The expectancy theory is a motivation theory based on the idea that work effort is directed toward behaviours that people believe will lead to desired outcomes, which means that individuals develop expectations about whether we can achieve many levels of job performance through experience. We naturally direct our effort toward outcomes that help us fulfill our needs. The most important factor in the expectancy theory is effort- which is an individual’s actual exertion of energy. The amount of effort people put forth depends on three factors: effort-to-performance (E-to-P) expectancy, performance-to-outcome (P-to-O) expectancy, and outcome valences (V). All of these factors help simulate employee motivation. The first factor in the expectancy theory is the effort-to-performance (E-to-P) expectancy is the way an individual sees how their efforts will accomplish a specific level of performance. Managers who understand increasing effort-to-performance expectancies are aware that there are individuals who are going to assume that even though they put in all their effort they will not be able to achieve the level of performance they desire. As a result of this understanding, managers recognize the importance of matching employees to jobs based on their abilities. They are aware that they need to clearly communicate the tasks required for the job, which as a result strengthens the individual’s ability to accomplish organizational tasks. The second aspect to the expectance theory is the performance-to-outcome (P-to-O) expectancy which is the assumed probability that a specific behavior or performance level will lead to specific outcomes. The assumed probability is generated through an individual’s mind from previous experiences and learning from them. Important issues to remember about the performance-to-outcome expectancy are the results individuals are looking to achieve. It is significant because motivation depends on the probability that a behaviour or job performance level will result in the very outcomes we think about. For instance, employees may be motivated to work more efficiently and use their time more wisely to finish a task so they can get off early, which is the reason why they are pushing themselves. Another example would be that employees work hard in hopes to eventually get a promotion and/or a raise (their desired outcome). So managers who remind and reassure employees that if they accomplish their goals they will be rewarded in some way, they will be able to do their job more effectively. The remaining part of the expectancy theory model is the outcome valances, which is the anticipated satisfaction or dissatisfaction that an individual feels toward an outcome. Outcome valence is basically a positive or negative result. For instance, some people enjoy working with people as opposed to working alone, so if they had to work at home alone their situation would have a strong negative valence because it is moving them further away from fulfilling their needs. The expectancy theory plays a valuable role by detailing a person’s thinking process when translating the challenging demands of the four drives into specific effort. Managers who understand this can assign certain employees specific jobs. Employees who enjoy working with people would be assigned to associate with people and by doing so; managers will notice greater productivity levels.
The Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory is a motivation theory of needs arranged in a “tree”, whereby people are motivated to fulfill a higher need as a lower one becomes grateful. The Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory concentrates a long list of needs into a ranking of five basic categories. Starting from the bottom of the hierarchy is the first category- physiological needs, which is the need for food, air, water, and shelter. Following physiological needs are safety needs which are the need for a secure and stable environment and the absence of pain, threat, or illness. The third category, after safety, would be belongingness which states the individuals feel the need to strive for love, affection, and interaction with other people. Subsequent to belongingness is esteem which can be measured in two ways: self-esteem and social esteem. Self-esteem is achieved through personal achievement whereby social esteem is achieved through recognition and respect from others. Last but not least is the category that sits at the top of the hierarchy: self-actualization. Self-actualization is the need for self-fulfillment where a sense that a person’s potential has been reached. The Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory states that the lower level needs are often what people feel the need to fulfill first, and when they feel like they’ve addressed those needs the next need on the hierarchy becomes their strongest motivator. This applies to each level in The Maslow’s needs hierarchy except for self-actualization. The reason for that is because when people go through self-actualization they desire more rather than less of this need. This theory can help manager’s do their job more effectively because it educates leaders to what motivates employees to work harder. By helping fellow employees achieve or make them feel like they will achieve a level in the Maslow’s needs hierarchy, managers will notice an increase in motivation amongst employees.
The competency (trait) perspective of leadership is the perception that leadership requires specific personal characteristics and that a few traits are consistently linked with effective leaders. The traits associated to effective leaders are intelligence, emotional intelligence, integrity, drive, leadership motivation, self-confidence, and knowledge of business. Effective leaders demonstrate intelligence; they are able to process huge amounts of information while having a greater ability to analyze a variety of alternatives and opportunities. In addition to intelligence, emotional intelligence is equally as an important trait being that leaders with emotional intelligence are able to adjust their behavior to match the situation. They are able to sense and express emotion, incorporate emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion, and control emotion in themselves and others which gives them the ability to identify with others and creates social skills necessary to build a bond as well as network with others. Integrity is identified as a leadership trait because leaders with integrity have higher moral ability to judge problems based on sound values and are able to act accordingly. Leaders have a high need for achievement which inspires their curiosity and their need to learn. They are naturally motivated to pursue their goals and encourage other to move forward with theirs. Another trait that effective leaders possess is leadership motivation where they feel the need to use their power to benefit the organization and society rather than themselves. Effective leaders are generally outgoing, sociable, assertive, and talkative individuals. They represent self-confidence in which they believe their own skills and abilities will help them to achieve objectives. One more common trait associated with successful leaders is their knowledge of the business; this helps them understand the organization’s potential where they can identify opportunities and seize them. Manager’s who recognize the traits of an effective leader can try to reflect those traits as much as possible to help them perform their job. It will help because they understand what type of person they will generally have to be to become a effective leader.
The transformational perspective of leadership includes major four elements: creating a strategic vision, communicating the vision, modeling the vision, and building commitment toward the vision. Creating a strategic vision is the first element in transformational leadership. Transformational leaders first form a realistic and attractive plan and goal for an organization’s future. This creation encourages teamwork and focuses more energy toward achieving this goal. After they’ve come up with a strategic vision, these leaders bring their visions to life through symbols, metaphors, stories, and other vehicles that go beyond plain language. Following the visions being brought to life, transformational leaders model their vision by doing things that symbolize their vision. They are reliable and persistent in their actions which legitimizes their vision and provides further evidence that the can be trusted. Managers would model their visions can do their job more effectively because employees will be more likely to believe and follow their lead as a result of the notable consistency between their words and their actions. The last element in transformational leadership is building commitment toward the vision. Transformational leaders build commitment by involving employees in the process of shaping the organization’s vision. Manager’s could definitely be more effective by using words, symbols, and stories to build enthusiasm that energizes fellow employees to better achieve store goals. Managers who adopt the transformational perspective of leadership are unquestionably going to be able to do their job more efficiently because they will be able to develop a vision for their work unit, inspire and collectively bond employees to that vision, and build encouragement that makes that vision achievable.
The situational leadership theory, also known as the life-cycle theory of leadership, proposes that effective leaders vary their style with the employee’s or work team’s ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task. The situational leadership model also identifies four leadership styles- telling, selling, participating, and delegating; with one leadership style being more effective in different situations. Manager’s who choose to follow the situational leadership theory can benefit through two of the four leadership styles: telling and delegating. By constantly telling employees who they should be doing and always delegating, it is no wonder a lot manager’s choose to follow this theory because it gets the job done. Often the employees lack the skills, knowledge, self-motivation, and commitment and for that reason manager’s take on the role of showing how things are done and continuously guiding them to achieve organizational goals.
In conclusion, theories and models in leadership and motivation help a manager do his/her job more effectively for the reason that with the knowledge of these theories and models they have a better understanding of how and why individuals work they way they do, thus changing their management style to help promote the growth of the organization.
