3.1 Goals-setting theory

(Lý thuyết thiết lập mục tiêu)

The theories we'll look at now represent current employee motivation approaches that are supported by research. They include goal-setting theory, job design- thiết kế công việc theory, equity - công bằng theory, and expectancy - kỳ vọng theory.

Substantial research support has been established for goal-setting theory, which says that specific goals increase performance and that difficult goals result in higher performance than easy goals.

1. Goal-setting theory assumes that an individual is committed to the goal. Commitment is most likely when goals are made public (goals are public - mục tiêu là công khai), when the individual has an internal locus of control (cá nhân có một vị trí kiểm soát nội bộ), and when the goals are self-set rather than assigned. Committed to achieving (đạt được cam kết). Accepted (được chấp nhận).

Participation in the setting (tham gia vào thiết lập mục tiêu): Employees do not always try harder if they have the opportunity to participate in setting goals. In some cases, individuals performed best when their manager assigned goals. However, participation is probably preferable to assigning goals when employees might face accepting difficult challenges.

2. Next, self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief that he or she is capable of performing a task. The higher your self-efficacy, the more confidence you have in your ability to succeed in a task. So, in difficult situations, we find that people with low self-efficacy are likely to reduce their effort or give up altogether, whereas those with high self-efficacy will try harder to master the challenge. In addition, individuals with high self-efficacy seem to respond to negative feedback with increased effort and motivation, whereas those with low self-efficacy are likely to reduce their effort when given negative feedback.

Intention to work toward goals (Ý định làm việc hướng tới mục tiêu)

3. Finally, the value of goal-setting theory depends on the national culture. This theory adapts well to North American countries because its main ideas are suitable with those cultures. People do better if they get feedback on how well they're progressing toward their goals because it helps identify discrepancies between what they've done and what they want to do.

Self - generated feedback on progress (phản hồi tự tạo về tiến độ). Higher performance plus goals achievement (hiệu suất cao hơn cộng với thành tích mục tiêu)

4. JOB CHARACTERISTICS

Job design refers to the way tasks are combined to form complete jobs. Managers should design jobs deliberately and thoughtfully to reflect the demands of the changing environment, the organization's technology, and employees' skills, abilities, and preferences. When jobs are designed this way, employees are motivated to work hard.

The job characteristics model (JCM) seen here was developed by J. Richard Hackman and Greg R. Oldham tested it on 658 employees, who are working in 62 different jobs in 7 different businesses or organizations. The results were deemed to be reliable and conclusive, which is the reason why it still holds a lot of weight today, despite the number of other job design theories introduced.This model can help managers design jobs that motivate. According to Hackman and Oldham, any job can be described in terms of the following five core job dimensions:

Skill variety is the degree to which the job requires a variety of activities, allowing the worker to use a number of different skills and talents. Critical psychological state (Trạng thái tâm lý quan trọng) Personal and work outcomes (Kết quả cá nhân và công việc)

Task identity is the degree to which the job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work.

Task significance is the degree to which the job affects the lives or work of other people.

Autonomy refers to the freedom, independence, and discretion given to the individual for scheduling the work and for determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out.

Feedback is the degree to which carrying out the work activities required by the job results in the individual's obtaining direct and clear information about the effectiveness of his or her performance.

( lý thuyết mối quan hệ công bằng)

perceived ratio comparision: so sánh tỷ lệ nhận thức

employee assessment: Đánh giá nhân viên

inequity: sự bất bình đẳng

Under rewarded: Đc khen thưởng

Over rewarded: Khen thưởng nhiều hơn

The term equity is the concept of fairness and comparable treatment when compared with others who behave in similar ways. There's considerable evidence that employees compare themselves to others and that inequities influence how much effort they exert.

Equity theory, developed by J. Stacey Adams, proposes that employees compare what they get from a job (outcomes) to what they put into it (inputs) and then compare their inputs-outcomes ratio with the inputs-outcomes ratios of relevant others, as illustrated in Exhibit 11-7.

If an employee perceives her ratio to be equitable in comparison to those of relevant others, there's no problem.

However, if the ratio is perceived to be inequitable, she views herself as under rewarded or over rewarded.

