Expectancy Theory
(Vroom)

An employee's performance is based on individual factors. Explanation of Expectancy Theory of Victor Vroom. ('64)

What is Expectancy Theory? Description

The Expectancy Theory of Victor Vroom deals with motivation and management. Vroom's theory assumes that behavior is a result from conscious choices among alternatives. The purpose of the choices is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Together with Edward Lawler and Lyman Porter, Vroom suggested that the relationship between people's behavior at work and their goals was not as simple as was first imagined by other scientists. Vroom realized that an employee's performance is based on individual factors such as personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities.

The expectancy theory says that individuals have different sets of goals and can be motivated if they have certain expectations.

Expectancy Theory expectations

There is a positive correlation between efforts and performance,
Favorable performance will result in a desirable reward,
The reward will satisfy an important need,
The desire to satisfy the need is strong enough to make the effort worthwhile.

Vroom's Expectancy Theory is based upon the following three beliefs.

Expectancy Theory beliefs

Valence. Refers to the emotional orientations which people hold with respect to outcomes [rewards]. The depth of the want of an employee for extrinsic [money, promotion, free time, benefits] or intrinsic [satisfaction] rewards. Management must discover what employees appreciate.
Expectancy. Employees have different expectations and levels of confidence about what they are capable of doing. Management must discover what resources, training, or supervision the employees need.
Instrumentality. The perception of employees whether they will actually receive what they desire, even if it has been promised by a manager. Management must ensure that promises of rewards are fulfilled and that employees are aware of that.

Vroom suggests that an employee's beliefs about Expectancy, Instrumentality, and Valence interact psychologically. In this way they create a motivational force, such that the employee will act in a way that brings pleasure and avoids pain. This force can be 'calculated' via a formula:

Expectancy Theory formula

Motivation = Valence x Expectancy(Instrumentality).

This formula can be used to indicate and predict things as: job satisfaction, occupational choice, the likelihood of staying in a job, and the effort that one might expend at work.

Expectancy Theory Forum (30)

Employee Involvement
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Extended Version of the Expectancy Theory (Lambright)
"Lambright (2010) addresses an important weakness of the expectancy theory: it makes no distinction between certainty and uncertainty conditions. Indeed, the expectancy theory does not take into account the cases in which there is uncertainty of the outcome. Since expectancy model outcomes do not have to be the same in certain outcome cases compared to cases in which outcomes are uncertain, Lambright suggests a distinction between these circumstances should be included in the formula.
Therefore the author suggest an extended version of the expectancy theory, in which the level of certainty is included:
Motivation = Expectancy × Instrumentality × Valence × Certainty.
In this formula, the certainty level has a value from zero to one, in which zero means there is no certainty at all and one means there is full certainty of outcomes. As a result, for highly certain cases this formula would act the same way as the traditional expectancy theory formula. For lower certainty-levels, motivation will be lower than the traditional formula.
Lambright, K. T. (2010). An Update of a Classic: Applying Expectancy Theory to Understand Contracted Provider Motivation. Administration & Society, Sage Publications."

Creative Chaos is Conducive to Motivation
"When one considers motivation in business organizational terms and politics, the first thing that comes to mind is monetary. Stick-and-carrot.
But taking a more holistic view, I believe motivation is a by-product of human nature liberated from the shackles of nature called "self".
Reading through some writings of organizations, communities and national leaders, there is a common thread that seems to reveal that, effective collaborations, partnership, and cooperation always add value to humanity. Humans seem to be motivated by the intrinsic human nature based on 'purpose motive'. This purpose motive thrives well in the environment of 'creative chaos'.
In creative chaos environments, there are no rules to obey, but there's freedom to choose to obey self and follow one's heart, there are no commanding structures but there are flexible and integrated structures ready to build a relationship free from all forms of manipulation and intrigues. There is freedom to release inner-self that is full of purpose motives."

Motivation is Owned by the Individual
"Motivation is a slippery slope. I believe Wlodkowski who says: one cannot directly motivate another since motivation is owned by the individual; it comes from within us. It's the same as telling one to stop thinking abut sex. You have no control over that person's thinking, though you may provide an ambiance of sorts to do so; the same applies to motivation.
However, the leader can foster motivation by addressing two questions:
1. What do you need that you're not getting?
2. What can I do to make this relationship better, different, or more...(you choose the word)?
Then listen carefully to the response. Most, if not all want to be recognized, validated, and respected. Performance expectations and metrics must be crystal clear; finally, leaders must be consistent in their behavior--no Jekyll and Hyde--of integrity, trust, rewards, and punishment."

