Beyond seeking fair treatment on the job, people are also motivated by the belief that they can expect to achieve certain desired rewards by working hard to attain them. If you’ve ever put in long hours studying in the hope of receiving an “A” in one of your classes, then you know what I mean. Believing that there may be a carrot dangling at the end of the stick, and that it may be attained by putting forth the appropriate effort, can be a very effective motivator. This is one of basic ideas behind the popularity of pay systems know as merit pay plans, or pay-for-performance plans, which formally establish links between job performance and rewards. However, a recent survey found that only 25 percent of employees see a clear link between good job performance and their pay raises. Clearly, companies are not doing all that they can to take advantage of this form of motivation. To better understand this process, Let’s take a look at a popular theory of motivation that address this issue—expectancy theory