When inequities occur, employees attempt to do something about it. The result might be lower or higher productivity, improved or reduced quality of output, increased absenteeism, or voluntary resignation.

The referent -the other persons, systems, or selves individuals compare themselves against in order to assess equity-is an important variable in equity theory. Each of the three referent categories is important.

1. "Persons" category includes others with similar jobs, friends, neighbors, etc.

2. "System" category includes organizational pay policies, procedures, and allocation,

3. "Self" category refers to past personal experiences and contacts

Originally, equity theory focused on distributive justice, which is the perceived fairness of the amount and allocation of rewards among individuals and which has a greater influence on employee satisfaction. More recent research has focused on issues of procedural justice, which is the perceived fairness of the process used to determine the distribution of rewards and tends to affect an employee's organizational commitment, trust in his or her boss, and intention to quit.

Based on the evidence, managers should consider openly sharing information on how allocation decisions are made, follow consistent and unbiased procedures, and engage in similar practices to increase the perception of procedural justice.

Individuals goals/effores/performance: Mục tiêu, nỗ lực, hiệu suất

Effort performance linkage: liên kết hiệu suất nỗ lực

Performance-reward: phần thưởng hiệu suất

The most comprehensive explanation of how employees are motivated is Victor Vroom's expectancy theory, which states that an individual tends to act in a certain way based on the expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual.

Its three variables or relationships are seen in Exhibit 11-8:

Expectancy or effort-performance linkage is the probability perceived by the individual that exerting a given amount of effort will lead to a certain level of performance.

Instrumentality or performance-reward linkage is the degree to which the individual believes that performing at a particular level is instrumental to attaining the desired outcome.

Valence or attractiveness of reward is the importance that the individual places on the potential outcome or reward that can be achieved on the job. Valence considers both the goals and needs of the individual.

This explanation of motivation can be summed up in the following questions: How hard do I have to work to achieve a certain level of performance, and can I actually achieve that level? What reward will performing at that level get me? How attractive is the reward to me, and does it help me achieve my own personal goals?

Whether you are motivated to work hard at any given time depends on your goals and your perception of whether a certain level of performance is necessary to attain those goals.

The key to expectancy theory is understanding an individual's goals and the links between effort and performance, between performance and rewards, and between rewards and individual goal satisfaction.

Exhibit 11-9 presents a model that integrates much of what we know about motivation. Its basic foundation is the expectancy model.

The individual effort box has an arrow leading into it. This arrow flows from the individual's goals. Consistent with goal-setting theory, this goals-effort link illustrates that goals direct behavior. Expectancy theory predicts that an employee will exert a high level of effort if he or she perceives a strong relationship between effort and performance, performance and rewards, and rewards and satisfaction of personal goals. Each of these relationships is, in turn, influenced by certain factors.

You can see from the model that the level of individual performance is determined not only by the level of individual effort but also by the individual's ability to perform and by whether the organization has a fair and objective performance evaluation system. The performance-reward relationship will be strong if the individual perceives that it is performance (rather than seniority, personal favorites, or some other criterion) that is rewarded. The final link in expectancy theory is the rewards-goal relationship.

The traditional need theories come into play at this point. Motivation would be high to the degree that the rewards an individual receives for his or her high performance satisfy the dominant needs consistent with his or her individual goals.

A closer look at the model also shows that it considers the achievement-need, reinforcement, equity, and JCM theories. The high achiever isn't motivated by the organization's assessment of his or her performance or organizational rewards; hence the jump from effort to individual goals for those with a high nAch.

Reinforcement theory is seen in the model where the organization's rewards reinforce the individual's performance. Rewards also play a key part in equity theory. Individuals compare the rewards (outcomes) they have received from the inputs or efforts they have made with the inputs-outcomes ratio of relevant others. If inequities exist, the effort expended may be influenced.

Finally, the JCM is seen in this integrative model. Task characteristics (job design) influence job motivation in two areas. First, jobs that are designed around the five job dimensions are likely to lead to higher actual job performance because the individual's motivation will be stimulated by the job itself and because there will be a clear link between effort and performance. Second, jobs that are designed around the five job dimensions also increase an employee's control over key elements in his or her work.

Thus, jobs that offer autonomy, feedback, and similar task characteristics help to satisfy the individual goals of employees who desire greater control over their work.