Compensation can seriously motivate behavior and make us either draw the line or reluctantly agree to things we usually wouldn’t. An example I can connect to this was when I agreed to take over a night shift inspection project last summer. For the past three summers, I have worked as a Progress Inspector for i.e. Engineering, where I help monitor construction progress and ensure projects meet city engineering standards. Last summer, my supervisors asked if I would ditch my usual 9-5 shift and take over a night shift inspection for a storm line replacement project on one of the main streets in my hometown. At first, I was very reluctant because I knew the hours would be difficult and would completely change my normal summer schedule. Working nights also meant sacrificing time with friends and family and adjusting to a completely different routine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What ultimately motivated me to accept the position was the compensation attached to the role. My hourly wage nearly doubled, and I was no longer expected to come into the office during the day except for biweekly meetings. The additional pay made the inconvenience of working overnight feel worthwhile. I also liked the independence and responsibility that came with managing a project during those hours. Even though the work was challenging to stay awake for at times, the financial reward gave me a strong reason to stay motivated and continue putting effort into the job throughout the summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think this situation connects strongly to Expectancy Theory. The Expectancy Theory explains that people are motivated when they believe their effort will lead to good performance and that performance will result in a valued reward. In my case, I completely understood that taking on the night shift would require more effort and flexibility, but I also knew there would be a direct reward through significantly higher pay and a more flexible daytime schedule. Because the reward was meaningful to me personally, I was willing to change my behavior and accept a position I normally would not have considered. This experience showed me how compensation can strongly influence decision-making and employee motivation, especially when the reward feels directly connected to the extra effort being asked of someone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Compensation can seriously motivate behavior and make us either draw the line or reluctantly agree to things we usually wouldn’t. An example I can connect to this was when I agreed to take over a night shift inspection project last summer. For the past three summers, I have worked as a Progress Inspector for i.e. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15160,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/marleyholborow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/marleyholborow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/marleyholborow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/marleyholborow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/marleyholborow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/marleyholborow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/marleyholborow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions\/17"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/marleyholborow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/marleyholborow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/marleyholborow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}