What We Can Learn About Management From Sigmund Freud

As a pioneer of psychotherapy and introspection Sigmund Freud developed a theory of human development that was popular during the 70's and sparked a way of thinking about human development and general management of employee needs. Freud was part of the humanistic movement that tried to understand the nature of human behavior. Even though some of what Freud discussed has been discredited he did bring up a few ideas that help us think about proper management techniques.

As a theory Freud discussed the Id, Ego and Superego that interact throughout the 5 psychosexual stages of development that include oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital stages. Each of these stages are that which a child might experience and develop their personality with. If a person becomes stuck in any one of the stages it will skew their personality. Stuck individuals may develop personality quirks that impact their management styles.

Learning management from Freud isn't necessarily about agreeing or not agreeing with his theories. It is more about finding a mental framework for understanding employee needs, their rational side, and their balanced side as expressed in Freud's Id, Ego and Super Ego. Putting a framework together for understanding employees is beneficial for understanding behavior in the workplace.

Each employee has some needs that draws them to their place of employment and as long as we understand what motivates these employees we can also understand how to retain them and encourage higher levels of performance. One employee may be more motivated by social recognition while another through a need for accomplishment.

Strong managers understand their employees and take enough time to determine what makes them "tick". Once they understand their employees needs they can work toward adjusting the work environment to help fulfill those needs as well as produce higher levels of output. Such activities are likely to result in higher retention and performance rates.

Let us assume you were watching and paying attention to what themes run through an employee's conversations and you were able to determine the employees motivational buttons such as social recognition and income obtainment. According to Freud such personality was formed through the psychosexual stages and how the Id, Ego and Super Ego were formed.

Knowing that your employee wants to have social recognition and income obtainment will help you design a path of development for that employee. Offering raises for exceptional work and conclusion of projects is one aspect of the job that may work for a time. Adding a social recognition side when higher performance is exhibited is another one.

Where you believe in Freud's theories or not is not really the issue. Becoming aware of the need to understand your employees, what motivates them, and the components of their personality is important. Like Freud, look for their motivations, themes, and interests to determine what interests the employee and what doesn't. It is not an invasive process only a process of awareness into the necessity of communicating with employees, actually listening to what they need, and trying to find win-win situations for both the employee and the company.

oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages

Source: Boundless. “Freud's Psychosexual Theory of Development.” Boundless Psychology. Boundless, 27 Jun. 2014. Retrieved 01 Jan. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/human-development-14/theories-of-human-development-70/freud-s-psychosexual-theory-of-development-267-12802/

oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages

Source: Boundless. “Freud's Psychosexual Theory of Development.” Boundless Psychology. Boundless, 27 Jun. 2014. Retrieved 01 Jan. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/human-development-14/theories-of-human-development-70/freud-s-psychosexual-theory-of-development-267-12802/

oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages

Source: Boundless. “Freud's Psychosexual Theory of Development.” Boundless Psychology. Boundless, 27 Jun. 2014. Retrieved 01 Jan. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/human-development-14/theories-of-human-development-70/freud-s-psychosexual-theory-of-development-267-12802/

Managers Model Motivation for Employees

Art Work: Dr. Murad Abel

Motivation is an important tool for achieving goals. Motivation is not an all or nothing thing and different people show motivation in varying ways. Some employees will be motivated in a few tasks and others may not show any motivation whatsoever. A paper by Coget (2011) reviews managerial motivation in the fostering of employee motivation to adopt new technology and skills that service their customers better. 

It should be understood that adopting new technology and learning new skills can be difficult for employees. To master a new system or serve customers better requires employees who want to learn these new skills and are willing to move through initial frustration to gain mastery. When managers help employees by modeling motivated behavior they can raise motivation levels in their employees. 

In the case of technology adaptation, those managers who modeled the adaptation and use of technology found that their employees were motivated to do the same at a higher rate. This same concept applies to positive workplace behaviors as well as motivation in handling customers. The manager sets the pace and tone of the behaviors that should be emulated in his or her department. 

Charismatic managers found that their employees adopted their motivation more than those with managers who were not charismatic. When managers have charisma they promoted devotion to certain beliefs and causes. Their charm carried higher levels of influence with employees and this led to higher levels of modeling behavior. 

Managers who can connect with employees through multiple similarities with them also found greater motivation for adaptation. A manager who seemed to have similarities with the group they lead attracted more interest than those who were perceived as too different. People want to understand, connect, and see similarities with those above them in position. 

Motivation can be internally or externally driven but there are behaviors managers can emulate that create higher levels of motivation in their employees. When the manager shows motivation, charisma of personality, and appears to have similarities with employees they are likely to create greater motivation of change. This adaptation and change can help organizations learn new skills as well as learn new technology and weather the effects of immediate frustration. 

Coget, J. (2011). Does managerial motivation spill over to subordinates? Academy of Management Perspective, 25 (4). 

