proceedings, a negative second level outcome
Argues that an individual's motivation is determined by their view of expectancy (A given level of effort will lead to a first level outcome), instrumentality (a second level outcome will arise out of achieving a first level outcome) and the valence of outcomes (personal attractiveness of different outcomes as positive or negative)
If an employee assigns positive valence to an outcome they will be drawn into activities and behaviours that will make achieving that outcome more likely. If the outcome is viewed as being negatively valent they will be motivated to act in a way to avoid that outcome
Expectancy, instrumentality and valence combine to create a driving force which motivates an individual to instil effort, achieve a level of performance and obtain rewards at the end
The theory suggests that individuals will only act when they have a reasonable expectancy that their behaviour will lead to the desired outcomes, it stresses the importance of personal perception of the situation
Influenced the design of work, emphasising intrinsic job factors such as variet, autonomy, task identity and feedback all which have the potential to act as motivators
Goal setting theory
Based on the power of goals to direct actions
Setting of goals can be a powerful motivator because goals give the individual something specific for which to aim
Once an employee accepts a goal, they can be expected to exert a high level of effort to achieve it
Goals provide focus, they direct us to the task at hand and away from distration
Goals energise the employee and difficult goals help employees to develop strategies for improving efficiency
Goals as statements about the future or their purpose and objectives are the exact steps you must take to reach goals or targets
Employees perform better if they are afforded some say in the goal setting process
When setting objectives, it is important to ensure these are clear and seen to be obtainable
SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic and Time-Related so what needs to be done is understood, progress will be able to be monitored, it is clear who will do it, it will be possible for them to do it and the timeframe within which the objective is to be achieved is specified
Feedback on progress and performance is an important element in goal setting theory as in the absence of this feedback, employees have no sense of whether or not they are likely to achieve the goals and the remaining actions required to do so,
Argues that it is the goal itself that provides the driving force
Goals may unify and direct the whole organisation as well as departments or individuals
Goals are a powerful force in an organisational culture development and are set to incorporate strategy, budgets, performance systems and individual appraisals. They can be set for the long, mid and short term
Adams equity theory
Proposes that employees expect both to be rewarded fairly in relation to their contribution and for that reward to be consistent with that of others
Equitable return is determined by those employees themselves are comparing their input to output ratio with those they are relating to
Inputs
Employees working hours
Expertise
Qualifications or experience
Emotional intelligence
Drive
Ambition
Outputs
Pay
Bonuses
Perks
Working arrangements
The comparison need not be related to people who are performing the same tasks, eg where carers working for a council discover their hourly rate is lower than that of those employed to clean the council offices
Where the input/output ratio was deemed to be out of balance with others as Equity Tension and this tension would exist both where the employee felt they were receiving more or less than their colleauges
Suggests that employees will adjust their behaviour in an attempt to restore equity, they may seek to improve their performance or may invest less effort, working slower and less productively or even leave
Some criticisms as research has been in laboratory settings and its applicability to real world settings can be debated. The simplicity of the model may also not correlate to the complexity of the factors that may contribute to an individual's determination of fairness
Understanding that employees measure the total of their outputs when measuring these against their inputs is important, someone may accept a lower wage in exchange for more flexible working hours when they have children, another may prefer to work longer hours for increased compensaton
Managers need to understand that employees may have very different perceptions of fairness when receiving the same outputs, this is due to their considering wider factors of inputs when determining fairness. An employee who has worked in an organisation for a number of years may feel they have more experience than a newly hired colleague and therefore should be rewarded more whereas the new arrival may feel that he or she is more qualified, both may feel a sense of unfairness even though they are remunerated the same and operate under identical working conditions