Question

Indentify and summarize the basic elements of expectancy theory and discuss how they relate to one another

Answer 1

Victor Vroom was the one who put forward the Expectancy theory. This theory states that a behavior is generated or motivated by the result or consequences it may face. It would help in improving the motivation of the employees in the workplace.

3 components of Expectancy theory are:-

• Expectancy
• Instrumentality
• Valence.

Expectancy is the effort and the belief of an individual for achieving his/her desired goal. We could emphasize in "belief" as it is the major factor that governs the individual here. It would be a mixture of everything he has perceived and learned. The major distinctive feature of this aspect from the other two aspects is that it is thrived due to the never-ending desire of the employee. Every time the employer would ensure that the employees wouldn't get bored. Also, it is the only aspect which allows job enlargement which helps the employees to find out the importance of all activities around the workplace.

A belief is there among individuals that if a performance expectation is met it would lead to your desired outcome and this belief is known as instrumentality. This mentality of the worker helps them to get motivated all the time. They believe that if something valuable is done, it would lead to achieving there desired goal like increasing pay incentives, promotion, etc. Other than other aspects of expectancy theory, it is the only aspect that discusses the performance reward relationship. This would lead to ensuring the utmost involvement of employees. Other than both other aspects, it helps the workers to think that they are also a part of the organization.

The third aspect of expectancy theory is valence. It is the only aspect that finds a uniques value to an individual which varies from others. It gives more importance to the employee's preferences. Unlike other aspects of expectancy theory, the goal or desire isn't the same here. It discusses the personal rewards for attaining the common goal objective of the entity.