Measuring Motivation:The PIAV Assessment
"When it comes to looking at the individual there is no substitute (personal bias here) for the Personal Interests, Attitudes and Values (PIAV) assessment.
It is a validated tool (based on the work of Spranger) that ranks the six common motivators we all have and measures their intensity relative to the norm or mean. It goes beyond behavioral models, and helps the leader or manager understand what moves the individual to action.
Generally speaking, we feel passionate and fulfilled when we are engaged in activities that satisfy our top two motivators, and will have feelings of indifference in re to those in fifth and sixth position. This has great significance for jobs, teams and organizational culture."

Motivation Should be a Two-way Process
"I think the motivation process between the manager and the employees is exchangeable, i.e. bosses should motivate their subordinates in various ways, but at the same time the subordinates should also motivate their bosses through spending a maximum effort to push the business forward."

What Motivates Employees? The Answer Depends (Partly) on their Generation
"The age of retirement has been moved to 60, 65, 70 years and beyond. Where each generation used to pass the baton; there is no baton being passed anymore.
We can now find multiple generations (up to 4!) working in the workplace together. There are many intergenerational differences, including work motivation. While every person is different, it is proven that generational similarities such as priorities, motivators, reward preferences etc. do exist.
What motivates employee generations...

An organization has to address that when creating a motivational plan. There are currently four generations in the workforce / rat race :-). Generational trends and motivators have been researched and identified by experts. To address the employees as a group an effective leader will understand and convey the messages proven to motivate each generation:
The generational names are debatable but these are the names I chose to use:
1. The Matures are born prior to 1946. They believe work is an obligation, no news is good news, their employer respects their experience and professionalism. Their satisfaction is gained from a job well done.
2. The Baby Boomers are born between 1946-1964. They view work as an adventure, want to be valued and needed by their employer. They don’t appreciate criticism and work for money, title and recognition.
3. The Generation X’ers are born between 1965-1980. They view work as a contract, want to do it their way without rules. They also feel freedom is the best reward and will seek feedback as opposed to waiting.
4. The Millennia's are born between 1981-1994. They view work as a means to an end, but want meaningful work done with other bright creative people, and want everything to manifest with the push of a button.
(Source: Lesonsky R., 2011)."

Small Motivation Tips
"I would be more interested in easy small things to get people motivated. Any ideas such as participating in some special interesting meeting or so. Let's try to collect many motivation tips and ideas. Thanks."

Effort Leads to Performance
"This is true in most cases, the more you put in the more you get out but there are times when this is not the case.
If you put in all of your effort you do perform better, but it is hard to see how someone can keep up such effort. The human mind can only cope with so much, the decrease in effort will eventually lead to a fall in the performance."

Motivating Workers: McGregor´s Example
"I believe that success in motivating employees is well explained in McGregor´s example in which, to the question: "What are you doing?", three workers answered differently.
- The first one says, I'm breaking stones.
- The second worker answers: I'm making a cross.
- And the third says: I build a cathedral.
What is the difference between them? Possibly, the third worker believes in what he´s making, and it´s not just work, but it is part of his life, is part of him. Possibly, someone has managed to detect his passion, his internal pulsation or this someone has facilitated his task, his embodiment in a real object of production (very personal).
Anyone should try to use the skillful emotional intelligence to discover the most valuable in every team, their commitment to the task, their commitment to themselves, their commitment to their own happiness. It is possible. I´ve seen it along my last 25 years of training people."

Misunderstandings About Motivation
"Motivation is found to be hard by many people but I would like to put across that:
1. Motivation can be done even without financial benefits. Take an example of a thank you from your boss, a pat on the back, a recognition letter, a hand shake, and many more. All those mentioned above don't require any penny to be spent.
2. Motivation should not necessarily come from the boss only. I would like to point out that motivation can also come from peers among each other and even from subordinates to their bosses.
3. Lastly we should not forget that motivation is the way you influence your colleagues to work happy in a happy environment. That only "thing" that keeps them smiling everyday at work.
Any other misconceptions around motivations? Please add them!"

Expectancy versus Needs?
"There are many different ways to reach goals, but I believe that the NEEDS have more weight than the EXPECTANCY. So what about Maslow thinking of human behavior?"

Applications of the Expectancy Theory
"This is a very good summary of Expectancy Theory, but I 'd like to know the applications of it in budgeting and planning, and in the implementation of the balanced scorecard or any other valuable applications in HR & performance management. Thanks."

