Organizational Behavior: Motivation and Satisfaction

• Motivation and satisfaction are key elements in organizational behavior

Motivation

• Motivation involves "arousing and sustaining goal-directed behavior" (Nelson & Quick, 2013, p.75)
• Motivated employees constantly seek improved work practices
• Employees aim to perform their best, even under difficult conditions
• Employee performance is improved by increased motivation (Muogbo, 2013)
• Employee performance plays a critical role in determining organizational success (Muogbo, 2013)

Content vs Process Theories

• Motivation theories help explain and predict observable behavior
• Content theories include Maslow’s hierarchy, McGregor’s theory X and Y, Herzberg’s 2-factor theory, McClelland’s achievement theory, & Alderfer’s ERG theory.
• Process theories include cognitive evaluation, social learning theory, goal-setting theory which relates to management by objectives, Vroom’s expectancy theory and equity theory.

Equity Theory

• Equity theory proposes that people assess fairness by comparing their work and rewards to others
• When an imbalance is perceived, individuals may react in different ways:
  • Feeling inequitable leads to unhappiness, reduced effort, or leaving the organization
  • Equitable treatment maintains work effort
  • Generosity can lead to guilt and increased effort
• Equity theory is related to perceptions of organizational justice

Job Attitudes

• Job attitudes can be positive or negative evaluations related to objects, people, and events
• Positive job attitudes predict constructive behaviors
• Negative job attitudes predict undesirable behaviors (Hettiararchchi & Jayarathna, 2014)

Types of Job Attitudes

• Job involvement is identifying with a job and considering it important to self-worth
• Organizational commitment involves identifying with an organization and wanting to maintain membership
  • Affective commitment is emotional attachment to the organization and its beliefs
  • Continuance commitment views the perceived economic value of staying versus leaving
  • Normative commitment is feeling obligated to stay for moral or ethical reasons
• Perceived organizational support is the belief that the organization values contributions and cares for well-being
  • This includes fair rewards, employee participation in important decisions and supportive supervisors
• Employee engagement, involves satisfaction and enthusiasm for the work
• Job satisfaction is covered in the next section

Job Satisfaction (JS)

• Job satisfaction is an emotional state based on job evaluations and experiences (Nelson & Quick, 2013)
• Job satisfaction is a collection of positive and/or negative feelings toward a job (Robbins & Judge, 2015)
• Causes of job satisfaction are work with meaning, advancement, quality supervision, and good co-worker relationships

Applying the Job Characteristics Model (JCM)

• Combine tasks to enhance skill variety and task identity
• Establish natural work units to improve task identity and significance
• Create client relationships to increase skill variety, autonomy, and feedback
• Enlarge jobs vertically to increase autonomy
• Open feedback channels for feedback

Job Design

• Job rotation involves periodically shifting an employee to new tasks
• Job enlargement increases the number and variety of tasks
• Job enrichment increases the degree to which workers control planning, execution, and evaluation

Motivation, Performance, & Job Satisfaction

• Job satisfaction is not a strong predictor of work performance
• Job Dissatisfaction drives behavior (active vs. passive; positive vs. negative)
• Consequences of dissatisfaction can include:
  • Voice, loyalty, neglect and exit

Alternate Work Arrangements

- Flextime can be beneficial
- Job sharing is another option
- Telecommuting should be considered

• Highly motivated employees do not always perform well due to factors like employee competence, opportunity to show performance, and individual willingness to put in extra effort

Job Satisfaction Outcomes

• Higher job and organizational performance
• Better organizational citizenship behaviors
• Greater levels of customer satisfaction
• Generally, lower absenteeism and turnover
• Lower levels of workplace deviance