Vroom’s expectations theory represents a great contribution to the world of work and organizations as it includes the importance of considering the needs and expectations of workers when structuring and organizing work activity.
In the following Psychology-Online article we will explain what the Vroom’s expectancy theorytheir contributions in the field of human resources and we will give some examples of the application of said theory in the field of organizations.
Summary of Vroom’s Expectancy Theory
The Victor Vroom’s expectations theory Explains how People act motivated by expectations that we have of the results that we are going to obtain by performing a certain action. Human beings, as thinking beings with continuous needs for growth (personal/family, work and social), act motivated by certain goals that we establish to achieve our life projects. For this reason, the actions we take will come conditioned by the anticipated perception (or expectation) of the result that will derive from certain behavior.
In this way, the behaviors that will encourage us the most will be those that allow us to achieve our personal goals. On the contrary, those that do not contribute anything to our personal development will be quickly discarded or, if forced to do them, they will cause us strong internal discomfort over time by investing our energy in actions that do not provide us with any type of food or internal nutrition.
Contributions of Vroom’s expectations theory
The contributions of Vroom’s expectations theory have occurred, mainly, in the area of Social and Organizational Psychology, specifically in the area of Human Resources.
This approach has served as the basis for the planning and structuring of work contributing as a novelty the consideration of how the behavior of workers is motivated by the perception and expectation they have about the result they will obtain from their work action. In this way, for encourage certain behaviors (performance, efficiency, etc.) or delete others (absenteeism, non-compliance with rules, delay in entry, etc.) the organization must take into account the aspects that will favor the motivation or de-motivation of the worker to carry them out, considering personal preferences and interests from each of them.
According to this theory, to ensure good work performance, it is necessary care for three types of relationships that occur in every work process. Since non-compliance with any of them will lose the motivating force towards the worker, thereby having a negative impact on their performance and efficiency. These three aspects are:
- Effort-performance relationship: the worker’s effort must be directly related to the performance obtained from his or her behavior. In the opposite case (no matter how hard he tries, he cannot obtain the expected results), the worker will not feel motivated to carry out said action.
- Performance-reinforcement relationship: in this case, it is about reinforcing the best performances more, that is, the greater the performance, the greater the reward (greater in quantity or quality, especially greater in relation to the value that workers give it).
- Reinforcement-value relationship: this type of relationship refers to the importance that the reward given to the worker has to have a positive value for him to, thereby, motivate their behavior.
Vroom’s Expectations Theory Formula
Víctor Vroom establishes a formula to determine the degree of motivation of workers towards a certain action:
Motivation = Expectation * Instrumentality * Valence
These three factors are the key elements that will determine the motivation towards the task of the workforce, being:
- Expectation: perception that the worker has about the result that he will obtain from his behavior. It presents a value between 0 and 1.
- Instrumentality: the worker’s perception that his particular action (as a constituent element of the company) will be decisive in achieving the expected result. This value also goes from 0 to 1.
- Valencia: the value that the worker gives to the result obtained by the task performed. This aspect presents values between -1 and 1.
Examples of Vroom’s expectancy theory
Based on the formula that Vroom establishes to determine the degree of motivation of workers towards tasks and based on the values of the different elements involved, we are going to comment on some application examples of this theory in the workplace:
To encourage and motivate certain behaviors
- Find out the needs and interests of workers to establish, based on them, the rewards of the different results. The expectation of these results will motivate the workers’ action. In this way, the rewards They can range from: a salary increase or some additional economic benefit for those who are most in financial need or for those who value money positively; individual or public recognition; promotion or improvement of employment; particular job benefits; etc
- Specify the effects that each labor action has on the final result, trying to ensure that all workers are important elements in achieving the final result. The worker’s perception of the importance of your individual contribution will greatly determine your motivation to carry it out
- Set rewards that, as we have just commented, are important for the workers.
When the organization takes these parameters into consideration, the motivating force will be high since the values of the three elements will be positive. For example: Motivation (0.72) = expectation (0.9) * instrumentality (0.8) * valence (1).
To discourage and eliminate certain behaviors
This usually occurs in cases where workers engage in inappropriate or disruptive behavior. In these cases, the interesting thing is that both the workers’ expectations, instrumentalization and valence present low or negative values so that the motivating force of the combination of these elements represents a very low value that discourages the performance of the behavior in question. .
For example, in the case in which a worker arrives late to work, sanctions can be established (financial, warning calls, loss of employment and/or temporary salary, etc.) the perception of which, together with the taking of awareness that this result depends on their specific action, together with the negative that this result entails, will demotivate the worker to carry out said behavior.
With respect to performance, if low performance is penalized or not additionally rewarded, the expectations of the results, the awareness of the consequences of their specific action and the negative nature of the result will also demotivate the workforce towards low productivity.
It should be noted that this theory, like all those intended to manage the human resources of work organizations, must be used responsibly and with an attitude of general improvement for each and every one of those involved. Otherwise, in the wrong hands, great abuses and labor negligence can be committed. It is therefore about encouraging individual conscience so that the benefit that these theories can bring us is for the benefit of achieving global social improvements.
Another theory to take into account in the field of human resources is. On the other hand, here you will find different .
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- García Sabater, JJ, Marín García, JA, & Vidal Carreras, PI (2015). Vroom’s expectancy theory.
- Sánchez Salcedo, DR (2017). Motivation based on Víctor Vroom’s expectations theory and work productivity in the maintenance area of Barrick Misquichilca-Pierina 2014 project.