Influences on Employee

Behavior
Chapter 2

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Session Objectives
Identify the major factors influencing
behavior.
Define motivation.
Describe main approaches to
understanding motivation.

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A Major Purpose of Human
Resource Development
To change employee behavior through
training and other incentives

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Model of Employee Behavior
Forces that influence behavior:
 External to the employee:
 External environment (economic conditions,
laws and regulations, etc.)
 Work environment (supervision, organization,
coworkers, outcomes of performance)
 Within the employee:
 Motivation, attitudes, knowledge/skills/abilities
(KSAs)

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The External Environment

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Factors in the External
Environment
Economic conditions
Technological changes
Labor market conditions
Laws and regulations
Labor unions

Source: Heneman, Schwab, Fossum & Dyer (1989)

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Factors in the Work
Environment
Outcomes
Supervision and leadership
Organization
Coworkers

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Influences on Employee
Behavior
Factor Issues
Outcomes Types
  Effect on Motivation
Supervision  Leadership
  Performance Expectations
Organization  Reward Structure
  Organizational Culture
  Job Design
Coworkers  Norms
  Group Dynamics
  Teamwork
  Control of Outcomes

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Outcomes Can Influence
Employee Behavior
Personal outcomes
Organizational outcomes

 Both expectancy theory and equity theory

predict that employee perceptions of the
outcomes they receive (or hope to receive)
influences their performance of that
behavior.

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Supervisor Characteristics
Leadership
Performance expectations (Pygmalion
effect)
Evaluation of efforts

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Organizational Influences
Reward structure
Organizational culture
Job design

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Coworker Influence
Norms
Group dynamics
Teamwork
Control over outcomes

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Motivation
Psychological processes that cause
the arousal, direction, and
persistence of voluntary actions that
are goal-directed

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Motivation Characteristics
Pertains to voluntary behavior
Focuses on processes affecting
behavior such as:
 Energizing of effort
 Direction of effort
 Persistence of effort
An individual phenomenon

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Energizing Effort

The generation or mobilization of effort

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Direction of Effort
Applying effort to one behavior over
another

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Persistence
Continuing (or ceasing) to perform a
behavior

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Explanations of Work
Motivation
Need-based
Cognitive-based
Noncognitive-based

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Need-Based Theories
Underlying needs, Theories:
such as needs for Maslow’s hierarchy
survival, safety, of needs theory
power, etc., are Alderfer’s existence,
what drives relatedness, and
motivation growth (ERG) theory
Herzberg’s two-
factor theory

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Need Activation-Need
Satisfaction Process

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Self-Actualization
Needs
Esteem Needs
Belonging & Love Needs

Safety Needs
Survival Needs

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Cognitive Theories
Expectancy theory
Goal-setting theory
Social learning theory
Equity theory

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Expectancy Theory
Motivation is viewed as a conscious choice
People put their efforts into actions they can
perform to achieve desired outcomes
Three key elements:
 Expectancy – expect effort to result in success

 Instrumentality – performance results in reward

 Valence – value individual puts on outcome

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Expectancy Theory

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In Other Words…
You believe you can do it
You believe your performance is linked to the
results
You believe that the results are worth the
effort
You won’t do it if you don’t believe it’s worth
the effort

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Goal Setting Theory
Specific, difficult, and understood goals
generally lead to higher performance
Keys to success are the level of difficulty and
the clearness of goals

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Social Learning Theory
Self-efficacy – judgment of what you
think you can do with the skills you
have
Major prediction of the theory is that
expectations determine:
 Whether a behavior will be performed
 How much effort will be expended
 How long you will perform the behavior

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Self-Efficacy and Effort

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Equity Theory
Major assumptions:
If you are treated fairly, you will keep
working well
If you think you are being treated unfairly,
you will change your behavior in order to be
treated fairly

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Equity Theory

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A Noncognitive Theory
Reinforcement theory
 e.g., behavior modification

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Complexity of Behavior

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Behavior Modification
Principles for controlling employee behavior:
Positive Reinforcement
Negative Reinforcement
Extinction – decrease occurrences by
eliminating reinforcement that causes the
behavior
Punishment – introduce an adverse
consequence immediately after behavior

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A Specific Example
Sleeping in Class:
1. Warning
2. Leave class and explain to the Assistant
Dean why you were asked to leave
Too often – you are dropped from the class
Question: Is this positive or negative
reinforcement, and why?

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Other Internal Factors That
Influence Employee Behavior
Motivation
Attitudes
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs)

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Wagner-Hollenbeck Model of
Motivation and Performance

By permission: Wagner III and Hollenbeck, 1995

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Attitudes
A person’s general feelings of favor or
disfavor towards something
Feelings towards a person, place, thing,
event, or idea
Tend to be VERY stable and hard to change
Attitudes are important in training – e.g.,
does the trainee intend to use the training or
ignore it?

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Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
(KSAs)
Abilities – general capacities related to the
performance of specific tasks
Skills – combines abilities and capacities,
generally the result of training
Knowledge – understanding of the factors or
principles related to a specific subject
HRD programs mostly focus on changing
skills and knowledge

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Bloom’s Taxonomy
Bloom HRD
Cognitive Knowledge
Psychomotor Skills/Abilities
Affective Attitudes

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Summary
HRD generally seeks to change human
behavior (some efforts to change attitudes)
Behavior is influenced by both external and
internal factors
Worker motivation is the key
We can work on knowledge, skills and
abilities
Attitudes are often where the problem lies

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