Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
12–10
Copyright © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Topics and Tips for Discussion:
1. Discuss why it is important for managers to understand how to motivate their employees.
In order to influence employee behavior, managers need to understand the motivational
2. Think back to the favorite job you have ever had. Describe the intrinsic rewards that you
enjoyed with that job.
3. Discuss the needs that are important to you that can be satisfied through your work. Are
those needs currently being met? What changes could be made to better meet your needs?
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
12–11
Connect® Exercise
CLICK AND DRAG: Personal vs. Contextual Factors in Motivation
Summary of Activity:
In this Click and Drag exercise, students will match the appropriate personal and contextual
factors in motivation with their appropriate examples.
● Figure 12.2 presents a simple model of motivation.
o People have certain needs that motivate them to perform specific behaviors.
o They receive rewards for these behaviors that feedback and satisfy the original
need.
o Rewards are of two types: extrinsic and intrinsic.
▪ An extrinsic reward is the payoff (such as money) a person receives from
others for performing a particular task.
▪ It is an external reward; the payoff comes from pleasing others.
▪ An intrinsic reward is the satisfaction (such as a feeling of
accomplishment) a person receives from performing the particular task
itself.
▪ It is an internal reward; the payoff comes from pleasing yourself.
SELF-ASSESSMENT 12.1 CAREER READINESS
Are You More Interested in Extrinsic or Intrinsic Rewards?
CAREER
READINESS
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
12–12
● Organizations want to motivate their employees to be more productive.
2. To generate suggestions for how instructors can use extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to motivate
student achievement.
Click for follow-up activity.
12.2 Content Perspectives on Employee Motivation
POWERPOINT SLIDES:
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
12–13
#7 Four Major Perspectives on Motivation
#8 Content Perspectives on Motivation
#9 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
#10 McClelland’s Acquired Needs Theory
#12 Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory
#13 The Three Innate Needs
#14 and #15 Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
#16 A Comparison of the Content Theories
Section 12.2 discusses the content perspective on employee motivation. Content theories
emphasize the needs that motivate people. The content perspective theories described in this
section include: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, McClelland’s acquired needs theory, Deci and
Ryan’s self-determination theory, and Herzberg’s two-factor theory.
One way that you could begin your coverage of these topics is to have the students watch the
Harvard Business Review video “The Explainer: One More Time, How Do You Motivate
Employees?” This approximately 2-minute video describes Herzberg’s two-factor theory of
1. Of the various needs described in the content theories, which ones seem to be the most
insightful in explaining what motivates you?
2. Are there any differences between what motivates you personally versus professionally?
ONLINE
VIDEO
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
12–14
According to Herzberg’s two-factor theory, motivating factors include achievement,
recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and growth. Hygiene factors
CLICK AND DRAG: Needs and Satisfaction Theories of Motivation
Summary of Activity:
In this Click and Drag exercise, students will match the appropriate needs and satisfaction
theories of motivation with their definitions.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
potential.
● Maslow suggested that needs are never completely satisfied.
● Our actions are aimed at fulfilling the “deprived” needs, those that remain unsatisfied at
any point in time.
● Research does not clearly support Maslow’s theory, although it remains popular among
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
12–15
● Managers should first try to meet employees’ level 1 and level 2 needs and then give
employees a chance to fulfill their higher-level needs in ways that also advance the goals
Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow, he describes how JDV uses Maslow’s theory to
motivate the business’ three key stakeholders—employees, customers, and investors—by
tapping into the power of self-actualization to create peak performance.
Click for follow-up activity.
McClelland’s Acquired Needs Theory
o The negative kind is the need for personal power, which is the desire to dominate
others, and it involves manipulating people for one’s own gratification.
o The positive kind is the need for institutional power, which is the desire to solve
problems and further organizational goals.
● Individuals with a high need for achievement:
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
12–16
o They like situations in which good performance relies on effort and ability rather
than luck.
that will make people resent them.
o They prefer work, such as sales, that provides for personal relationships and social
approval.