Wieseke, J. et. al. (2011). How leaders’ motivation transfers to customer service representatives. Journal of Service Research, 14(2).

Improving Employee Performance through Expectancy Theory

Expectancy Theory postulates that a person will act in a certain way and make particular decisions based upon what they expect the results to be.  Managers that desire to better understand how to motivate employees should explore expectancy theory and its practical use to boost performance. The theory has been used in a number of companies and situations with great success. It is such a popular theory that additional theories have been developed off of its seminal findings.

Victor Vroom indicated in his 1968 ground breaking research that motivation can be fostered when employers ensure that rewards are desired and tied directly to performance. His research showed through a number of cases studies and experimental approaches that workers will perform better when rewards are of significant value to employees. When the association of effort and reward is too distant employees may have a hard time making the connection and putting forward effort. 

The Theory takes into account three main concepts that include expectancy, instrumentality and valence. Expectancy is an employee’s belief that additional effort will lead to higher levels of performance, instrumentality is an employee’s belief that engaging in certain behaviors will result in a reward, and valence is value of that reward to the employees. Understanding how the formula works helps decision makers use policies, procedures, leadership skills, compensation and succession planning as methods of raising overall motivation.

Motivation = Valence X Expectancy (Instrumentality) 

Let us put this to an applied example. Bob is an employee who has high self-esteem but has been suffering from an inability to find a pathway to perform higher because the old manager believed that “having a job” was reward enough. Bob is not stupid so he performs at a level comparable to his co-workers so that he can keep the only reward the workplace is offering “a job” but doesn’t put any more effort forward because there are no other rewards to achieve (praise, recognition, compensation, promotion, etc…)  Is Bob doomed to mediocre performance?

The company’s costs have been expanding causing profits to plummet. The board of directors decides that new management is necessary to achieve results. This new manager begins to adjust the compensation structure, opportunities for promotion, and the ability of employees to influence their workplace. Bob’s performance increases because he believes that he has the ability to perform better (expectancy), trusts his new manager enough to believe that his performance will be appropriately (instrumentality), and finds the rewards of worthwhile value to motivate him (valence). 

The great news is that it isn’t only Bob’s performance that rises but also members of his team who see Bob receiving rewards. They begin to adjust their behavior in emulation of Bobs so as to receive similar benefits. Overtime, the new changes by the manager and the development of employee performance expectations become embedded into the culture raising standards and profits. 

Before an organization decides to throw money into their employee’s hands in the hope they will perform better, managers should be aware that there are many factors that contribute to the success of Vroom’s Expectancy Theory. Each component should be measured in multiple ways to determine precisely where the problems and de-motivators reside within the organization.  Employees must have the skills to perform better, believe they can perform better, and the right organizational factors to encourage motivated behavior. The person, environment, and the organizational design should align to make higher levels of performance possible.  It is a process of continuous improvement.

Vroom, V. (1964). Work and motivation. New York: Wiley. 

Kinicki, A. & Kreitner, R. (2009). Organizational behavior: key concepts, skills, and best practices (Fourth Edition). USA: McGraw-Hill Company, Inc.

Book Review: Work and Motivation by Victor Vroom

Work and Motivation by Victor Vroom is a paradigm shifting book that looks at the human motivation within the workplace through both an individual and group based lens. For managers who are seeking methods of improving on worker motivation the book is not one that should be passed up without a thorough read.  It provides keen insight on the potential, nature, and limitations of employee motivation. 

The book attempts to summarize the findings of industrial psychologists and research related to human motivation within the workplace. The work focused on three areas:

1.       The choices made by persons among work roles.

2.       The extent of their satisfaction with their chosen work roles

3.       The level of their performance or effectiveness in their chosen work roles. 

Vroom makes the assertion that there are two types of determinants of attitudes which include 1.) The cognized utility of the attitude toward attaining particular outcomes; and, 2.) The intensity and nature of the affect expected from the outcomes. In essence people will either move toward a particular outcome or avoid a particular outcome based upon how they mentally weight and judge information to make a final decision. It is these decisions and expected outcomes that the expectancy theory is developed.

Expectancy theory makes the assumption that worker motivation is a result of how much a worker wants an outcome (valence), the cognitive belief that a certain behavior will lead to a particular outcome (expectancy) and that performance will lead to the particular outcome (valence). Each employee is seen as having needs and scanning their environment to find pathways that are most convenient and efficient in creating needs fulfillment. 

After reading the work you may also come to the conclusion about how important it is for people who work within groups to have positive relationships with their management team if effective improvements in workplace motivation are going to be realized. It is through both their workgroups as well as management relationships that they make certain decisions to engage or not engage the workplace.

“One of the necessary conditions for exchange of rewards to occur between persons is some degree of interaction between them.” (Vroom, 1964, pp 138). 

