Motivation I recently discovered that a female employee was being paid more than I even though we were both hired at the same time. The reason (as I discerned it) was that they had to pay her more because she was needed for a project that required at least one female on the team. However, I was doing most of the work and getting paid less than her. This made me angry, and as I remember it, made her feel guilty. She knew that I was more qualified but that did not matter to the employer, instead I was informed that I should just live with it. Reacting to this situation was a classic response according to the equity theory. I felt less like doing the work, and more apt to take a more casual approach to the project itself. My performance was still okay, but could have been much more exemplary than what it was.

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There have been a number of events that qualify for the expectancy theory regarding the workplace and my role...

One, in particular, comes to mind that involved a time when I overheard a situation concerning my employment. At the time, a regional manager was conversing with the manager to whom I reported. They were discussing compensation and benefits, who should get raises and who should not. The regional manager did not know me or my work, I had only recently been hired. His comment was that I should be kept at the low end of the scale, as I recall it; 'he will not be around long enough to make a mark'. I listened further to discover why the regional manager felt that way, his reasoning was that I was far too 'rough around the edges' to interact with wealthy individuals in a comfortable manner, therefore, my employment would be short-lived.
Further conversation led me to understand that they were going to reward the most productive newcomer with a trip to exotic Bermuda. My role was to develop clientele that would use the…