Expectancy Theory

Expectancy Theory:

Expectancy theory was propounded by Victor Vroom. The theory is all about relationship between motive to act and the expectation from such behaviour. The theory explains motivation in terms of expectations that employees have in performing effectively.

The theory argues the strength of the drive to act in a certain way depends largely on the strength of the expectation that such behaviour will result in a desired outcome and the attractiveness of euch outcome to the individual concerned.

The expectancy Model has three major components which are;

Performance Outcome Expectancy

Performance (p) leads to outcome (o) P---> O. People believe that they will have certain outcomes if they perform effectively or behave in a certain manner. For example,a worker who works to meet a certain target in sales hopes that this may bring him increased salary,bonus or praise.

Efforts Performance Expectancy

Efforts (E) leads to performance (P) ie E---> P. People believe that effective performance comes by making efforts. A person is said to have a very low E---> P if he or she believes that no matter what effort he makes achievement performance will not be possible.

Valence of Outcomes

Valence (V) represents power to motivate and this varies from individual to individual. The level of impact that any outcome may have on an individual's motivation will depend on how much such individual values the outcome. For example,an employee who values nearness to family will not have the same valence with one who values higher position if they both are transferred to the branch office on higher positions.

Valence is the degree of satisfaction an individual anticipates from a future outcome while,value is simply the amount of satisfaction an individual actually receives from an outcome.

In practicing the expectancy theory in organizations, a manager must note that it is meant to solve the problem that arises from the situation whereby a particular attempt to motivate workers will end up motivating some,while others are not. Workers tend to seek answers to the following questions (Robbins 1996) regarding valence:

• If I give a maximum effort,will it be recognized in my performance appraisal?

• If I get a good performance appraisal,will it lead to organizational reward?

• If I am rewarded,are they the rewards I find personally attractive?.

Sometimes depending on the situation,a manager may try to alter the rewards but must ensure adequate communication in terms of how performance is related to rewards.