Expectancy Theory

Theory number 1: Expectancy theory

The theory that will be discussed here is the expectancy theory which states that employees are motivated when they perceive that their effort will result in high performance and the high performance will help them attain their outcomes. (textbook). The textbook explains that the theory is made up of three sections, valance which is how desirable the outcome is, expectancy which is the extent that their effort will result in performance and finally instrumentality which is how the high performance will result in the outcomes they want.

Strategy 1: Build a team mission.

Since I have noticed that my group members are not as motivated as I anticipated, I will be using a strategy called building a team mission as a step first in my motivation plan. It is safe to say that all successful organizations have a mission statement and a clear basic outline for what is expected from their employees. Therefore, I will incorporate this strategy into my group, as I believe it is a main key for the expectancy theory. This strategy falls under the “expectancy” category of the theory because it is about a person’s perception to which extent of effort will lead to high performance. Having a team mission defines what the high performance should be.

In this strategy will start off by planning a team meeting and discussing everyone’s individual goals, I will then combine the goals as a whole and discuss the benefits of reaching this goal. For instance, if we all maximize our effort we will get a high score which will help us attain a high mark in the class. I will also have everyone set goals following the SMART guidelines and then combine everyone’s goals.  I will get every single member of the group involved in the discussions because being involved will help them make the team goals their own personal goals. I Believe this strategy will be successful because when you turn team goals into personal goals people get more involved instead of sitting back and letting someone else do all the work, also when you are enthusiastic about the end results it brings up everyone else’s motivation as well.

Strategy number 2: build a performance effort relationship with my group members.

The second strategy I will be using for the expectancy theory is building an effort performance relationship which is making sure each individual group member has their effort noticed. This is based on this chosen motivation theory because it falls under the “instrumental” component which is basically when employees think that high performance will lead to outcomes. So they have to be recognized for their effort and rewarded for that. However, the rewards don’t always have to be tangibles. In my performance effort strategy, the rewards are intangibles during the process of the group project. I will give recognition and appraisal to every group member whom puts in effort. I believe sometimes intangibles are valued more than tangles because it meets your psychological needs and makes you happy from within. This way they will stay motivated and understand that their work is not going unnoticed. Moreover, if there are any group members not doing work, it will motivate them to put in more effort so that their work gets recognized as well. In summary, I anticipate that this strategy will create an ongoing motivation process throughout the project and aside from that will lead to a friendly competitive environment where my group members are competing among themselves to perform better.