4.5 Key Takeaways, Knowledge Check and Key Terms

Key Takeaways

In this chapter, we learned that:

  • Motivation can be understood in terms of the direction and intensity of our efforts.
  • Our performance in the workplace can be understood by examining not only motivation, but also ability and environmental factors.
  • Several theories view motivated behaviour as attempts to satisfy needs. Based on this approach, managers would benefit from understanding what people need so that the actions of employees can be understood and managed.
  • Other theories explain motivated behaviour using the cognitive processes of employees. Employees respond to unfairness in their environment, they learn from the consequences of their actions and repeat the behaviours that lead to positive results, and they are motivated to exert effort if they see their actions will lead to outcomes that would get them desired rewards.
  • None of these theories are complete on their own, but each theory provides us with a framework we can use to analyze, interpret, and manage employee behaviours in the workplace and design strategies to increase motivation in the workplace.
  • A variety of strategies are used in the workplace to increase motivation including pay, training, job design, empowerment, and “perks”.

Knowledge Checks

Review your understanding of this chapter’s key concepts by taking the interactive quiz below.

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License

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Psychology, Communication, and the Canadian Workplace Copyright © 2022 by Laura Westmaas, BA, MSc is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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