To what extent does Denver’s pay plan build on recommendations from equity and expectancy theory? Explain.
Expectancy Theory holds that people are motivated to behave in ways that produce desired results or expected outcomes. Outcomes are those things that an organization provides such as pay, bonuses, fringe benefits, challenging assignments, job security, promotion, status symbols, and participation in important decisions. Expectancy Theory can be used to predict motivation and behavior in any situation in which a choice between two or more alternatives must be made. Motivation boils down to the decision of how much effort to exert in a specific task situation (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010, p. 223).
Expectancy theory is based on several factors of motivation. Performance is viewed as a function of motivation, ability, role perceptions and resources. The position of Denver Public Schools is that those who meet certain criteria and receive positive evaluations should be rewarded. Where motivation affects performance, those who are willing to go the extra mile to accomplish goals will be rewarded. However, what the school district failed to understand is that performance goes beyond motivation and a willingness to achieve. If performance is a function of role perceptions and resources those teachers with more education and experiences are being overlooked as valuable resources for the public school system. They may possess insights, experiences and wisdom about education that newer teachers do not possess. They may possess a greater ability to get concepts across to students, even if they do not meet specific guidelines. When applied to the debate, expectancy theory should take into account both points of view. The position of Denver Public Schools is that teachers who are successful based on specific criteria should be rewarded. The position of the union is that experienced teachers are valuable resources that should also be rewarded for their continued effort and desire to teach.
The Equity Theory is a model of motivation that explains how people strive for fairness and justice in social situations or give and take relationships. Equity Theory explains how an individual’s motivation to behave in a certain way is fueled by feelings of inequity or a lack of justice. On the job, feelings of inequity revolve around a person’s evaluation of whether he or she receives adequate rewards to compensate for his or her contributive inputs. Inputs are those things such as one’s education, training, skills, creativity, seniority, age, personality traits, effort, experience, or personal appearance (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010, p. 218).
I believe that the Denver public school district intended to use the Expectancy Theory in conjunction with goals in order to drive performance. They believed that the pay-for-performance plan had high procedural justice which would result in an equitable solution. According to Kreitner & Kinicki, procedural justice is defined as the perceived fairness of the process and procedures used to make allocation decisions (p.221). The Denver public school system believed that the performance bonuses would motivate teachers to work harder to achieve the desired results (higher student test scores, good evaluations, continuing education or taking difficult assignments). The school district also thought that each teacher’s valence would be the same. Valences are the positive or negative values people place on outcomes. Perhaps the school district felt that a bonus is a bonus and it doesn’t matter if the bonus is tied to the base pay or comes as a bonus check. What the school district failed to realize, however, is that the younger teachers that fall within the 13 year window would view the valence as positive and this new pay-for-performance structure would have a positive inequity for the young teachers. For the veteran teachers the valence is negative and to them the new pay-for-performance structure has a negative inequity. To the veterans, the less accomplished teachers are getting higher rewards that result in an unequal pay structure. This feeling of inequity of lack of justice on the part of the veteran teachers is a demotivating factor. This demonstrates the Equity Theory (theindustrialist.com).
What role does organizational culture play in this case?
An organization’s culture comprises an interlocking set of goals, roles, processes, values, communications, practices, attitudes and assumptions. The Denver public school system and its teachers had a culture that valued both education and experience. Tenure was important and teachers were rewarded for that. Across the board pay raises were common practice for teacher contracts. When the Denver public school opted to change the culture by rewarding teachers for performance which predominantly favored younger teachers, the veteran teachers and the union found the proposal to be unacceptable (Simon, S. 2008, p. 1).
The conflict between the school district and the teachers’ union creates some interesting tensions within the various cultures and sub-cultures. There are two strong organizational cultures at work here; the culture found within the school district and the culture found within the teachers’ union. Most times both cultures are in sync because it is in the school district’s best interest to look out for the teacher’s interests and it is the union’s main responsibility to look out for the teacher’s interests. Now within the two main cultures, because of the conflict between the school district and the teachers’ union, interesting sub-cultures develop. Since there is a divide built in to the performance program by the 13 year provision, between the teachers who still receive base salary increases and those who don’t those groups turn into sub-cultures within the two main cultures and each have competing interests. These sub-cultures also divide generationally since the new performance program has the perception of favoring newer teachers, who fall within the 13 year provision, at the expense of the veteran teachers (theindusrialist.com).
