Victor Vroom developed the Expectancy Theory of motivation which proposes that an employee's performance is based on individual factors like personality and abilities. The theory states that employees will be motivated if they believe that effort will lead to good performance, performance will result in rewards, and those rewards will satisfy important personal needs. Vroom suggests an employee's motivation can be calculated based on how much they value a reward, their expectation of receiving it, and their belief it will come through performance. This theory aims to help managers understand what motivates employees.

1. Expectancy Theory of
Motivation
Victor Vroom
Srinivas M.N
(extract from Value Based Management.net)

2. Expectancy Theory
 The Expectancy Theory of Victor Vroom
deals with motivation and management.
Vroom’s theory assumes that behavior
results from conscious choices among
alternatives whose purpose it is to
maximize pleasure and minimize pain.

3. Expectancy Theory contd.,
 Together with Edward Lawler and Lyman
Porter, Vroom suggested that the
relationship between people’s behavior at
work and their goals was not as simple as
was first imagined by other scientists.
Vroom realized that an employee’s
performance is based on individuals
factors such as personality, skills,
knowledge, experience and abilities.

4.  The expectancy theory says that
individuals have different sets of goals
and can be motivated if they believe that :
- There is a positive correlation between
efforts and performance
- Favorable performance will result in
desirable reward
- The reward will satisfy an important need
- The desire to satisfy the need is strong
enough to make the effort worthwhile.

5. Vroom’s Expectancy Theory is based upon
the following three beliefs :
1. Valence (Valence refers to the emotional
orientations people hold with respect to
outcomes [rewards]. The depth of the
want of an employee for extrinsic [money,
promotion, time-off, benefits] or intrinsic
[satisfaction] rewards). Management must
discover what employees value.

6. 2. Expectancy (Employees have different
expectations and levels of confidence
about what they are capable of doing).
Management must discover what
resources, training, or supervision
employees need.

7. 3. Instrumentality (The perception of
employees whether they will actually get
what they desire even if it has been
promised by a manager). Management
must ensure that promises of rewards are
fulfilled and that employees are aware of
that.

8.  Vroom suggests that an employee’s beliefs
about Expectancy, Instrumentality, and Valence
interact psychologically to create a motivational
forces such that the employee acts in ways that
bring pleasure and avoid pain. This force can be
calculated via the following formula
Motivation = Valance x Expectancy
(Instrumentality)
This formula can be used to indicate and predict
such things as job satisfaction, one’s
occupational choice, the likelihood of staying in a
job, and the effort one might expend at work.