Victor Vrum’s theory of expectations says: the level of motivation of employees of a company to work depends on their ideas about their own abilities to fulfill their tasks and the reality of achieving goals. This American researcher has made an invaluable contribution to the development of the motivational theory of expectations. According to her postulates, the stimulating effect is not produced by the needs of individuals themselves, but by a thought process in which an assessment is made of the reality of achieving set goals and receiving rewards for it.
Goal calculation
Vroom's theory of expectation includes the assertion that the efforts made by a person are directly dependent on the realization that the desired can really be achieved. In most cases, the following is given as a classic example: a university student is preparing to pass an exam. Suppose this test is the last. For previous exams, grades are excellent, so if this one is also scored for the highest score, the student will receive an increased scholarship throughout the next semester. Moreover, the motivation of this individual is affected by the following:
- self-confidence, the realization that the exam can really be passed "excellent", like all previous ones;
- the desire to have more money.
According to V. Vroom's theory of expectations, a student would not have the motivation for conscientious examination preparation in the absence of faith in himself and the desire to receive a high scholarship.
Classification
Vroom's theory of expectations deals with two types of individual assumptions related to the effectiveness of his activity:
- The first type is related to the following question: “Are the efforts made able to provide a decent level of implementation of work tasks?” In order to meet expectations, a person should have the appropriate abilities, experience in a similar or similar field, as well as the necessary tools, equipment and capabilities to complete the task. In the student example above, the expectation of the indicated type is usually very high if he is really sure that careful preparation will help to get the highest score. If an individual believes that he lacks both the capabilities and the ability to work deeply with educational material, he will most likely seek a high assessment of his knowledge.
- The second type of expectations, as noted by Vrum’s theory of motivation , is the following question: “Will an effective activity achieve the desired result?” For example, a person wanted to have a certain benefit associated with his labor activity. To obtain the desired reward, he should go to a certain level of task performance. If the desire that arises is great, the individual will have a strong motivation for hard work. Conversely, with the assurance that work from morning to night will not allow you to benefit, the motivation will be minimal.
In addition, Victor Vroom noted that in direct proportion to the degree of motivation is attractiveness and value for the individual of the expected results.
Features
Expectations in most cases are considered as an assessment of a specific person's probability of a particular event. Let us give an example: the vast majority of students are confident that after graduating from a higher educational institution they will be able to find decent work, and if they also work with full dedication, then advancement in the career ladder will not be long in coming.
Many modern procedural teachings on motivation, including Vrum's theory of expectation, consider motivation as a process of independent control of choice. It is argued that each individual is in a continuous state of motivation.
Note to the boss
The theory of expectation says: in order to become a successful leader, it is required to show subordinates that all their efforts, properly aimed at implementing the organization's tasks, will lead to the speedy achievement of their own goals.
According to the teaching under consideration, employees carry out the most productive activities if they have confidence that their hopes will be met in three directions:
- The ratio of "costs - results" ("Z - R"). This level is the ratio between the effort expended and the result of labor.
- “The result is reward” (“P - B”). Such a calculation is aimed at a certain reward or encouragement as a result of the achieved level of results.
- The third factor determining the motivation in expectation theory is the value of the reward or incentive received.
Employee motivation
Consider the three above directions in more detail. Regarding the first relationship - “costs - the result”, Vrum’s expectation theory gives the following explanation: when a person asks about the extent to which he can expect that his own efforts will lead to the quantitative and qualitative results that the leader requires, the answer is times and is in the plane of this relationship, "Z - P".
The second motivator “R - B” is activated when the employee fully appreciates the reality that he will be able to achieve his goal. In this case, a very specific question arises: "If I do a job well, what kind of remuneration will I receive, will it meet my expectations?" Uncertainty can arise when an employee has to rely on others in the process of distributing promised benefits. In determining the level of confidence of a subordinate that the boss will actually pay the bonus, several factors are important. Firstly, trust is higher when the promises of superiors are not vague, but quite concrete. Secondly, the realization that the immediate supervisor is endowed with the appropriate powers to ensure remuneration plays a huge role.
Value of promotion
Victor Vroom's theory of expectations includes the postulate that even if employees are confident in their own abilities and receive the desired bonus, they will still have one more question. It sounds something like this: “If they give me the desired bonus, will it be of value to me, will it help me satisfy basic needs?” According to the teaching under consideration, the answer to this question lies in the way of measuring the value of remuneration.
Important point
The value of remuneration is called one of the main elements of the theory of expectations. However, unfortunately, not all managers take it into account. The most common difficulty associated with the process of determining the value of promotion is that a person does not always devote enough attention and time to a detailed assessment of his own needs. Moreover, since financial resources really allow you to acquire many benefits, subordinates are often mistaken, being sure that money is actually the best reward. Subsequently, such beliefs bring nothing but disappointment and dissatisfaction. People who try to get satisfaction from their work only in the form of money often lack self-esteem and feel the lack of demand for intelligence, abilities and skills.
Valence
To determine the general level of needs of the individual, the satisfaction of which will determine his behavior, Maslow used the term "domination". However, how can a manager determine the current remuneration for a particular subordinate? Here the theory of expectations of V. Vroom comes to the rescue. The term “valency” is used to establish the level of preference for a particular promotion. As Vroom argued, this concept reflects a measure of priority or value. The maximum positive valency is 1.00, the minimum is -1.00. And although this concept seems rather vague, it allows people to compare their queries. Thanks to the general theoretical postulates, Vrum's motivation model has appeared. It can be represented as follows: the expectation of “costs-results” x the expectation of “results-rewards” x valency (value of rewards) = motivation.
How to optimize the activities of employees?
- Provide a systematic comparison of needs with rewards.
- To help the process of understanding the connection between efforts, outcome, promotion and satisfaction of needs. The confidence of subordinates will increase if they see that the leader pays great attention to this relationship.
- Identify the most effective incentives for each subordinate.
- Demonstrate your own abilities for effective leadership and achievement of goals.
Conclusion
Above, Vrum's theory of expectations was considered, factors that influence the behavior of subordinates are briefly described, and some features of the behavior of a successful leader are disclosed.