The development of these sub-cultures is a negative consequence due to the new pay-for-performance plan. These sub-cultures are going to cause a shift in each organization’s social system stability and the teacher’s organizational identity. For the group of teachers who have a positive reaction to the policy, it is their identity with the teachers’ union that is going to suffer. This is an organization that is now fighting to improve the pay for the veteran teachers. As the policy currently stands, the younger teachers feel that the new structure already benefits them and being forced take actions such as a strike to help improve the program for the rest of the teachers is going to have an adverse effect. This will cause the younger teachers to lose identity with the teachers’ union and it is also going to cause the stability of the teachers’ union to suffer because there is a group of teachers that aren’t in agreement with the union’s action. For the veteran teachers, the shift in identity is going to be reversed. This program is going to strengthen their identity with the teachers’ union, since the organization is looking out for their best interest, while the school district is not. This is going to cause erosion in the social system stability of the Denver Public School system (theindustrialist.com)
Changing an organization’s culture is one of the most difficult leadership challenges. All of the elements of culture (goals, roles, processes, values, communication practices, attitudes, assumptions, etc) fit together as a mutually reinforcing system and combine to prevent any attempt to change it. It is a large scale undertaking and eventually all of the organizational tools for changing minds will need to be put in play. In general, the most fruitful success strategy is to begin with leadership tools, including a vision for the future, cement the change in place with management tools, such as role definition, measure and control systems and us the pure power tools of coercion an punishment as last resort when all else fails. If the Denver public school system had opted to follow a strategy such as this to initial change, then perhaps they may have been more successful. Creating a culture that incorporated a combination of views such as pay for performance, and placing a value on experience and tenure may have been the best choice for the Denver school system and may have resulted in a fair contract for all of the Denver teachers (Denning, 2011, p. 1)
Using the various motivation theories discussed in this chapter, how would you revise the pay plan so that it would be acceptable to both the school system and union? Provide specific recommendations.
There are several theories of motivation which can be applied so that both sides of the issue can reach a suitable agreement or solution. Both Content Theories of Motivation (which focus on identifying internal factors such as instincts, needs, satisfaction and job characteristics that energize employee motivation) and Process Theories of Motivation (which focus on explaining the process by which internal factors and cognitions influence employee motivation) can be applied to revise the pay plan so it is acceptable to both the teachers’ union and the school system (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010, p. 212).
McClelland’s Need Theory is a content theory of motivation McClelland indicates that employees have a need for achievement (a desire to accomplish something difficult), a need for affiliation (desire to spend time in social relationships and activities) and a need for power (desire to influence, coach, teach, or encourage others to achieve). Research indicates that people with a high need for achievement are more attracted to companies that have a pay-for-performance environment than those with low achievement needs. Understanding this theory can help the school system negotiate a contract settlement that will in part attract to those teachers who have a need for achievement or power (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010, p. 216).
As explained in an earlier question, the Equity Theory is a model of motivation that explains how people strive for fairness and justice in social situations or give and take relationships. Equity Theory explains how an individual’s motivation to behave in a certain way is fueled by feelings of inequity or a lack of justice. On the job, feelings of inequity revolve around a person’s evaluation of whether he or she receives adequate rewards to compensate for his or her contributive inputs. Inputs are those things such as one’s education, training, skills, creativity, seniority, age, personality traits, effort, experience, or personal appearance (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010, p. 218). In negotiating a fair contract, the school systems should understand that the many teachers, especially the veteran teachers may be motivated based on equity and would feel that a contract solely based on performance or achievement isn’t fair or equitable.
Understanding Expectancy theory is also very important in negotiating a contract for the Denver teachers. Expectancy theory holds that people are motivated to behave in ways that produce desired combinations of expected outcomes. Expectancy is a belief that effort leads to a specific level of performance. Instrumentality represents a person’s belief that a particular person’s outcome is contingent on accomplishing a specific level of performance. Valance refers to the positive or negative value people place on outcomes. Expectancy theory can predict performance, effort, intentions, preferences and choice. Behavior and attitudes are influenced when organizations link rewards to targeted behavior. However, there is no best type of reward. Individual differences and need theories tell us that people are motivated by different rewards. Management should focus on linking employee performance to valued rewards regardless of the type of reward used to enhance motivation (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010, p. 226).
Understand goal setting (the simple behavior of setting goals activates a powerful motivation process to leads to sustained performance) can also be helpful in negotiating a contract with the Denver teachers. Setting performance goals increases individual, group, and organizational performance. The school system should work with the teachers union to set specific goals, provide feed back on the goals, have an action plan that outlines the goals and a timeline for implementation of such goals, be committed to such goals and provided monetary incentives to accomplish such goals (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010, p. 230).
I would take all of these theories of motivation into consideration in revising the pay plan for the Denver teachers. The school district and the union should compromise and revise the pay for performance plan to consider all factors of performance such as student achievements, test scores, teacher education level, tenure and a willingness to take on risky assignments. If this compromise could be made, all parties would be treated equitably and the students themselves would benefit.
WORKS CITED
Dunning, Steve. Forbes. How do you Change an Organization’s Culture. Retrieved on 3/1/2012. .
Fairbanks, Horace. The Industrialist – Captains of Industry Website. Thoughts on Denver Public Schools pay-per-performance. Retreived 2/27/2012.
Kreitner, Robert and Kinicki, Angelo. Organizational Behavior, ninth edition. 2010 McGraw-Hill.
Simon, Stephanie. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2/28/2012. .
