Page 294 - DMGT106_MANAGING_HUMAN_ELEMENTS_AT_WORK

Managing Human Element at Work

Notes For example, superior performance is instrumental in getting a promotion. Instrumentality
ranges from –1.0 to 1.0. An instrumentality of 1.0 indicates that a particular outcome is totally
dependent on task performance. For example, in the case of piece-rate system of payment,
getting a particular amount of money is dependent upon the number of units sold by the
employee. An instrumentality of 0 indicates that there is no relationship between performance
and outcome. For example, if promotion is mainly dependent upon seniority, job performance
does not matter. Finally, an instrumentality of –1.0 reveals that high performance reduces the
chances of obtaining the outcome while low performance increases the chances. For example,
if you spend more time working, you do not get time to enjoy your social life and leisure
activities.
Research on expectancy theory: From the time Vroom’s model was published in 1964 to about
1976, research did not support his theory. Subsequently, however, several organizational
behaviour researchers concluded that these discouraging results were due to various
methodological difficulties and errors. Having corrected these methodological problems,
researchers found the following:
In more than 16 studies with an average sample size of 200, expectancy theory correctly
predicted occupational or organizational choices 63.4% of the time. This was significantly
better than chance prediction.
In order to accurately predict effort, managers need to compare the individual’s motivation to
exert both high and low effort.
Contrary to Vroom’s theory, job satisfaction and resilient decision were more strongly related
to instrumentalities than to the full model (expectancy, instrumentality, and valence interaction).
13.1.7 Applications of Motivation
Motivating the behaviour of employees is one of the most important challenges faced by a
manager. Managers can set goals, apply selective rewards such as gain sharing, redesigning
jobs, and even reinforce routine behaviour by organizational behaviour modifications. In the
earlier section, several theories of motivation were discussed with their implications for
understanding human behaviour in organizations. To understand the principles of motivation,
it is also important to understand the application of these constructs in the context of a real
workplace and see how these theories can be operationalized.

Motivation by Goal Setting
Goals are future outcomes (results) that individuals and groups desire and strive to achieve.
An example of a goal is, Goal setting is the process of specifying desired outcomes towards
which individuals, teams, departments, and organizations strive and are intended to increase
efficiency and effectiveness. The use of goals to motivate task accomplishment draws on two
primary attributes: the content of the goal and the level of intensity in working towards it.
Content—level of difficulty: Studies to find out the relationship between the level of difficulty of
the goal and the performance of the seeker have proved that goals should be challenging
enough to induce high levels of effort. Two researchers, while investigating the hypothesis
“Given adequate ability and commitment, more difficult goals stimulate greater effort and
performance than easier goals”, concluded that 172 of 192 laboratory and field research studies
produced partial or full support for the hypothesis. Thus, managers while setting goals should
keep in mind that goals should be challenging enough to generate high levels of effort.

Intensity—degree of participation: There can be three ways in which goals can be set:
1. when goals are assigned by the management,
2. where members are asked to participate in goal setting, and
3. when members are told to “do their best.”

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