Motivation Theories In Application

Motivation at the workplace forms a core objective for any organization's management. It is believed that a direct link exists between motivation and performance at work and questionnaires have been designed to gauge motivating factors in employees (Palmer, 2007). Lindner (1998) says that motivation is a psychological process that bestows purpose and direction on behavior. A scenario is used in this essay where an organization provides diversity training programs to ensure that employees realize the importance of working with a diverse workforce, are aware of the equal employment opportunity legislation, and are capable of addressing the challenges of working in a multicultural workforce. It is imagined also that at this organization, participation in these diversity training programs is mandatory and employees are required to take the training as many times as needed until they pass.

The training program lasts one day and is usually conducted in a nice hotel outside the workplace. Employees are paid for the time they spend in the training program. However, employees are not really motivated to perform well in this program. During the training, they put in the minimum level of effort, and most participants fail the exam given at the conclusion of the training program and then have to retake the training. This essay seeks to explore the expectancy and reinforcement theories of motivation to explain why the employees in this organization may not be motivated to perform well in the training program, and suggest improvements in the program based on these theories so that employees are motivated to understand the material, pass the exam, and apply the material in the workplace.

Expectancy Theory

According to the expectancy theory, an individual's motivation to vary effort is arrived at by means of a rational calculation in which individuals evaluate the situation they are in.

This theory suggests that individuals ask themselves three questions: if their effort will translate into high performance; whether the performance will lead to an outcome; and whether the outcomes are desirable. These three questions show attention being paid to effort, performance and rewards, and their associated perceptions are labeled as expectancy, instrumentality and valence respectively (Bauer & Erdogan, 2010).

A manager has a number of options at his disposal to influence expectancy, instrumentality and valence in the workers so as to motivate them to participate and pass the tests. Expectancy can be influenced by ensuring that the participating employees are capable of understanding the material being taught and that the environment in which they are taught facilitates good performance, as these factors could be causing them to fail. In addition, the participants should be encouraged into believing that their efforts do make a difference to how they perform in the training. Instrumentality can be influenced by ensuring that good performance in the test is properly rewarded and that the rewards are well publicized as being based solely on performance. The rewards chosen have to be attractive to the trainees and they should induce perceptions of fairness so as to influence valence. In addition the trainees need to be given an array of rewards from which they can choose their preference (Bauer & Erdogan, 2010).

The Reinforcement Theory

The reinforcement theory is based on the premise that behavior is a function the consequences that results from it. Four possible interventions arise from the reinforcement theory and these involve positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment and extinction. Positive reinforcement aims to increase the frequency of the desired behavior by ensuring that positive outcomes immediately meet the good behavior. The immediacy of the outcome is necessary to provide an obvious link between the behavior and reward. Negative reinforcement increases the frequency of the desired behavior by removing unpleasant outcomes when the desired behavior is exhibited. Negative environmental stimulus is maintained until positive behavior is exhibited. Negative behavior can also be decreased by the extinction method, which works by removing rewards after negative behavior is demonstrated. Another method for reducing undesirable behavior is through punishment, where negative outcomes follow unwanted behaviors. When any of these reinforcement methods are chosen, a proper reinforcement schedule should be implemented. This has to do with deciding whether to use reinforcement continuously, for every nth time a desired behavior is demonstrated, or on a random schedule. There has to be consistency, however, in order to reap long term benefits in the future (Bauer & Erdogan, 2010; Zimmer, 1996).

Additionally, a systematic way should be used to implement reinforcement. The first step involves identifying the behavior to be modified; we have identified this behavior as performance in the staff training program. We should then establish a performance baseline for the course and then identify the causative factors for non-performance and settle on the outcomes for various performance levels. After these steps are covered, a reinforcement intervention method should them be implemented. In our case, positive reinforcement should be used for good performance in the training program, such as giving shopping vouchers to all those that pass the test. Consistent non-performance should also be punished by the issuance of warning letters to the culprits, or denial of pay for the days wasted at the program. Fear, however, should not be used as a motivator as the long term effects are usually negative (Bauer & Erdogan, 2010; McNamara, n.d.).

According to the expectancy theory, an individual's motivation to vary effort is arrived at by means of a rational calculation in which individuals evaluate the situation they are in. Workers are concerned with the link between effort, performance and rewards. The perceptions associated to these linkages are labeled as expectancy, instrumentality and valence respectively. To motivate the employees, one has to influence expectancy, instrumentality and valence. The reinforcement theory is based on the premise that behavior is a function the consequences that results from it. Four possible interventions arise from the reinforcement theory and these involve positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment and extinction. When any of these reinforcement methods are chosen, a proper reinforcement schedule should be implemented in a systematic way.

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