Employee motivation in light of Vroom’s theory of expectation

 INTRODUCTION

The primary objective of every organization is the desire to achieve success and long-lasting progress. But only a handful of organizations consider the employee in that organization to be the main asset that can lead the organization to long-lasting success (T. Abbah, M., 2014). Achieving a competitive advantage is key in today’s dynamic world for organizations to achieve success. This is recognized as the highest goal by many organizations for survival in an aggressive industry (Bhatti, Aslam, Hassan, and Sulaiman, 2016).

It’s reasonably plausible that for example, the primary motivation for certain employee groupings is their personal stake in the organization such as career development, rewards, and recognition, whilst other groupings may be motivated by a combination of working environment, values in an organization and role challenges (Glen, C.,2006).

Al Aramai (2002) in his research state the word motivation was derived from the Latin word movere which means to move. De Sousa Sabbagha, Ledimo, and Martins (2018) define employee motivation as the feeling, effort, energy, and driving force an employee uses to achieve organizational and/ or individual goals. Usugami and Park, (2006) state employee motivation is an important part related to high corporate performance. Kreye, (2016) is of the view employee performance is determined by their motivation; extremely motivated employees deliver higher quality services.

AL Araimi (2002) states that its evident organizations are clearly focusing on retaining motivated employees. Employees are generally motivated when they expect to receive an incentive or reward in tern for their efforts. “Greater the incentive, larger the motivation”. Flynn (2011) states in organization managers are in the “motivation game.”  Flynn (2011) further goes on to elaborate that the deal between the “employer and employee” is central to this; which is also referred to as the psychological contract. 

Below depicts a simple model of motivation
Source:  Richard L. Draft (2007)

Definitions of employee motivation

Holman (1969) defines motivation as an internal process that makes some actions override others in a given situation. The enthusiasm to exert a great level of effort towards organizational goals was defined as motivation by (Robbins 1993). However Mitchell, (1982) is of the view motivation represents those emotional processes that cause the excitement, direction, and resolution of intentional activities that are goal oriented.

Bartol and Martin (1998) defined motivation as the energy that uplifts and gives direction to behavior and encourages the tendency to continue. In many kinds of research, the importance of motivation at the individual and organizational levels was magnified and the satisfaction of employees was related to motivation (Tietjen and Myers 1998). However, Amabile (1998) is of the view that individual performance is correlated to motivation.

Aderibige (2017) defines motivation as some driving forces that drive individuals to achieve set goals and objectives. Similarly, De Sousa Sabbagha, Ledimo, and Martins (2018) define employee motivation as the feeling, effort, energy, and driving force an employee uses to achieve organizational and/ or individual goals.

Aderibige (2017) further explains that employee motivation involves psychological, physiological, and social aspects of an employee. Holman (1969) further explains motivation as drives and needs that an individual’s action toward goals that are seen by him as a potential source of satisfaction. De Sousa, Sabbagha, Ledimo, and Martins (2018) further go on to state if the employee’s goals, needs, and interests are achieved through the process  (feeling, effort, energy) they will feel motivated to perform and therefore direct their behavior accordingly.

The effort or action exerted willingly by an employee in order to achieve the organizational goals, determined by the action’s ability to meet the employee’s personal need is defined as employee motivation (De Sousa, Sabbagha, Ledimo, and Martins 2018)

There are major pieces of evidence that organizations are focusing on retaining their best employees regardless of their orientation in today’s highly competitive labor market (Ramlall, 2004). Rafikul & Zaki Hj, (2008) further goes on and states that for an organization motivated employees are an essential element.

 Video

Motivating employees in management 

Source: Youtube Channel GreggU

The above video is a good explanation of different theories of motivation that should be looked at by organizations to keep their employees satisfied and motivated. 

Referencing

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Aderibigbe, I., (2017). Relationship between Employee Motivation and Productivity among Bankers in Nigeria. Journal of Economics, 8(1), pp.76-80 [online]. Available at: http://doi.org/10.1080/09765239.2017.1316964 [Accessed 3 August 2022].

Amabile, T.M. (1998). “How to Kill Creativity.” Harvard Business Review, 76 (5): 77-87.

Bartol, K.M., & Martin, D.C. (1998). Management (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Bhatti, O., Aslam, U., Hassan, A. and Sulaiman, M., (2016). Employee motivation an Islamic perspective. Humanomics, 32(1), pp.33-47 [online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/H-10-2015-0066 [Accessed 3 August 2022].

De Sousa Sabbagha, M., Ledimo, O. and Martins, N., (2018). Predicting staff retention from employee motivation and job satisfaction. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 28(2), pp.136-140 [online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2018.1454578 [Accessed 3 August 2022].

Glen, C., (2006). Key skills retention and motivation: the war for talent still rages and retention is the high ground. Industrial and Commercial Training, 38(1), pp.37-45 [online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/00197850610646034> [Accessed 5 August 2022].

Holman, J., (1969) an Analysis of Employee Motivation. A I I E Transactions, 1(2), pp.172-180 [online]. Available at: http://doi.org/10.1080/05695556908974430 [Accessed 3 August 2022].

Industrial Management, (1980). How much employee motivation is desirable ?. 80(6), pp.20-23 [online]. Available at: http:// dx.doi.org/10.1108/09556219510098064 [Accessed 3 August 2022].

Kreye, M., (2016). Employee motivation in product-service system providers. Production Planning & Control, 27(15), pp.1249-1259 [online]. Available at: http://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2016.1206219 [Accessed 3 August 2022].

Mitchell, T.R. (1982). “Motivation: New Direction for Theory, Research, and Practices.” Academy of Management Review, 7: 80-88.

Rafikul, I., & Zaki Hj, I. A. (2008). “Employee Motivation: A Malaysian Perspective.” International Journal of Commerce and Management, 18 (4): 344-36.

Ramlall, S. (2004). “A Review of Employee Motivation Theories and their Applications for Employee Retention within Organizations.” Journal of American Academy of Business, 5: 52-63.

Robbins, S. (1993). Organizational Behavior (6th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

T. Abbah, M., 2014. Employee Motivation: The Key to Effective Organizational Management in Nigeria. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 16(4), pp.01-08 [Accessed 5 August 2022].

Tietjen, M.A., & Myers, R. M. (1998). “Motivation and Job Satisfaction.” Management Decision, 36: 226-231

Usugami, J. and Park, K., (2006). Similarities and differences in employee motivation viewed by Korean and Japanese executives: empirical study on employee motivation management of Japanese-affiliated companies in Korea. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 17(2), pp.280-294 [online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190500404697 [Accessed 3 August 2022].