It is hard to create expectations and possible rewards unless there is interaction among organizational members. It is through these interactions that employees determine their potential approaches and opportunities to achieve rewards. Thus, the interactions among the work group and the workers interaction with management influence a significant proportion of people’s decisions.

The book is well written and is scientific in its orientation. It not only proposes the cognitive theory of expectancy but also justifies it through leading research of the day. Even though the book is dated it provides an excellent understanding of the concepts of motivation and satisfaction.  Each aspect of his writing is cited with appropriate references. Such a book should be part of every manager’s and business student’s library.

Vroom, V.  (1964). Work and Motivation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. ISBN 0-7879-0030-0

Price: $35

Pages: 336

Blog Ranking: 4.7 (No age penalty as it is a root theorist).

Fostering Cultural Innovation Through Employee Satisfaction

Are satisfied employees more innovative? Research helps to show how fostering the right organization culture leads to both satisfaction and innovation. Such concepts are embedded in social dynamics of a company and create subtle expectations on employees. Those organizations that foster positive interaction and recognition also set the right tone within their populations to overcome market challenges.

Organizational culture can be envisioned as the totality of beliefs, values, knowledge, ideas, and habits that defines the very nature of an organization. Such culture impacts how employees make meaning of their environment and their chosen methods of needs attainment (Olivier, 2008). Through culture an organization can define how it is going to view, understand, approach, and overcome organizational challenges through innovative behavior.

When culture has encouraged beneficial premises that are focused on innovation and problem solving the entire organization can achieve rewards reinforcing additional employee commitment and the financial benefits to the organization. However, before such culture can be appropriately fostered employees should have a minimal level of satisfaction with both the organization and the social structures that exist within the workplace. It is this satisfaction that can lay the framework for expectation and innovation on an organizational socio-cultural scale.

Employee satisfaction can be defined in terms of commitment to the organizations values, the nature of the work, and to other employees. Through this satisfaction and commitment employee will begin to change their perceptions and behaviors to match the needs of their new social group (Adeyinka, Ayeni and Popoola, 2007). Positive social group interactions furthers a sense of unity and similarity in perception and expectations. This can be positive when the workplace fosters constructive ideas or it can be negative when such ideas draw away from self-efficacy.

Employee commitment is further defined through employees complaints, identification with the organization/social group, and overall employee values (Charles, 1986). It is this commitment of values that help employees define their expectations and understanding of the work environment. When commitment to the group entails the ability to produce solutions to problems then innovation becomes a social expectation.

Employee satisfaction also impacts the openness of employees to workplace innovation and its process. Those employees who were satisfied with their jobs also were adaptable, fulfilled and productive which further sets the framework for organizational innovation (Sexena & Vyas, 201). Such employee were open to new concepts as well as the changing roles needed for organizational adjustment. In today's world it is this level of satisfaction and flexibility that creates the commitment to organizational innovative needs and allows companies to adjust to environmental problems.

If one fits within the organization, accepts their social group, and has at least a minimum agreement with the organizational values the employee is likely to be socialized and integrated into the larger cultural network. It is this alignment of values, perceptions and beliefs that create lower organizational costs and can lead to higher levels of motivation and innovation. When signals coming from managers and the organizational structure are  not congruent and confusing the overall socialization process that leads to commitment and satisfaction breaks down.

Positive relationships with management as well as praise and recognition influences both motivation  and satisfaction. A study of 339 employees in ten different wire and cable companies on the Taiwan stock exchange indicated that employees who are innovative, have positive relationships, and receive recognition are more satisfied (Yuan-Duen & Huan-Ming, 2008). The concepts of innovation and satisfaction were based deeply in the environment and its motivational potentials.

The development of higher levels of organizational innovation requires the building of appropriate cultural expectations. Such cultural expectations are based within the social group and the satisfaction the employee feels with his coworkers and managers. By fostering higher levels of positive interaction with organizational members and management, employee satisfaction can raise the level of innovative expectations embedded within the culture. Through solving problems for the self, the social group, and the company an employee can find and make positive meaning out of his/her working life.



Adeyinka, T., Ayeni, C., &  Popoola, O. (2007). Work Motivation, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment of Library Personnel in Academic and Research Libraries in Oyo State, Nigeria, Library Philosophy and Practice.

Charles-O, R. (1986). Organizational commitment and psychological attachment: The effect of
compliance, identification and internalization on pro-social behavior. Journal of Applied
Psychology , 71 (3), 492-499

Olivier, S. (2008). Culture Theory. Knowledge Solutions, 22.

Saxena, N. & Vyas, J. (2011). Employees' job satisfaction in power back-up industry: an analytical approach. SIES Journal of Management, 7 (2). 

Yuan-Duen, L. & Huan-Ming, C. (2008). Relations between team work and innovation in organizations and job satisfaction of employees: a factor analytic study. International Journal of Management, 25 (4).