The Expectancy Theory of Motivation explains the factors or the levels of which employees are motivated. There is a direct correlation of an employee’s trend to act in a scenario is dependent on the expectation the act will render. There are three key components and relationships in the expectancy theory. Effort-performance, Performance-reward, and Rewards-personal goals relationship are the three factors that define this correlation. These three will be discussed in detail accompanied by a proposed application for the given scenario.
First of all in the Effort-performance relationship deals with “sweat equity” or how much effort must the employee invest in the position. The amount of effort is directly related to the amount of the reward in return. The employee takes the amount of time and calculates the required effort to ensure delivery of the expected level of performance. If the response to this calculation is negative there will be a decline in performance or meeting the goals outlined by the performance assessment.
Secondly, the Performance-reward relationship means that the employee is performing at a particular level that will to obtain the reward. Meaning that the action required is no longer calculated based on effort, the employee now has decided to take on more tasks to render the reward. It deals with the question of how long must the employee work at a higher level to be rewarded accordingly. This relationship, has been consider a weak point in a lot of work/performance environments, there are factors within this relationship that can prove to be de-motivating to the employee.
To further distinguish the two Effort-performance relationship is based on individual pieces determined by the employee that will lead to the desired level of performance. While the Performance-reward relationship is based on a combination of many efforts over a