The expectancy theory of motivation applies this concept and the relationship between the attitude of an employee, their belief about the possibility of achieving a target and the rewards they expect out of it. The theory states that an employees motivation is dependant on how much a satisfaction a person derives from the reward on offer (valence), the confidence that the expected performance will help achieve the target (expectancy) and the possibility that the performance will result in the reward (instrumentality). So motivation is the product of valence, expectancy and instrumentality. The three key components and relationships in the expectancy theory of motivation

Expectancy is the persons conviction that a certain goal can be achieved. The performance of an employee is based on numerous personal factors such as knowledge, abilities, skill, personality etc. So every employee has different competency level, so the employee must have the conviction that the task set can be achieved if he puts in certain amount of extra effort. A person who is very confident about himself is more likely to feel confident about a job in hand. If an employee feels the probability of achieving the goal is high, then he shall be more motivated to make efforts towards it.

Instrumentality is the confidence that an increased performance will lead to a valuable reward. For this the employee must trust the management and the transparency in the decision making process of the organization. For example, in a sales related job, the salesperson must trust that the incentives for the sales accounted will be fairly calculated. If he feels poorly compensated then he will not be motivated to achieve his targets. Valence considers the emotional aspect every individual is satisfied by different rewards. For example, an employee may feel satisfied by monetary gains while another may value a promotion in rankrecognition over money. Again a person who does not like excess pressure may not want to take up extra responsibilities if he feels that a task will cause him to lose sleep over it. So the attitude and mental composition determine how a person will perceive a reward the more desirable the incentive will be, more motivated the employee shall be. Valence is thereby the expected satisfaction that an employee feels he will attain at the end of the task.

An employee is going to be motivated if these three factors are all aligned together. So an employee will increase his level of effort keeping in accordance with how much value he perceive the reward to bring and the probability that the he associates to efforts and outcomes having a positive correlation. If any of the 3 factors is not accomplished then the employee will not be fully motivated to give his best towards achieving a goal. Thus, according to Vroom motivation is  valenceinstrumentalityexpectancy.

2. Since the employees under supervisor A have not been putting forth sufficient efforts to reach the production goals, sufficient motivation should be provided to the unit. The expectancy theory of motivation can be applied to help encourage the employees to perform better and reach targets more effectively. Firstly the supervisors should communicate the new production process and targets clearly to all the employees, so that they understand their responsibilities, accountability and new individual goals.

The three factors to be considered are
Expectancy The employees feel that the process is complex and needs hand dexterity that they are not capable of providing.  They opine that it is not worth putting extra effort to reach the new goal, so the Expectancy that they can complete the process successfully is low. The management should ensure ways to boost the employees confidence and make them feel that they have the requisite knowledge and abilities to carry the task successfully. If required a training program or a development program should be initiated so that the employees feel more equipped with the right skills to handle the process. the employees should be provided with the right resources such as raw materials and time and the supervisors should provide support throughout to help them perform the job.

Instrumentality The employee feel that the effort put in does not yield significant reward. The salary increase for those who reach the department goal are almost the same as non performers. So the management should structure a plan such that there is clear and fair rewards given to the performers. That is the relation between the rewards and efforts should be made clear. The management should be such that the employees can trust them. The rules and guidelines of the appraisal should be communicated to the employees, so that they know how the rewards are to be distributed and feel more motivated to achieve their goals. This will lead to a confidence that the increased effort will lead to valuable rewards and be instrumental to their growth.

Valence The employees who are performing should be assured that additional efforts shall not go unnoticed the supervisor can compliment employees putting in extra initiatives so that the other employees feel motivated to do the same. The extra money received from the overtime is almost equivalent to the value added from the bonus, so if significant monetary awards cannot be given then non cash incentives can be provided. Recognition along with monetary rewards will help motivate the employees.

So the Vrooms theory of motivation can be applied in such a way to help the employees perform better.

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