1.4.4 Motivation in practice Flashcards
What is the definition of motivation in a business context?
The desire for employees to be productive and help the organisation to achieve its corporate objectives.
What are benefits of high motivation of employees?
- Lower labour turnover
- Lower absenteeism
- Greater productivity
- Improved efficiency
- Possible increased customer service
What does Fredrick Taylors theory suggest ?
- Workers are financially incentivised to work harder and are inherently lazy.`
What are some financial incentives taylor suggested that motivated employers ?
- Piece rate pay : Instead of getting paid a wage, you get paid for each piece of work you output
-Output bonuses : If workers achieve a certain level of output they receive a bonus
-Commission : Pay commission in sales roles and pay lower salaries
-Profit sharing : Sharing profits with workforce to motivate them to generate profits for businesses.
What did Frederick Herzbergs two factor theory suggest?
(Hygiene factors)
Hygiene factors such as : Pay, working environment and colleague relationships did NOT motivate you, however if an employer was unhappy about these hygiene factors it could demotivate you and damage morale
Improvement in these areas will not improve prod.
What were Frederick Hertzberg’s motivating factors ?
These are factors which genuinely stimulate and increase motivation in work force to be more productive
1 - Opportunities for promotion and self improvement : Better roles within organisation, paid for training and education
2 - Job design : Job enlargement, job enrichment, empowerment
What is job enlargement ?
Giving employees a larger variety of tasks to do
What is job enrichment
Giving workers more challenging and complex tasks to do
What is empowerment ?
Giving workers more decision making responsibility and power.
Describe the stages in taylors method
1- Analyse work process
2- Standardise the work process
3- Select and train the workers
4 - Provide financial incentives
What are some advantages of taylors theory ?
1 - Higher efficiency which lowers costs
2 - Standardised procedures for work processes that everyone follows which leads to lower amount of error
3 - Clear hierarchy and lines of command can make decision making easier
What are some disadvantages to taylors theory ?
- Overemphasis on efficiency reduces worker satisfaction and reduces creativity
- Potential for exploitation eg sweat shops
- Workers may disengage from work if they are worked like machines
What did Elton Mayo’s studies conclude ?
- Workers have social influences which impact productivity and efficiency such as understanding and improving relations between workers, supervisors and management. This lead to HR departments.
What are some advantages of Mayo’s theory
- Increased productivity as workers feel valued and supported
- Better communication as workers feel more valued and are likely to be more open and honest.
- Employee empowerment increases sense of employee’s responsibility.
What are some disadvantages of mayos theory
- Time consuming as building positive relationships require time and effort
- Lack of control as workers take more decisions
- May not work for business which has staff that are highly autonomous.
What did Maslow suggest with his theory of Hierachy of needs
-Outlines 5 tiers of human needs which must be fulfilled to reach their full potential
Advantages of Maslows theory
- Higher employee satisfaction
- Increased motivation
- Improved employee performance
Disadvantages to Maslow’s Theory
- May be expensive to meet demands of all employees
- Time consuming as it takes a long time for management to obtain secure relations with people
- Businesses must tailor their needs to individual workers
FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
piecework
commission
bonus
profit share
performance-related pay
What is piece work and what theory does it link to ?
- Employees are paid in accordance to how many units they sell , commonly used in manufacturing This links to Taylorism
What is commission and what theory does it link to ?
- A percentage of sales revenue which is sold to workers who sell goods or services
- Esteem needs and Hertzberg motivating factors
What is bonus and what theory does it link to ?
- An additional payment which is given to staff as a reward for achieving specific goals
- Connects to Esteem Needs in Maslow’s Hierarchy (achievement)
Herzberg believed bonuses as the main form of payment would negatively influence individual behaviour
What is profit share and what theory does it link to ?
- A portion of the company’s profits are distributed among staff which makes them think like workers
- Hertzberg as this is a motivating factor
What is Performance-related pay and what theory does it link to ?
- Staff are paid based on their performance which (theoretically) motivates staff to work harder and achieve better results
- Hertzberg hygiene factor.
What are the non financial motivators
- Delegation
- Consultation
- Empowerment
- Team working
- Flexible working
- Job enrichment
- Job rotation
- Job Enlargmwent
What is delegation and what theory does it link to
Delegation is when authority is passed down to employees and staff are given the responsibility to carry out tasks.
Motivator in Hertzberg
What is consultation
Consultation is where managers and leaders obtain the views of employees to influence their decisions.
Maslows esteem needs
What is empowerment
Involves giving staff the authority and resources to make decisions and take action without first receiving management approval
Herzberg motivator
Maslow esteem needs
What is team working
Involves creating opportunities for staff to work collaboratively
Relates to elton mayos theory
What is flexible working
Involves providing staff with the option to work remotely, or to adjust their hours to suit their lifestyle
Relates to hertzberg and maslow self actualisation
What is job enrichment
- Adding more challenging tasks to a job
What is job rotation
- Involves moving staff between different roles in the business
What is job enlargement
- Where employees are given a larger amount of tasks and responsibilities.
