1.4.4 Motivation in practice

Question 1

What is piecework?

1

Answer 1

• Paying each staff a set amount of money each time they complete task

Question 2

What are the benefits of piecework?

2

Answer 2

• Encourages ^productivity

- >Supervision (fear of not earning)

Question 3

What are the drawbacks of piecework?

2

Answer 3

• ^Scrap lvl, if focusing on speed (>quality)

- Workers work hardest when wanting ^earning = not coincide w seasonal patterns of demand

Question 4

What is commission?

1

Answer 4

• Paying staff a certain % of the revenue they generate, on top of low basic salary

Question 5

What is a pro and con of commission?

2

Answer 5

• Incentivises staff to sell as much as possible

- Staff try to sell ^expensive products to maximise commission, customer dissatisfaction

Question 6

What is a bonus?

1

Answer 6

• Paying lump sum as +reward to staff, once a yr

Question 7

What is a pro and con of bonuses?

2

Answer 7

• Great way of offering staff valued extra thank you

- Large bonuses distort staff behaviour, to meet target

Question 8

What is profit sharing?

1

Answer 8

• Allocate portion of annual prof to be shared as bonus among staff

Question 9

What is 2 pro’s and con of profit sharing?

3

Answer 9

• Aligns staff goals w business goals
• Sense of involvement to staff, warmer to customers
• Hard working staff resent others w same bonus who don’t work as hard

Question 10

What is performance related pay (PRP)?

1

Answer 10

• Reward staff who perform past a certain lvl when it is hard to quantify

Question 11

What are the benefits for the business of PRP?

2

Answer 11

• Easier for managers to control their staff (‘carrot’)

- >Influence of collective bargaining, thus trade union

Question 12

What is the main drawback of PRP?

1

Answer 12

• Employees feel process is biased against them

Question 13

What is a consultation?

1

Answer 13

• Seeking staff’s opinion before making a decision

Question 14

What is job enlargement?

1

Answer 14

• Job rotation/job enrichment

Question 15

Why should delegation motivate?

1

Answer 15

• Staff meet Maslow’s esteem and self-actualisation needs, motivator (Herzberg)

Question 16

What is job enrichment?

1

Answer 16

• Giving staff added responsibility/challenge by widening scope of their job

Question 17

What is job rotation?

1

Answer 17

• Moves staff between different tasks of same lvl of complexity

Question 18

What are the non financial methods of motivation?

6

Answer 18

• Delegation
• Consultation
• Team-working
• Flexible working
• Job enrichment
• Job rotation

Question 19

What are the financial methods of motivation?

5

Answer 19

• Piecework
• Commission
• Bonus
• Profit-sharing
• PRP

Question 20

What are the benefits of delegation?

2

Answer 20

• ^Morale of lower lvl managers

- Management focus on ^important activities, repetitive work passed down

Question 21

What are the drawbacks of delegation?

2

Answer 21

• Delegated to incompetent employees

- Managers blame on subordinates = conflict

Question 22

What are the benefits of team working?

3

Answer 22

• Workers absent = productivity not disrupted
• Innovation
• Workload shared

Question 23

What are the benefits of job rotation?

2

Answer 23

• ^Satisfaction, >attrition

- Help identify where employees work best

Question 24

What are the drawbacks of job rotation?

3

Answer 24

• Costly, time consuming
• Customers dissatisfied, employee making mistakes
• > Efficiency

Question 25

What is a pro and con of job enrichment?

2

Answer 25

• Learn new skills

- Difficulty understanding new task = employee feels incompetent