The Perspective of Students

Research conducted in this article used a mixed methodology approach and the theory hypothesizes that, "people constantly weight the value of their expected goals, effort, and success according to the probability of achieving goals through work behavior" (Tan, P. 2000). This is something we all do subconsciously. Are all the time and effort I'm putting into this task/job worth it? Will I be rewarded? Is the reward worth the extra effort?

The research also considered Expectancy, which is "a momentary subjective belief of an individual that they will accomplish a given task successfully if they invest an appropriate effort" (Tan, P.). Is there enough time to complete it? Have I been trained properly, or do I have the right amount of resources at my disposal to do what has been asked of me? Each of us is concerned about the prospect of failing; none of us want to look inferior to our peers or in front of our superiors.

In order for the company mission statement to be recognized by all employees, and ensure that all are parties are honed-in on the same goal, the organization should identify with their workforce's expectations and goals. By surveying their employees and finding correlating variables similar to the above, government agencies and conglomerates alike can offer rewards that their employees believe in; rewards or incentives for employees to strive for that are both tangible and attainable. Staff-members should be assigned tasks that are measurable and managers should hold these employees accountable using quantifiable measurements.

In my workplace, with the huge disparity in our Agency's demographic, one might question if the results seen from this study would be similar; however, though the tenure amongst the employees varies over such a large scope, I feel most are motivated by similar factors. All of us, whether we have 2 years left to retire or are 2 years into our careers want to feel a sense of accomplishment; a sense of importance. We want to set goals, accomplish those goals, and be rewarded for accomplishing those goals. We want the opportunity to excel and know that it will be worth it in the end.