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CHAPTER 8: MOTIVATION AND EMPOWERMENT 237
to perform well and attain their desired outcomes. One interesting illustration of
the use of expectancy theory is the Pathways to Rewards program, sponsored by

non-profit organization Project Match as a way to help poor people improve their
lives.

IN THE LEAD Project Match, Pathways to Rewards
It’s a perpetual problem for social service agencies working with the poor: How do
you get people who feel tired and beaten down to pull themselves up and take posi-
tive steps toward improving their lives? A few small, experimental programs around
the United States are using incentives to motivate poor people to look for jobs,
enroll in literacy classes, keep their houses clean, or pay their rent on time.
One such program, Pathways to Rewards, sponsored by Project Match, has
doled out about $19,000 in prizes such as DVD players, bicycles, clothing, or food
certifi cates in a low-income area near Chicago. Participants in the program meet
with counselors to establish goals and then pick the rewards they’d like to work to-
ward. One woman, who has struggled with depression, uses the program to moti-
vate herself to keep her doctor’s appointments, get her children dressed for school,
and do volunteer work to get out of the house. When the person accumulates the
number of points needed for the desired item, the counselor arranges for a gift
certifi cate or check written to the store for the purchase. Those who reach their
goals are also recognized at an awards banquet, where their names and point totals
are displayed on a big screen as they are honored on stage. “They flash the lights

and take your picture and make you feel like you’re a star,” said one participant. The
recognition for many is just as important a reward as the prizes.
Programs such as Pathways to Rewards aren’t a cure-all, but many experts
think the use of incentives holds great potential for changing some of the behaviors
that keep people tied to poverty. “We’re saying, ‘Look, every single person can
make progress, ’” says Toby Herr, executive director of Project Match. “We’re asking
you to tell us what you’re good at and offer you a broad enough array of goals
[and rewards] so you can keep succeeding.” 29
Expectancy theory and reinforcement theory
Action Memo
Participants in the Pathways to Rewards program work with are widely used in all types of organizations
counselors to set goals that they believe they can achieve if they put and leadership situations. The questionnaire
forth effort; they know that achieving the goal will lead to reward in Leader’s Self-Insight 8.2 on page 238
and recognition; and they have the opportunity to pick the type
effectively you apply these motivational
of rewards they desire. Thus, all three elements of the expectancy gives you the opportunity to see how
theory model illustrated in Exhibit 8.6 are high, which leads to high
motivation. As soon as people show that they can consistently meet a ideas in your own leadership.
goal, counselors work with them to set more ambitious ones in order

to keep receiving rewards points. Within the first 18 months of the
program, about 80 percent of those enrolled had met their goals.
Equity Theory
Sometimes employees’ motivation is affected not only by their expectancies and
the rewards they receive, but also by their perceptions of how fairly they are
treated in relation to others. Equity theory proposes that people are motivated to Equity theory
Equity theory
a theory that proposes that
seek social equity in the rewards they receive for performance. According to the a theory that proposes that
30
people are motivated to seek
theory, if people perceive their rewards as equal to what others receive for similar people are motivated to seek
social equity in the rewards they
social equity in the rewards they
contributions, they will believe they are treated fairly and will be more highly expect for performance
expect for performance
motivated. When they believe they are not being treated fairly and equitably,
motivation will decline.