Implications for Managers

  • Make sure extrinsic rewards for employees are not viewed as coercive, but instead provide information about competence and relatedness.

  • Consider goal-setting theory: Clear and difficult goals often lead to higher levels of employee productivity.

  • Consider reinforcement theory regarding quality and quantity of work, persistence of effort, absenteeism, tardiness, and accident rates.

  • Consult equity theory to help understand productivity, satisfaction, ­absence, and turnover variables.

  • Expectancy theory offers a powerful explanation of performance ­variables such as employee productivity, absenteeism, and turnover.

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