Chapter 5: Employee Motivation

Strengths-Based Coaching

Builds on employee's strengths rather than trying to correct weaknesses.

Features of Effective Feedback

Credible - trustworthy source. Timely - links actions to outcomes. Relevant - relates to person's behavior. Specific - connected to goal details. Sufficiently Frequent - employee's knowledge, takes cycle.

Intensity

Level of Effort

Motivation

The forces within a person that affect the direction, intensity, and persistence of voluntary behavior.

Needs

Goal-directed forces that people experience. Emotional forces channeled toward specific goals. Goals shaped by self-concept, social norms, experience.

McClelland's Three Need Theory

Need for Achievement, Need for Affiliation, Need for Power.

Drives

Primary Needs- prime movers of behavior. Energize behavior by generating emotions. Purpose is to correct deficiencies and maintain equilibrium

Preferred feedback sources

Use nonsocial feedback for goal progress feedback - it's more accurate, and negative feedback less damaging to self-esteem. Use social sources for conveying positive feedback - enhances employee's self-esteem.

Four Drive Theory

recognizes that both emotions and logical thinking influence human motivation. Identifies four innate drives: Drive to ACQUIRE, BOND, COMPREHEND, DEFEND. Mental Skill Set channels emotional forces created by drives.

How Four Drives Motivate

1. Determine which emotions are automatically tagged to incoming sensory information. 2. Emotions are usually unconscious, but become conscious experience when sufficiently strong or conflict with each other. 3. Mental skill set relies on social norms, personal values, and experience to transform drive-based emotions into goal-directed choice and effort.

Persistence

Amount of time effort is exerted

Need for Power

Desire to control one's environment. Personalized versus socialized power.

Strengths-Based Coaching is Motivational Because

People inherently seek feedback about their strengths not their flaws.

Effect Goal Setting

SMART. Specific - what, how, when, where, and with whom the task needs to be accomplished. Measurable - how much, how well, at what cost. Achievable - challenging, yet accepted. Relevant - within employee's Time-framed - due date and when assessed.

Need for Affiliation

Seek approval from others, conform to others, avoid conflict. Effective decision makers have low Need for Affiliation.

Social Sources (Feedback)

feedback directly from others (boss, customer)

Nonsocial Sources (feedback)

feedback not conveyed directly by people (electronic displays, customer survey results)

Direction

goal towards effort is directed

Maslow's Needs Hierarchy Theory

lowest unmet need is strongest, and when satisfied, next high need becomes primary motivator. Problem - needs are unique to each person, not universal. (lacks empirical support) Self Actualization Esteem Belongingness Safety Physiological (Need to Know) (Need for Beauty)

Need for Achievement

want to accomplish reasonably challenging goals. Desire clear feedback, moderate risk tasks.