The limits of effort in understanding performance: what employees "do" and what might be done about it (original) (raw)
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Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2013
We address points of confusion pertaining to interrelations among and roles of core constructs involved in the production of performance outcomes. We do so informed by the body of work derived from Brehm's seminal motivation intensity theory – in particular an elaboration from the theory concerned with fatigue influence on effort and associated cardiovascular responses in people confronted with performance challenges.
Job Satisfaction, Job Performance, and Effort: A Reexamination Using Agency Theory
Journal of Marketing, 2006
The objective of this article is to clarify ambiguities in the literature regarding the relationships among three key constructs of work relationships: effort, job performance, and job satisfaction. The relationship between job performance and job satisfaction is of central interest to research in organizational psychology. However, empirical research in that area finds that the link between these constructs is weak at best. A negative effect of effort on job satisfaction is consistent with agency theory, but there is limited empirical evidence to support this assumption. Moreover, some studies have found a positive effect of effort on job satisfaction. Using a model that incorporates the main constructs from agency theory and organizational psychology, the current study finds a negative, direct effect of effort and a positive, direct effect of job performance on job satisfaction. The authors show that conflicting findings in the literature are the result of inconsistency in both the measurement and the definition of constructs across studies that do not fully account for all the relationships between constructs. The current findings emphasize the need to distinguish clearly between factors that represent employees' inputs in a work relationship (i.e., effort) and those that represent their outputs (i.e., job performance).
Social Science Research Network, 2010
This study investigates how relative performance information (RPI) affects employee performance and allocation of effort across tasks in a multi-task environment. Based on behavioral theories, we predict that the social comparison process inherent in RPI induces both a motivation effect that results in increased effort as well as an effort distortion effect that results in the distortion of effort allocations across tasks away from the firm-preferred allocations. We also predict that both effects are magnified when the RPI is public compared to private. We argue that although the motivation effect will generally benefit performance, the effort distortion effect may be detrimental to performance. We design an experiment that isolates these two effects. Consistent with our predictions, we find that RPI induces both motivation and effort distortion effects and that both effects are magnified when the RPI is public rather than private. Although the motivation effect increases performance, we demonstrate that the effort distortion effect can decrease performance. By isolating the motivation and effort distortion effects, our study provides insights into the costs and benefits of RPI in a multi-task environment. As
Tetrahedron Letters - TETRAHEDRON LETT, 2007
The distinction between what people can do (maximum performance) and what they will do (typical performance) has received considerable theoretical but scant empirical attention in industrialorganizational psychology. This study of 138 participants performing an Internet-search task offers an initial test and verification of P. R. Sackett, S. Zedeck, and L. Fogli's (1988) model of typical versus maximum performance: Motivation-in the form of direction, level, and persistence of effort exertedrose significantly under the maximum performance condition. Consequently, the correlation between motivation-in the form of direction and level of effort-and performance diminished, whereas the correlation between ability-in the form of declarative knowledge and procedural skills-and performance increased under the maximum performance condition. Overall, results confirm the general propositions of the model. Implications for the generalizability of these findings, theory, practice, and directions for future studies of typical and maximum performance are discussed.
The Accounting Review, 2013
ABSTRACTThis study investigates how relative performance information (RPI) affects employee performance and allocation of effort across tasks in a multi-task environment. Based on behavioral theories, we predict that the social comparison process inherent in RPI induces both a motivation effect that results in increased effort as well as an effort distortion effect that results in the distortion of effort allocations across tasks away from the firm-preferred allocations. We also predict that both effects are magnified when the RPI is public compared to private. We argue that although the motivation effect will generally benefit performance, the effort distortion effect may be detrimental to performance. We design an experiment that isolates these two effects. Consistent with our predictions, we find that RPI induces both motivation and effort distortion effects and that both effects are magnified when the RPI is public rather than private. Although the motivation effect increases pe...
Working Hard and Working Smart: Motivation and Ability During Typical and Maximum Performance
Journal of Applied Psychology, 2007
The distinction between what people can do (maximum performance) and what they will do (typical performance) has received considerable theoretical but scant empirical attention in industrialorganizational psychology. This study of 138 participants performing an Internet-search task offers an initial test and verification of P. R. Sackett, S. Zedeck, and L. Fogli's (1988) model of typical versus maximum performance: Motivation-in the form of direction, level, and persistence of effort exertedrose significantly under the maximum performance condition. Consequently, the correlation between motivation-in the form of direction and level of effort-and performance diminished, whereas the correlation between ability-in the form of declarative knowledge and procedural skills-and performance increased under the maximum performance condition. Overall, results confirm the general propositions of the model. Implications for the generalizability of these findings, theory, practice, and directions for future studies of typical and maximum performance are discussed.
Effort, Performance, and Conscientiousness: An Agency Theory Perspective
Journal of Management, 2007
The authors examine the moderating effects of conscientiousness on the relationships between agency controls and effort and agency controls and task performance. Results show that less conscientious individuals appear to increase effort through incentive alignment and monitoring, whereas conscientious individuals do not shirk with or without agency controls. Furthermore, results show that less conscientious individuals increase task performance through incentive alignment, but not through monitoring. The study confirms that motivation to act opportunistically differs between individuals unlike what is assumed by agency theory. Also, incentive alignment may be more effective than monitoring when attempting to align principal and agent interests.
Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 2004
Social loafing is the tendency of individuals to work less hard collectively than individually. The present study examined the joint influence of achievement motivation and expected coworker effort on collective task performance. Participants (N = 107) who qualified and were available after pretesting on an achievement motivation scale were randomly assigned to a work condition and coworker effort condition. Dyads were asked to generate as many uses for a knife as possible within a 12-min time pcriod. Participants low in achievement motivation engaged in social loafing, but only when expected coworker effort was high, whereas participants high in achievement motivation did not engage in social loafing, regardless of expected coworker effort. The implication of achievement motivation for collective task performance settings is discussed.
What Drives Employee Performance? Revisiting the Human Performance System Model
Jurnal Pengurusan UKM Journal of Management, 2020
The performance of firms is a result of the work performance of its individual employees making up its valuable workforce. While there exist several research models offering their perspectives of work performance factors, the human performance system model offers a relatively more detailed and comprehensive range of determinants of individual work performance. However, empirical evidence for the model seems absent from literature and qualitative evidence seems scant and only limited to a few case studies. The minimal evidence suggests that this area is still in need of exploration. Hence, this paper explores the constructs in the human performance system model from qualitative data through focus group discussion sessions on factors determining individual work performance. The model’s six work performance factors are performance specification, task support, consequences, feedback, skills/knowledge, and individual capacity. Data comes from 280 research participants engaged through 33 ...