Motivation Theories in the Workplace: A Comparative Analysis

Introduction to Goal-Setting Theory

Goal-setting theory (Curtis 37) starts with the situationally specific, conscious motivational factors closest to action: goals and intentions. Goal theory then works backward to determine what causes goals and makes them effective. Specific, close-to-action goal-setting approaches have been more successful in explaining performance than general, far-from-action motivational approaches that stress general needs and motives based on subconscious values. Only when ideas become goals — grounded in beliefs about what is important, what one wants to attain, or what one feels one should attain — do they affect action. Having a goal affects task performance because people will take action to attain that goal.

Challenging goals lead to high performance only if the individual is committed to them. Commitment refers to one's attachment to, or determination to reach, a goal regardless of where that goal originated. It is inclusive of the term acceptance. Expectancy is a significant predictor of goal commitment — that is, the individual's belief that exerting effort will produce a certain level of performance and that this performance will lead to valued outcomes.

How Goals Affect Task Performance

Goal setting works only when the individual is personally committed. It would be an effective approach where there is an opportunity for a bonus or a paid day off. Using this method requires identifying individuals who are driven by setting goals and who have a personal stake in whether or not those particular goals are met.

Goals affect task performance in at least three ways. First, they energize performance by motivating people to exert effort in line with the difficulty or demands of the goal or task. It is not simple physiological arousal that produces high performance, but rather goal-relevant effort. Generally, more effort is expended when goals are difficult than when they are easy. Greater effort should produce greater performance, and more effort is needed to attain hard goals than easy ones. More effort typically yields better results than less effort, given that ability is adequate.

Second, goals motivate individuals to persist in their activities over time. Hard goals keep people working for longer periods than vague or easy goals. Hard or challenging goals inspire the individual to be tenacious — to refuse to settle for less than what could be achieved. Individuals who set easy goals stop working sooner than those with hard goals. While this result may seem straightforward, it illustrates that challenging goals keep people motivated longer than less challenging ones, even when all individuals are working at the same pace.

Third, clear, specific goals direct the individual's attention to relevant behaviors or outcomes in two ways. They orient the individual toward goal-relevant activities and away from goal-irrelevant activities, and they activate stored knowledge and skills that are perceived as relevant to the task.

Lack of ability limits an individual's capacity to respond to a challenge — some people are not capable of performing in accordance with their goals. If they do not have the ability, they cannot reach them. Performance levels off once the limits of ability have been reached.

Expectancy theory suggests that individuals, acting through self-interest, adopt courses of action perceived as maximizing the probability of desirable outcomes for themselves. This desire to maximize self-interest provides aspiring leaders with unique opportunities to assume leadership roles by simultaneously meeting both follower needs and organizational requirements. As Isaac, Zerbe, and Pitt note, "V. H. Vroom (1964) suggested that people consciously choose particular courses of action, based upon perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs, as a consequence of their desires to enhance pleasure and avoid pain" (212).

Expectancy Theory and Self-Interest

Expectancy theory relies primarily on extrinsic motivators to explain behaviors exhibited in the workplace. External rewards are viewed as inducing motivational states that fuel behavior, as opposed to intrinsic motivators, where behaviors arise from internal forces such as enjoyment of the work itself.

Expectancy theory operates along lines similar to goal-setting theory, except that it focuses on the outcome — what the individual will ultimately receive in the end. This theory also incorporates the idea of using leadership as a motivational tool, and it holds that it is better to have a team of leaders than of passive followers.

Herzberg's hygiene-motivation theory "postulated differential effects of extrinsic and intrinsic factors on work motivation" (Erez and Eden 3). Maslow's model is frequently used as a critique of traditional managerial approaches, which are seen as failing to obtain employee cooperation because they do not provide the intrinsically and naturally sought rewards that employees need once they have satisfied their basic, lower-level requirements.