Employee Behavior and Motivation Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Employee Behavior and Motivation

• This chapter describes various employee behaviors in the workplace.
• It examines the differences in behavior between individuals.
• It explores and explains motivational models and strategies.
• It discusses the importance of employee motivation.

Introduction

• The chapter describes different forms of employee behaviors at work.
• It examines how people differ.
• It looks at models and concepts related to employee motivation.
• It also covers strategies used by organizations to improve employee motivation.

Learning Objectives (Part 1)

• 8-1: Identify and discuss the basic forms of behaviors exhibited by employees in organizations.
• 8-2: Describe the nature and importance of individual differences among employees.
• 8-3: Explain the meaning and importance of psychological contracts and the person-job fit in the workplace.

Learning Objectives (Part 2)

• 8-4: Identify and summarize the most important models and concepts of employee motivation.
• 8-5: Describe strategies and techniques used by organizations to improve employee motivation.

Forms of Employee Behavior

• Employee behavior: The pattern of actions by organizational members that directly or indirectly affects organizational effectiveness.
• Performance behaviors: The set of work-related behaviors expected by the organization from employees.

Organizational Citizenship

• Organizational citizenship: Positive behaviors that don't directly impact the bottom line.

Counterproductive Behaviors

• Counterproductive behaviors: Behaviors that negatively affect organizational performance.
  • Absenteeism: Employee's absence from work.
  • Turnover: The annual percentage of an organization's workforce leaving and requiring replacement.

Personality at Work

• Individual differences: Personal attributes that vary among people.
• Personality: The relatively stable set of psychological attributes that distinguishes individuals.

The "Big Five" Personality Traits

• Agreeableness: A person's ability to get along with others.
• Conscientiousness: Reflects the number of tasks a person attempts to complete.
• Emotionality: The degree to which people have positive or negative outlooks and behaviors toward others.
• Extraversion: A person's comfort level interacting with others.
• Openness: Reflects how open or rigid a person is in terms of their beliefs.

Myers-Briggs Framework

• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI): A popular questionnaire used to assess personality types in some organizations.
• Four general dimensions
  • Extraversion vs. Introversion
  • Sensing vs. Intuition
  • Thinking vs. Feeling
  • Judging vs. Perceiving

Emotional Intelligence

• Emotional Intelligence (EQ): The extent to which people are self-aware, manage emotions, motivate themselves, display empathy, and possess social skills.
• Components of Emotional Intelligence
  • Self-awareness
  • Managing emotions
  • Motivating oneself
  • Empathy
  • Social skills

Other Personality Traits at Work

• Locus of Control: The extent to which people believe their behavior impacts what happens to them.
• Self-Efficacy: A person's belief in their ability to perform a task.
• Authoritarianism: The extent to which a person believes power and status differences are appropriate in hierarchical organizations.
• Machiavellianism: Behavior directed at gaining power and controlling others.
• Self-Esteem: The extent to which a person believes they are valuable.
• Risk Propensity: The degree to which a person is willing to take chances and make risky decisions.

Attitudes at Work

• Attitudes: A person's beliefs and feelings about specific ideas, situations, or people.
• Job satisfaction: The degree to which people enjoy performing their jobs.
• Organizational Commitment: An individual's identification with the organization and its mission.

Matching People and Jobs

• Psychological Contract: The set of expectations between an employee and an organization regarding contributions (what the employee gives) and inducements (what the organization gives in return).

The Psychological Contract (illustration)

(see figure for details)

• Contributions from the Individual (e.g., Effort, Ability, Loyalty, Skills, Time, Competency)
• Inducements from the Organization (e.g., Pay, Benefits, Job Security, Status, Promotion Opportunities, Career Opportunities)

The Person-Job Fit

• Person-Job Fit: The extent to which a person's contributions and the organization's inducements match each other.

Basic Motivation Concepts and Theories

• Motivation: The set of forces that cause people to behave in certain ways.
• Classical Theory of Motivation: The theory that workers are motivated solely by money.
• Hawthorne Effect: A tendency for productivity to increase when workers believe they are getting special attention from management.

Human Resources Model: Theories X and Y

• Theory X: People are naturally lazy and uncooperative, needing external motivation.
• Theory Y: People are naturally energetic, growth-oriented, self-motivated, and interested in being productive.
• Comparison of X and Y Theories: see table

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Model

• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: A theory of motivation that argues that basic needs must be met before higher-level needs are addressed.
• Hierarchy Levels (from bottom to top): Physiological Needs, Security Needs, Social Needs, Esteem Needs, Self-Fulfillment Needs
• Examples of Organizational Needs (see figure for details)

Other Important Needs

• Need for Achievement; an individual's desire to accomplish a goal effectively.
• Need for Affiliation; an individual's desire for human companionship.
• Need for Power: the desire to control one's environment, including financial, material, informational, and human resources.

Using Goals to Motivate Behavior

• Management by Objectives (MBO): A set of procedures where both managers and subordinates set goals and evaluate progress.

Participative Management and Empowerment

• Participative Management and empowerment; Increase job satisfaction by giving employees a voice in managing their jobs and the company.

Job Enrichment and Job Redesign

• Job Enrichment: Increasing job satisfaction by adding motivating factors to job activities.
• Job Redesign: Increasing job satisfaction by creating a better fit between workers and jobs.
• Job Redesign Programs:
  • Combining tasks
  • Forming natural work groups
  • Establishing client relationships

Modified Work Schedules

• Work Sharing (Job Sharing): Allowing two or more people to share a single job.
• Flextime Programs: Allowing workers to adjust their work schedules.
• Telecommuting: Allowing employees to work some or all of their jobs remotely.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Modified Schedules and Alternative Workplaces

• Advantages: Higher job satisfaction, reduced stress, improved productivity, decreased congestion.
• Disadvantages: Difficulty coordinating, potentially fitting poorly for some workers, network problems, lack of worker contact, organizational concerns.

Applying What You've Learned

• Review of learning objectives to assess understanding of various employee behaviors, individual differences, motivational concepts, and strategies.