Expectancy Theory - OB

Expectancy theory
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Expectancy theory is about the mental processes regarding choice, or choosing. It explains the processes that an individual undergoes to make choices. In organizational behavior study, expectancy theory is a motivation theory first proposed by Victor Vroom of the Yale School of Management.

Expectancy theory predicts that employees in an organization will be motivated when they believe that:
-putting in more effort will yield better job performance
-better job performance will lead to organizational rewards, such as an increase in salary or benefits
-these predicted organizational rewards are valued by the employee in question.

"This theory emphasizes the need for organizations to relate rewards directly to performance and to ensure that the rewards provided are those rewards deserved and wanted by the recipients."

- Emphasizes self interest in the alignment of rewards with employee's wants. - Emphasizes the connections among expected behaviors, rewards and organizational goals

Vroom's theory assumes that behavior results from conscious choices among alternatives whose purpose it is to maximize pleasure and to minimize pain. Together with Edward Lawler and Lyman Porter, Vroom suggested that the relationship between people's behavior at work and their goals was not as simple as was first imagined by other scientists.

Vroom realized that an employee's performance is based on individual factors such as personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities.