Hannah has been asked to give the opening speech at her global company's annual sales convention. She has successfully given speeches in the past, and her friends have all told her she would be great. These have resulted in a high sense of self-efficacy, and she accepts the assignment.
Sources of self-efficacy include past accomplishments, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and emotional cues.
Self-Efficacy: The belief that a person has the capabilities needed to perform the behaviors required on some task.
Libby is a mid-level supervisor in a university administrative office. Some of the employees feel the office lacks True equity. Libby has to do employee evaluations soon. What action should Libby take to reduce the feelings of inequity associated with her office?
- give every employee exactly the same evaluation score
- make employee evaluate their peers anonymously through a random drawing
- give employees honest evaluation scores based on their performance, good or bad
- avoid giving any really low evaluation scores to employees who have complained
- avoid giving any really high evaluation scores to employees who are seen as favorites
Even if employees are evaluated on the right things by a boss who has a good handle on their performance, other factors can still undermine accuracy. Some managers might knowingly give inaccurate evaluations due to workplace politics or a desire to not "make waves." One survey showed that 70 percent of managers have trouble giving poor ratings to underachieving employees. Unfortunately, such practices only serve to damage instrumentality and equity because they fail to separate star employees from struggling employees.
360-Degree Feedback: A performance evaluation system that uses ratings provided by supervisors, coworkers, subordinates, customers, and the employees themselves.
Which of the following motivating forces have the strongest performance effect?
- difficult goals
- high levels of valence and instrumentality
- perceptions of equity
- high levels of expectancy
- self-efficacy and competence
The motivating force with the strongest performance effect is self-efficacy/competence because people who feel a sense of internal self-confidence tend to outperform those who doubt their capabilities.
Self-Efficacy: The belief that a person has the capabilities needed to perform the behaviors required on some task.
The motivating force with the strongest performance effect is the perception of equity.
The motivating force with the strongest performance effect is self-efficacy/competence.
The belief that a person has the capabilities needed to execute the behaviors required for task success is known as self-actualization.
Self-efficacy is defined as the belief that a person has the capabilities needed to execute the behaviors required for task success.
Jamie owns a small sporting goods store. He has decided to aggressively pursue a policy to make sure employees feel a sense of equity in his store. What result is Jamie most likely going to see as a result of his push for equity?
- greater commitment from his employees
- fewer citizenship behaviors from his employees
- huge improvement in employee task performance
- the elimination of merit-based compensation plans
- a slight increase in counterproductive employee behavior
Research on equity and organizational commitment offers the clearest insights into the motivation-commitment relationship. Specifically, employees who feel a sense of equity are more emotionally attached to their firms and feel a stronger sense of obligation to remain.
Affective Commitment: An employee’s desire to remain a member of an organization due to a feeling of emotional attachment.
Kelli is about to deliver an important presentation on her highly innovative efficiency technique at an internationally recognized business conference. Just minutes before she is to go on stage, Kelli gets nervous and cannot remember half of her talking points. Her boss speaks to her, reminding her that she works everyday with the information she plans to communicate, which helps shore up her confidence. Kelli then makes a presentation that earns her a standing ovation. Which of the following considerations dictated Kelli's self-efficacy?
- past accomplishments
- vicarious experiences
- verbal persuasion
- equity distress
- instrumentality
Verbal persuasion is one of the factors that can explain the differences in the levels of self-efficacy among the employees for a given task.
Verbal Persuasion: Pep talks that lead employees to believe that they can “get the job done.”
Linda has been hired by Doctor Patel to oversee a fast-paced, innovative medical office. It is a highly difficult, but well-paid job. Linda believes she has the skills and experiences to easily handle the task and improve the efficiency of the office. Linda's belief in her capabilities is known as
- instrumentality.
- self-efficacy.
- complexity.
- valence.
- equity.
Self-efficacy is defined as the belief that a person has the capabilities needed to execute the behaviors required for task success.
Self-Efficacy: The belief that a person has the capabilities needed to perform the behaviors required on some task.
The Morning Muffin is a family-run baking company. It specializes in custom-made cakes, turnovers, croissants, muffins, and pies. Younger family members have learned the value of attention to detail when creating a new recipe by observing the praise given to bakers who exhibit this level of attention. Those who now exhibit close attention to detail while creating recipes have learned through
- past accomplishments.
- vicarious experiences.
- lecture sessions.
- emotional cues.
- instrumentality.
Vicarious experience includes observations of the success or failure of others at a given task and/or discussions with others who have performed similar tasks.
Vicarious Experiences: Observations of and discussions with others who have performed some work task.
Evander has been asked to lead a team of educators. He is afraid his employees will not take him seriously because he is a nice guy, and he is nervous that his supervisors will see him as weak and ineffective. He is also excited by some great ideas he has for how to improve educational delivery methods that he knows will work. Evander's efficacy is moderated by his fears and anxieties, as well as his pride and enthusiasm, which are all examples of
- emotional cues.
- instrumentality.
- verbal persuasion.
- vicarious experiences.
- past accomplishments.
An emotional cue is one of the factors that can explain the differences in the levels of self-efficacy among the employees for a given task.
Emotional Cues: Positive or negative feelings that can help or hinder task accomplishment.
Flint has been assigned the task of reconfiguring all the digital projectors in his office building. He knows Ellie had to do this two years ago, and he remembers that she was crying in frustration and almost resigned because of complications and a lack of cooperation that hindered her ability to do the job properly. This is an example of Flint taking ________ into account.
- emotional cues
- instrumentality
- verbal persuasion
- vicarious experiences
- past accomplishments
A vicarious experience is one of the factors that can explain the differences in the levels of self-efficacy among the employees for a given task.
Vicarious Experiences: Observations of and discussions with others who have performed some work task.
When employees consider efficacy levels for a given task, they first consider their
- past accomplishments.
- vicarious experiences.
- current projects.
- extrinsic motivators.
- instrumentality.
When employees consider efficacy levels for a given task, they first consider their past accomplishments-the degree to which they have succeeded or failed in similar sorts of tasks in the past.
Past Accomplishments: The level of success or failure with similar job tasks in the past.
Jerri and Janelle work at Logistics of Love, a nonprofit designer of homeless shelters. Last month, Janelle, newly hired on a temporary designing assignment, was asked by her supervisor to oversee the company's social media presence. Being new to using social media in a professional context, Janelle is considering her efficacy. She talks to Jerri and other individuals who have been creating professional social media content for several years. Jerri takes pride in her work-related social media posts and always approaches company-based social media with total enthusiasm. Jerri tells Janelle that she believes exerting a high level of effort will result in a successful performance in representing the company on social media. Jerri's self-efficacy source appears to be
- past accomplishments.
- vicarious experiences.
- verbal persuasion.
- emotional cues.
- instrumentality.
Efficacy is dictated in part by emotional cues; feelings of fear or anxiety can create doubts about task accomplishment, whereas pride and enthusiasm can bolster confidence levels.
Emotional Cues: Positive or negative feelings that can help or hinder task accomplishment.