Work Motivation Profiles and Work Performance in a Group of Corporate Employees: A Two-Step Cluster Analysis

Beata A. Basińska

doi:10.18290/rpsych20233-3

Beata A. Basińska Faculty of Management and Economics, Gdańsk University of Technology https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6532-7093

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rpsych20233-3

Keywords: work motivation profiles, self-determination theory, two-step cluster analysis, corporate employees, subjective work performance, transnational organizations

Abstract

Few studies have applied a person-centered approach to work motivation using cluster or profile analyses. Thus, little is known about which configurations of work motivations characterize professionals. The aim of this study is to establish the structure of work motivation profiles under the framework of self-determination theory and to examine the relationship between work motivation and subjective work performance. The study involved 147 corporate employees who completed the Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale and self-rated their work performance. The two-step cluster analysis was applied, followed by a one-way ANOVA and a post-hoc Bonferroni test. The findings revealed differences between the five profiles for all forms of motivational regulation on the self-determination continuum (large effect sizes). Further examination revealed that the employees’ current work performances differed across motivational profiles (medium effect size). Strongly and poorly motivated as well as autonomously motivated employees reported better subjective work performance compared to unmotivated individuals. In line with self-determination theory, the quantity and shape of motivation can be simultaneously considered in terms of both theoretical and practical implementation.

References

Cerasoli, C. P., Nicklin, J. M., & Ford, M. T. (2014). Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic incentives jointly predict performance: A 40-year meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4), 980–1009. https://doi.org/10.1037/a003566

Chen, C. X., Zhang, J., & Gilal, F. G. (2019). Composition of motivation profiles at work using latent analysis: theory and evidence. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 12, 811–824. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S210830

Christensen, M., Dyrstad, J. M., & Innstrand, S. T. (2020). Academic work engagement, resources and productivity: empirical evidence with policy implications. Studies in Higher Education, 45(1), 86–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1517304

Chrupała-Pniak, M., Chudzicka-Czupała, A., Grabowski, D., & Paliga, M. (2017). Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale (Gagne et al., 2015) – Wielowymiarowa Skala Motywacji w Pracy – wersja eksperymentalna (Unpublished manuscript). Uniwersytet Śląski, Katowice, Poland.

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Deci, E. L., Olafsen, A. H., & Ryan, R. M. (2017). Self-determination theory in work organizations: The state of a science. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4(1), 19–43. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032516-113108

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2012). Self-determination theory. In P. A. M. van Lange, A. W. Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (pp. 416–436). Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446249215.n21

Delmestri, G., & Brumana, M. (2017). The multinational corporation as a playing field of power: A Bourdieusian approach. Multinational Corporations and Organization Theory: Post Millennium Perspectives (Research in the Sociology of Organizations), 49, 325–353. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X20160000049011

Everitt, B. S., Landau, S., Leese, M., & Stahl, D. (2011). Cluster Analysis (5th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Fernet, C., Litalien, D., Morin, A. J., Austin, S., Gagné, M., Lavoie-Tremblay, M., & Forest, J. (2020). On the temporal stability of self-determined work motivation profiles: A latent transition analysis. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 29(1), 49–63.

Gagné, M. (2014). The Oxford handbook of work engagement, motivation, and self-determination theory. Oxford University Press.

Gagné, M., & Deci, E. L. (2005). Self‐determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(4), 331–362. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.322

Gagné, M., Forest, J., Vansteenkiste, M., Crevier-Braud, L., Van den Broeck, A., Aspeli, A. K., ... Halvari, H. (2015). The Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale: Validation evidence in seven languages and nine countries. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 24(2), 178–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2013.877892

Gillet, N., Fouquereau, E., Vallerand, R. J., Abraham, J., & Colombat, P. (2018). The role of workers’ motivational profiles in affective and organizational factors. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19(4), 1151–1174. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9867-9

Graves, L. M., Cullen, K. L., Lester, H. F., Ruderman, M. N., & Gentry, W. A. (2015). Managerial motivational profiles: Composition, antecedents, and consequences. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 87, 32–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2014.12.002

Harman, H. H. (1976). Modern factor analysis (3rd ed.). University of Chicago Press.

Howard, J. L., Gagné, M., Morin, A. J., & Forest, J. (2018). Using bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling to test for a continuum structure of motivation. Journal of Management, 44(7), 2638–2664. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206316645653

Howard, J., Gagné, M., Morin, A. J., & Van den Broeck, A. (2016). Motivation profiles at work: A self-determination theory approach. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 95, 74–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2016.07.004

Kuvaas, B., Buch, R., Weibel, A., Dysvik, A., & Nerstad, C. G. (2017). Do intrinsic and extrinsic motivation relate differently to employee outcomes? Journal of Economic Psychology, 61, 244–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2017.05.004

Malinowska, D., & Tokarz, A. (2020). The moderating role of Self Determination Theory’s general causality orientations in the relationship between the job resources and work engagement of outsourcing sector employees. Personality and Individual Differences, 153, 109638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109638

Manganelli, L., Thibault-Landry, A., Forest, J., & Carpentier, J. (2018). Self-determination theory can help you generate performance and well-being in the workplace: A review of the literature. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 20(2), 227–240. https://doi.org/10.1177/1523422318757210

Moran, C. M., Diefendorff, J. M., Kim, T. Y., & Liu, Z. Q. (2012). A profile approach to self--determination theory motivations at work. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 81(3), 354–363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2012.09.002

Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. Penguin.

Rozkwitalska, M. (2019). Learning experiences in mono-and intercultural workplace interactions – the job-demands-resources approach. Journal of Workplace Learning, 31(5), 305–323. https://doi.org/10.1108/JWL-11-2018-0140

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2020). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61, 101860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101860

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Publications.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037110003-066X.55.1.68

Salanova, M., Del Líbano, M., Llorens, S., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2014). Engaged, workaholic, burned‐out or just 9‐to‐5? Toward a typology of employee well‐being. Stress and Health, 30(1), 71–81. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2499

Schaufeli, W. B. (2017). Applying the job demands-resources model. Organizational Dynamics, 2(46), 120–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2017.04.008

Tóth‐Király, I., Morin, A. J., Bőthe, B., Rigó, A., & Orosz, G. (2020). Toward an improved understanding of work motivation profiles. Applied Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12256

Tsiptis, K., & Chorianopoulos, A. (2009). Data mining techniques in CRM: Inside customer segmentation. John Wiley & Sons.

Van den Broeck, A., Lens, W., De Witte, H., & Van Coillie, H. (2013). Unraveling the importance of the quantity and the quality of workers’ motivation for wellbeing: A person-centered perspective. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 82(1), 69–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2012.11.005

Walther, A., Möltner, H., & Morner, M. (2017). Non-executive director’s motivation to continue serving on boards: A self-determination theory perspective. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 17(1), 64–76. https://doi.org/10.1108/CG-05-2016-0120

Weske, U., & Schott, C. (2018). What motivates different groups of public employees working for Dutch municipalities? Combining autonomous and controlled types of motivation. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 38(4), 415–430.