Expectancy, Goal-Setting, and Reinforcement: Behavioral Theories and their Application in the Workplace

Process motivation theories focus on how people identify which behaviors will best fulfill their needs, why their needs are different, why they experience variation in their needs, the mental processes they experience to understand their circumstances, and how they determine that their needs are satisfied (Lussier & Achan, 2016). These theories offer solutions as to how managers can motivate their employees by meeting their intrinsic need for fulfillment and reward. Reinforcement theory, on the other hand, subscribes to the idea that employee motivation to perform can be controlled externally through consequences for certain behaviors. In this paper, we will explore expectancy theory, goal-setting theory, and reinforcement theory, their differences, and how all three theories speak to the significance of employee motivation for any organization.