Incentive Theory Effective in Motivating Employees (Essay Sample)

Incentive Theory
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Incentive Theory
Organizations must increase productivity to gain a competitive advantage and remain profitable. A critical element of organizational productivity is employee effectiveness, efficiency, and output, impacted by motivation levels. Employee motivation plays a significant role in determining their work morale and commitment to organizational goals. Demotivated employees are unproductive and may increase production costs through delays, errors, and incomplete tasks. Managers and leaders can use both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation techniques to motivate employees and increase productivity. This paper examines the effectiveness of incentive theory in motivating employees in a high-stress work environment.
Clark Hull coined the Incentive theory of motivation in the 1940s, which argue that rewarding behaviors pull individuals while behaviors leading to negative consequences repel people (Cherry, 2020). The theory contends that positive reinforcement motivates behavior, while negative reinforcement discourages behavior. A critical view of the theory is that outside incentives influence employee actions. As a result, individuals cannot reduce the stimulus but are