How Can You Motivate Knowledge Workers?
"In the current 'knowledge era', the question what motivates knowledge workers, and, being a manager, how you should motivate and manage them is important.
In their article "The Progress of Small Wins" in HBR May 2011, Professor Theresa M. Amabile and researcher Steven J. Kramer are reporting interesting findings and formulate a principle.
By the way, this principle reminded me strongly of above summarized Expectancy Theory (1964) of Victor Vroom (the article itself does not mention this).
According to Amabile and Kramer what motivates knowledge workers is surprisingly simple: the sense of making progress in meaningful work (they call this the Progress Principle).
In this Progress Principle, 3 elements are important:
1. Sense (similar to Vroom's Expectancy)
2. Making Progress (similar to Vroom's Instrumentality)
3. Meaningful (similar to Vroom's Valence)
According to the authors 'this sense of making progress is fundamental to human nature, but few managers understand it or know how to leverage progress to boost motivation'. This while even limited progress (or lack thereof) can already boost (or decrease) morale and engagement and make them more (or less) productive!
Chances are that you, being a member of 12manage, are managing several or even many knowledge workers. What should you do? Quite simply: support this progress. How?
This part of the article I liked most. Interestingly, the authors distinguish between:
- 'Catalysts' (actions that support work): setting clear goals, allowing autonomy, providing enough resources and time, helping with the work, openly learning from problems and successes, and allowing a free exchange of ideas. Beware of the negative counterpart of catalysts, 'Inhibitors', such as failing to provide support and actively interfering with the work.
- 'Nourishers' (actions that support the person): respect, recognition, encouragement, emotional comfort, opportunities for affiliation. Beware of the negative counterpart of nourishers, 'Toxins', such as disrespect, discouragement, disregard for emotions, and interpersonal conflict."

Controlling the Minds of Employees
"I think there can be several way to achieve goals, however what's more important is to have control over the mind of the team members. And that's up to the managers how they carry their team."

Problems with Expectancy Theory. Disadvantages
"A problem with Expectancy Theory is that it breaks down if employee does not believe in the motivation or reward. Then other leadership or motivation skills are needed as well as the use of other theories."

How to Align Vroom's Theory with Psychological Contract in Disengaged Employees?
"Has anyone/organisation successfully achieved meaningful employee motivation applying the Vroom formula in appraisal systems and still addressing psychological contract theory to disengaged employees (mostly manifested through grandparent business mergers?
I will appreciate your thoughts."

Satisfaction from Achieving Goals
"Satisfaction will usually stem from achievement of goals. Naturally, any employee who believes that his needs have been or will be met, would put in more efforts."

What Precisely is Valence? Definition of Valence
"Hi, for me it's hard to understand "valence"? It's not in my English dictionary. Can you give me some help?"

Marrying Employee and Employer Goals and Expectations
"This is the one theory that seeks to marry employee value proposition (goals and expectations) to the employer's (effective delivery based on skill and experience) and goes further to demand that the employer fulfills his part of the bargain. After all, it is the promise of reward that sweetens labour."

Motivation for Success
"In my opinion, success comes from loving what you do. Is your current work your passion? When you study highly successful people, you understand that they have at least one thing in common, they like to do what they do. If the answer is no start identifying your passion. That is the best way to get motivated."

Motivating Disengaged Employees
"What is the organization theory for handling "disengaged employees"? Can anyone advise?"

Significance of Expectancy Theory
"Do you think the expectancy theory changed the way people were managed? Why?"

Social and Organisational Psychology
"I have difficulty in finding theories to help me on -(Social influence and group dynamic process and worker behaviour) Can any one help me out in this topic?"

Motivation in Non-Profit Organizations
"I'm having difficulties finding a theory to help me research motivation, and the importance of it, in a non-profit organization. Could someone please give me some advice for the best possible theory? Thanks so much!"

What is the distinguishing ratio?
"My problem with this theory is that there is no distinguishing ratio as to the level of performance that leads to a particular outcomes.
E.g.: how do you rate coming late to work between someone that lives nearby to someone that lives far away? I think the theory would benefit from such an upgrade."

Working hard for a raise?
"A consequence that should not be overlooked of the formula M = V * E * I is that even if only one of the 3 elements is zero, the resulting Motivation force will also be zero!
So if your employee either does not care about obtaining a raise at all (Valence=0) OR believes his hard work will not result in a better performance (Expectancy=0) OR thinks it is very unlikely that the organization will ever appreciate and reward his performance (Instrumentality=0), in any of these 3 cases his motivation force will be zero."

Theory of Needs by Maslow versus Vroom's Expectancy Theory
"Unlike the Theory of Needs by Maslow, Vroom's Expectancy Theory (ET) does NOT a priori assumes there are certain needs present in a certain order or hierarchy. In ET, outcomes are (perceived as) valuable when they correspond with a personal goal. As a consequence, ET misses the general predictive capability of Maslow, but is stronger in explaining individual motivation."

Motivating an Employee by Expectancy
"According to Vroom, Expectancy is the 'momentary belief concerning the likelihood that a particular act will be followed by a particular outcome'. It can range from zero (belief that the outcome will not follow on from the act) to one (certainty that the outcome will follow on from the act)."

Motivating an Employee by Valence
"According to Vroom, Valence refers to a preference for one outcome over another. It can be positive, neutral or negative. For example, if an employee strongly desires a promotion, and believes that arriving early for work each day will earn him that promotion, then he will attach a positive valence to arriving early, and be motivated to do so, because of the perceived value of the reward. And he will have a negative valence to arriving late."

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