PSYCH484:

Lesson 1: Introduction to Work Motivation and Job Attitudes

Introduction

Motivation is one of the most important topics in fields like psychology and human resources because it is the key to understanding many types of behavior in organizations. It is a buzzword used in virtually all work settings, and countless "selfhelp" books have been published about the topic. Many Americans admit to doing the minimum to keep their jobs, and surveys of worker attitudes reveal that many employees could work harder if they really wanted to do so---they just don't want to. From the organizational side, many companies do not do a good job of motivating and retaining their best performers, and a significant percentage of the workforce in many companies is actively looking for a new job at any given time. Yet, when managers properly motivate their employees, performance, satisfaction, and morale can improve dramatically.

Why do people do what they do? Why are certain individuals driven to perform well, whereas others do not care to work hard towards a task? How can organizations encourage employees to come to work and perform efficiently and effectively when they are on the job? How can companies prevent employees from engaging in behaviors that can get in the way of organizational success (e.g., absenteeism, being late to work, stealing on the job)? These are all questions that have to do with work motivation and job attitudes. Here at the beginning of the course, we will be focusing on work motivation.