SELF-ASSESSMENT 12.2 CAREER READINESS
capable of completing a goal or task and to learn different skills.
o The need for autonomy is the need to feel freedom and discretion to determine
what to do and how to do it.
o The need for relatedness is the need to feel a sense of belonging, of attachment to
others.
CAREER
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
● To foster feelings of autonomy, managers can develop trust with their employees and
empower them by delegating meaningful tasks to them.
dissatisfaction from hygiene factors.
● Hygiene factors are factors associated with job dissatisfaction, such as salary, working
conditions, interpersonal relationships, and company policy—all of which affect the job
context in which people work.
● Motivating factors, or simply motivators, are factors associated with job satisfaction,
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
12–18
Copyright © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
VIDEO CASE: Accounting Firm Sets Up Blind Dates
Summary of Activity:
In this video case, students will first view how an accounting firm is setting up blind dates for
employees. Then, students will respond to four multiple choice questions.
Follow-Up Activity:
Students should be divided into groups of five. Each group should be assigned a different content
theory of motivation (i.e. Maslow, McClelland, etc.) and asked to utilize how the firm’s
professional blind date program satisfies, or does not satisfy, certain employee needs. Each group
should present to the class.
12.3 Process Perspectives on Employee Motivation
POWERPOINT SLIDES:
#17 Process Perspectives on Employee Motivation
#18 and #19 Equity/Justice Theory
#20 Some Ways Employees Try to Reduce Inequity
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
12–19
Copyright © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Another way to present the material for Sections 12.2 and 12.3 is to assign teams of 4-5 students
one of the content or process theories of motivation described in the chapter and instruct them
that they are to present this theory to the rest of the class. Give each team large poster paper and
several colored markers. Task the students with preparing any visual aids they feel they need to
be able to present their theory to the class. Each team should describe the main tenets of the
theory and the practical managerial implications of the theory. After 15-20 minutes of
preparation time, have the students present their theories.
Topics and Tips for Discussion:
1. Describe time that you experienced inequity at your company (or a previous one).
Describe what created these feelings of inequity and how you dealt with the situation.
2. Apply Vroom’s expectancy theory to explain your level of effort in this class.
Your level of effort in this class will be based on how much you value the outcomes of
your efforts. If you have a high expectancy, you believe that if you exert more effort, you
3. How could you use goal setting as a motivational tool at work?
ONLINE
VIDEO
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
12–20
● Process perspectives are concerned with the thought processes by which people decide
how to act.
● The key elements in equity theory are inputs, outputs, and comparisons.
o Inputs that people perceive they give to an organization are their time, effort,
training, experience, status, and so on.
o Outputs or rewards are the rewards that people receive from an organization,
including pay, benefits, praise, recognition, promotions, perquisites, and so on.
▪ Employees who think they are treated fairly are more likely to support
organizational change and are more apt to cooperate in group settings.
● Justice Theory
o Organizational justice is concerned with the extent to which people perceive they
are treated fairly at work.
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
12–21
▪ Procedural justice is defined as the perceived fairness of the process and
procedures used to make allocation decisions.
previous job. If a student has never been employed, university experience can be utilized.
Questions on trust, respect, and praise are presented.
Click for follow-up activity.
● Five practical lessons can be drawn from equity and justice theories:
o Employee perceptions are what count, not what management thinks about the
EXAMPLE: Transparency at Buffer
This Example details the use of transparency not only in organizational goals and financial
achievements, but more specifically in worker pay levels. Every salary at Buffer is determined
according to a very specific rubric. Every employee’s pay is available. This decreases feelings of
inequity overall while encouraging early discussions of any perceived inequity. The system is
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
12–22
But overall, it has benefited the organization through decreased bias and ambiguity in hiring and
promotion, and increased numbers of high-quality applicants.
Click for follow-up activity.
Expectancy Theory
● Expectancy theory suggests that people are motivated by two things: how much they
want something, and how likely they think they are to get it.
