Employee Motivation - Expectancy Theory

The Expectancy Theory of Employees’ motivation is based upon the observation of Martin Luther King that “Everything that is done in the world is done in hope”. Psychologist Victor H. Vroom is one of the pioneers in advancing and explaining expectancy theory. This theory assumes that the behavior results from the conscious choices among alternatives, whose purpose is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain.

that Vroom says motivation is an expected value that an individual place on a goal and the chance he or she sees of achieving that goal. Vroom Models is relied upon valence, expectancy and force. He stated that

Force = Valence × Expectancy

• Force is the strength of a person’s motivation.
• Valence is the strength of individual’s choice of outcome.
• Expectancy is the probability that a particular will yield a desired outcome.

Vroom’s Expectancy Theory of Employee Motivation

Vroom immensely contributed to the understanding of motivation and decision making that enables people to ascertain the amount of effort needed by them to expend on their jobs. He established that motivation of employees is directly proportional to their perception about the outcome of an action they are to take and their personal preferences for this outcome.

Vroom’s Model is based upon the belief that the degree of being motivated is decided by the nature of the reward people expect to bag as a consequence of their job performance. Being a rational being, a man tries to maximize the perceived value of such rewards. People get highly motivated if they are convinced that a particular behavior will receive an outcome suiting to their preference and expectation. The more the chance of realizing their expectation the more the level of motivation they have.

Vroom’s Model is based upon three variables. Because the model is a multiplier, the three variables should have high positive value to imply motivated performance choices. In the event of the variables being zero, the probability of motivated performance tends to be zero.

According to Vroom Motivation is a product of valence, expectancy and instrumentality. It can be put in an equation as follows −

Motivation = Valence × Expectancy × Instrumentality

Valence − Valence the degree of attraction as individual possesses as a behavioral goal. Valence is subjective and related to emotions people hold with respect to outcomes or rewards. An employee’s performance is based upon both extrinsic factors like money, promotion, paid leaves, increments and intrinsic factors like rewards and achievements. Management must find out what employee’s value and also discover the factors that demotivates them.

Expectancy − The level of expectations and confidence of employees of what they are doing differs from person to person. It is affected by many factors like right resources, requisite skill and expertise to the job, acquiring required support to complete the assigned task. Management must see that such factors are available to the best extent possible in the organization.

Instrumentality − It refers to the perceptions of the employees if they are likely to get what they desire after completion of as assigned work even though it has been promised by the management. It is the duty of the management to ensure that promises made the employees are fulfilled and the employees are conscious of it.

In a nutshell, Vroom’s expectancy theory revolves round the basic premise that employees are rational human beings and they have their own expectations and confidence for any assigned job. It works on perceptions that a certain degree of availability of extrinsic and intrinsic factors to the employees makes them contribute themselves towards achieving expected outcomes.

Expectancy is a person's strength of conviction in regards to the ability to attain goals. People who desire the rewards that management is expected to bestow upon them, on account of superior performance, should have strong convictions regarding their ability to deliver.

An employee, who is not positively oriented with respect to the perceived consequences of the attainment of goals, will have a zero valence. Employees should feel that the efforts that he/she would like to put into work would yield the desired results. However, Vroom’s expectancy theory is criticized on many grounds like −

• The theory is not empirically tested.

• It is very difficult to put the theory to research and application in practice.

• Valence cannot be measured on ratio scales; each valence is explained in terms of all other valence.

• The model is more theoretical than practical. It does not give the manager practical help in solving motivation problems.