Motivation and Reward

What does it mean to be motivated?

Questions:
What motivates you? What demotivates you?
How is one motivated?
Why is one motivated to do x or y?
Performance problems
Signs and symptoms:-

Organization
Group/Team
Individual

role of motivation?
Performance Regulation
External regulation (Scientific Mgt)
Subjective regulation (Human Relations)

Regulation through understanding and
managing the employee mind-set
(cooperative systems approach)

Topic of satisfaction and motivation entered
the agenda
Motivation and Reward
.for loveisnt that the reason why we do
anything.?

Do you love to work? Do you work for love? Do
you work to enable you to love? Would you work
if you didnt have to?

Pay might be the reason why millions of people
get out of bed in the morning and go to work but
what they do when they get there is an entirely
different manner.(the lottery question)
Herzberg (1968)
The simplest method of getting someone
to move is to kick him in the pants
However, if you kick your dog it moves,
but was it motivated to move?
..it would certainly be motivated to move
away!
True motivation comes from within the
person who wants to move
=> goal directed

When we go out to play
How might the concept of play inform our
understanding of motivation?

What is play? What is work?

Can we play in work? Can we work in
play?

What motivates?
Content Theories = taxonomic lists of need (e.g. Maslows
Hierarchy), motives (e.g. sensation seeking, need for
achievement, need for power)

- e.g. Maslows Hierarchy: theory of motivation in general
versus work in particular => attractive holistic idea

survival, security/safety, social/belonging, esteem,
cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualising

Hierarchical proposition => movement into a higher order
domain presupposes to fulfilment of lower order needs

Evaluation..
Popularity versus scientific integrity- intuitive plausibility

Difficult to test needs can operate simultaneously,
depends on relative salience

Arbitrary categorisation one may seek to fulfil a higher
order need to satisfy lower order needs - e.g. for
employability

Does need fulfilment motivate? (complete satisfaction or
continuous striving)
So what? How do needs they work? How might we use
the theory?
Two Factor Theory
Herzberg (1968)
intrinsic (from within)
extrinsic (from outside)

Hygiene needs = disatisfiers, must be fulfilled to
prevent disatisfaction but wont increase
satisfaction

Motivators = satisfiers, but wont prevent
disatisfaction
Evaluation..
No direct evidence, but again, plausible
- e.g. tip of the iceberg effect in absence of satisfiers,
dissatisfiers become more salient
Also maybe a threshold of hygiene needs after which more
pay adds nothing to satisfaction (Law of Diminishing
Returns)

But, distinction intrinsic and extrinsic dubious e.g. payment
(hygiene/extrinsic) makes possible the fulfilment of
intrinsic (satisfiers) needs, also depends what pay
means (could be intrinsic motivator for some)
Again, so what?

How does motivation come about?
Process theories - e.g. equity theory (distributive justice,
procedural justice) instrumentality-expectancy theory,
social exchange theory, goal setting theory

Social comparisons = reference point
Presuppose a superordinate need for equity/justice/balance
of exchange

Presuppose rational calculation of inputs/outputs
Highly cognitive where is the sentiment?
So what? What do they tell us about motivation?

What, Why and How?
Content = what? Arbitrary lists of needs

Process = how? Cognitive mechanisms

How useful is either without an answer to
why is one motivated to do x rather than
y?
Importance of theory -> source of
explanation and intervention leverage
Absence of coherent theory
Piecemeal/fragmented, mini-models, laboratory
based, decontextualised

A theory of motivation must be able to deal with:-
Individual differences
Motivated behaviour can occur in adverse
circumstances - e.g. demoralised but continue to
work hard
Why there might be opposite reactions of some
people to the same objective circumstances
Motivation and Satisfaction
All theories incorporate satisfaction, but, one
can be motivated even if dissatisfied
Why?
Scenario -> professional person in the
caring professions, there is low morale
and high turnover, but not necessarily poor
performance..
Work => self-expressive (directly or
indirectly)

Motivation as an expression of
identity
What higher order needs does work fulfil?

Competence/efficacy, achievement, meaning,
esteem /worth / validation

Why are we motivated to do what we do?

Can one be motivated in a have to situation? - i.e.
is pure want to or intrinsic motivation possible
without constraint?


Implications
An identity theory of motivation

Does the term motivation signify something
unitary (uni-dimensional) or multi-
dimensional?
Is it more useful as an analytic framework
than a concept?

Still doesnt answer the question of how?

How?
Theories of goal directed and self-regulated
behaviour

Psychological Contract Theory = schema theory
(Rousseau) and/or relationship psychology
(Herriot)

Critical importance of understanding processes,
not just inside the head, but between people and
the artefacts in their environment
Universal and Particular
How can universal theories be used in
particular instances?
Importance of context
universal theories are acontextual
particularistic situations apply only in
a particular context

Contingency theory.



The context of motivation
Adequacy of individual level of analysis
Groups as a critical link pin and source of
psychological leverage
Understand group processes formal and
informal e.g. how do people maintain
motivation in boring jobs? Informal
compensatory mechanisms where there is
some creative licence afforded by mgt
(informal job redesign)
The context of reward
Payment systems => rarely truly contingent on
performance (PRP)

Complex relationship between payment and
intrinsic motivation e.g. can change the
meaning of work

Individual PRP in a team context can undermine
teamwork by creating interpersonal competition

Control or Facilitation
Balance between management control
and personal/team autonomy
Critical importance of informal as well as
formal processes
Imposition of new formal processes (e.g.
job redesign, new technology) can
undermine informal processes with big
performance costs
Doing more harm than good
Sweeping potted job design solutions, out-of-
context, potentially disruptive of informal
processes naturally evolved to increase/maintain
motivation in otherwise boring (formal) jobs..
Context, history, meaning
What is the context? Context is created in part by
informal processes
History? Of the current situation, of the
individual/group situation..
Meaning? What does work mean to an individual or
group
Work flow
What is the task and task objective?
What are the task conditions and constraints?
How will the task be completed (processes)
-optimise process by taking into consideration
the task and its requirements and the people
involved
-select process that is win-win for task and
people; involve people in deciding on process
Control versus Autonomy Formal versus Informal
Processes