Typical Versus Maximum Performance - Components

Components

Job performance is viewed as an employee’s results, determined by their combined intelligence and motivation. Since motivation is dependent on an individual’s choices, one can control the direction, level, and persistence they put into a task. Intelligence, however, is stable and not under personal control.

Motivation and intelligence
All tasks require some form of ability and motivation, however, Sackett and colleagues hypothesized that the difference between typical and maximum performance is determined by a combination of these two factors. They expected that maximum performance is primarily determined by the intelligence of an individual. Since maximum performance occurs when the individual is highly motivated to perform well, the impact of intelligence is higher under these conditions. Everyone under this condition would be exerting the maximum amount, so the difference between individuals lies in their ability. In typical performance, both intelligence and motivation are thought to influence the quality of an employee’s job performance. However, motivation is believed to be the more influential factor in this situation.

Research has investigated the strength of these original theories driving typical and maximum performance. A recent study confirmed Sackett and colleagues’ ideas, finding that maximum performance was related to the employee’s knowledge of the job (e.g., intelligence), while typical performance was related to persistence, self-efficacy, and other measures of motivation.