● Figure 12.8 presents the major elements of expectancy theory.
● According to the theory, motivation involves the relationship between effort,
performance, and the desirability of the outcomes.
● These relationships are affected by the three elements of expectancy, instrumentality, and
valence.
o Expectancy is the belief that a particular level of effort will lead to a particular
level of performance.
o Instrumentality is the expectation that successful performance of the task will
lead to the outcome desired.
o Valence is value, the importance a worker assigns to the possible outcome or
reward.
● For your motivation to be high, all three elements—expectancy, instrumentality, and
valence—must be high.
● When attempting to motivate employees using expectancy theory, managers should ask
the following questions:
o What rewards do the employees value?
o What are the job objectives and the performance level you desire?
o Are the rewards linked to performance?
o Do employees believe you will deliver the right rewards for the right
performance?
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
12–23
EXAMPLE: Reducing the F’s: Applying Expectancy Theory to Failing Students
Dr. Tim Richard has used a motivational program called Celebration/Remediation to improve the
12.4 Job Design Perspectives on Motivation
POWERPOINT SLIDES:
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
12–24
One way that you could begin your coverage of these topics is to have the students watch the
1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using job enlargement as a form of job
design.
2. Discuss how the core job characteristics could be applied to your current job (or a
previous one) to make it more motivating.
3. Discuss how your instructor could apply the principles of the job characteristics model to
motivate you to better performance in this class.
ONLINE
VIDEO
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
12–25
projects that fostered a sense of task identity; gave you assignments that impacted other
people, such as service-based learning projects; let you pick how and when assignments
● Fitting people to jobs is based on the assumption that people will gradually adapt to any
work situation.
● Jobs must still be tailored so that nearly anyone can do them.
● One technique of this approach is scientific management, the process of reducing the
number of tasks a worker performs.
variety and motivation.
▪ Research suggests job enlargement by itself won’t have a significant
positive impact on job performance.
▪ Job enlargement is just one tool that should be used in job design.
o Job enrichment consists of building into a job such motivating factors as
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
12–26
▪ Employees take on chores that would normally be performed by their
supervisors.
o Task significance: the extent to which a job affects the lives of other people.
o Autonomy: the extent to which a job allows an employee to make choices about
scheduling different tasks and deciding how to perform them.
o Feedback: the extent to which workers receive clear, direct information about
how well they are performing the job.
a problem exists with a low motivating potential score (MPS).
o Determine whether job design is appropriate by assessing if a core job
characteristic is causing a low MPS.
o Consider how to redesign the job by increasing core job characteristic(s) that are
low.
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
Interactive Classroom Material:
EXAMPLE: Do Job Characteristics Matter in the Modern Workforce?
12.5 Reinforcement Perspectives on Motivation
POWERPOINT SLIDES:
#32 Reinforcement Perspectives on Motivation
#33 and #34 Four Types of Reinforcement
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
12–28
Positive reinforcement seeks to strength a behavior by linking the desired behavior to a
2. Assume you wanted to change someone’s behavior using extinction. What are some of
the possible disadvantages of using extinction as a behavioral modification strategy?
3. Describe situations or scenarios when you should use punishment and why you should
seek to limit your use of punishment.
Mangers should limit their use of punishment because it often damages the quality of the
working relationship and creates fear in workers. It may also be difficult to punish each
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 12 Motivating Employees: Achieving Superior Performance
in the Workplace
● Reinforcement theory attempts to explain behavior change by suggesting that behavior
with positive consequences tends to be repeated, whereas behavior with negative
reinforced.
o Punishment is the process of weakening behavior by presenting something
negative or withdrawing something positive.
Connect® Exercise
CASE ANALYSIS: Acuity Insurance and The Container Store Focus on Employee
Acuity Insurance or The Container Store.
Using Reinforcement to Motivate Employees
● To effectively use positive reinforcement:
o Reward only desirable behavior.
o Give rewards as soon as possible after the desirable behavior appears.