1.4.4 Motivation in Theory Practice

Question 1

Motivation

Answer 1

• Having motivated staff leads to greater productivity which means less wastage and higher profitability for a business

Question 2

The importance of employee motivation

Answer 2

• Motivated employees are more productive
• Productive employees are;
• More creative
• More accurate
• More analytical
• Better at handling problems and customer complaints
• Better at giving good customer service
• Better at selling

Question 3

Taylor – Scientific Management

Answer 3

❑ He believed in a “fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work”
❑ He also believed that employee would do the minimum
amount of work if not supervised
❑ He carried out time and motion studies

The implications of Taylor’s theory for managing behaviour at work were:
- The main form of motivation is high wages, higher wages equalled higher output
- A worker’s job is to do what they are told and get paid accordingly
- A manager’s job is to tell employees what to do

Question 4

Mayo – human relations theory

Answer 4

• (1930) Mayo based his assumptions on research undertaken with workers at the Hawthorne factory of the Western Electric Company in Chicago

• Mayo looked at motivation in the Hawthorne factory:
• He changed the working conditions such as break times and duration of the ladies who worked in the relay assembly room at the factory
• Found that just by being studied - the employee’s levels of motivation increased
• Working in teams was more important than money
• Non-financial motivators were the most important
• Boring and repetitive work can be a demotivator

Question 5

Mayo: Ladies of the relay assembly room that Elton Mayo studied

Answer 5

• Mayo stated that everything depends on how they see each other; the employees, managers, directors
• It’s about how well they communicate with each other
• It’s the recognition and appreciation that increase the internal job satisfaction of any person and as a result the overall productivity is increased
• The relay assembly production was not increased because of the environment it was the feeling of being recognised and appreciated plus more social interaction among the employees that caused the internal satisfaction and increased the productivity
• Mayo concluded from his experiments that the concept the employees purely work to earn money and living is totally false.

Question 6

Maslow – Hierarchy of needs

Answer 6

• Maslow’s theory was that we all have a pyramid of needs.
• We start by meeting our needs at the bottom for example; food, water, shelter
• We then look for a secure job to meet our safety needs
• We then look for teamwork and a social job
• We then look for responsibility and promotion
• Then when all these needs are met we start to self actualise, which is where we reach our potential

Question 7

Self actualization

Answer 7

• This is the top of the pyramid
• We only rise to this level of needs once we
have fulfilled all the others
• At this level we are; creative spontaneous, problem solving, accepting of our circumstances, in a challenging job, inspiring others, and highly engaged with our work environment
• We are interested in; travelling, hobbies, educating ourselves, enriching activities and realising our potential
• At this level we are playful, mindful and self- sufficient

Question 8

Esteem needs

Answer 8

• At this level we have the psychological need for the respect of others
• We seek independence, recognition, honour, status and responsibility
• We want to feel important at work and feel that we are vital to a business
• We seek a feeling of accomplishment and we are focussed on building a solid work image
• We might be buying cars, furniture, gym membership and credit cards

Question 9

Love / belonging needs

Answer 9

• At this point in the hierarchy we seek love and friendship
• We crave affection and intimacy
• We look to belong to social
groups, clubs, community groups
• We wish to be trusted and accepted in society
• This is also sometimes known as social needs
• If these needs are not being met we are unlikely to be productive

Question 10

Safety needs

Answer 10

• At this point in the hierarchy we have the need for safety and security and health
• Safety in terms of having a roof over our head, but it can also mean security of employment
• If employees think they may be sacked or made redundant they are unlikely to be productive or self actualising because their safety needs are not being met
• Equally an ill employee will not be working at their best either

Question 11

Physiological needs

Answer 11

• At the foot of the pyramid is all our basic needs
• The need we have for food, water, warmth and everything else we need for basic life
• If these are not being met we have no interest in joining clubs, actualizing, having a family, falling in love etc.
• Hopefully these needs are being met for you – where are you on the hierarchy of needs?

Question 12

Herzberg – two factor theory

Answer 12

• Frederick Herzberg worked in the 1960s, his theories are still studied today.
• He interviewed accountants and engineers to find out what motivated them
• His theory was that employees have motivating factors; interesting work, recognition and personal achievement, responsibility and scope to develop
• He also found that there were hygiene factors which if not met would dissatisfy the employees, but if they were met did not motivate them any more than they were already. These were; good working conditions, pay, relationships with other employees

Question 13

Financial motivation methods

Answer 13

1. piecework
2. commission
3. bonus
4. profit share
5. performance-related pay

Question 14

Non - financial motivation methods

Answer 14

1. delegation
2. consultation
3. empowerment
4. team working
5. flexible working
6. job enrichment
7. job rotation
8. job enlargement

Question 15

Bonus

Answer 15

A payment in addition to the basic wage for basic reaching targets or in recognition for service .

Question 16

Commission

Answer 16

Percentage payment in a sale made to the sales person

Question 17

Consultation

Answer 17

Listening to the views of employees before making key decisions that affect them.

Question 18

Delegation

Answer 18

The passing of authority further down the managerial hierarchy

Question 19

Empowerment

Answer 19

Giving official authority to employees to make decisions and control their own work activities

Question 20

Hawthorne effect

Answer 20

The idea that works are motivated by recognition given to them as a group

Question 21

Piece work advantages and disadvantages

Answer 21

Advantages
√ Experienced and efficient workers can earn more
√ Incentive to complete the work
√ Employees may work more
hours to get the job done
√ Home workers can start and finish when they want which means the work fits round a family

Disadvantages
£ As workers speed up they may cut corners
£ Quality may suffer
£ Slower workers may fall under the national minimum wage

Question 22

What is commission advantages and disadvantages

Answer 22

Advantages
√ Skilled salespeople can make very good money
√ Employer is not paying for down time when the employee is not selling
√ Motivates employees to sell more

Disadvantages
£ Salespeople on commission only could earn no money at all
£ Not a steady income
£ Risky in a recession
£ Employees are selling rather than meeting needs of customers
£ Temptation to pressure sell or oversell

Question 23

Bonus advantages and disadvantages

Answer 23

Advantages
• A bonus payment to an employee can be used as an incentive, especially in a field where employees must make sales or meet specific goals.
• A bonus payment can also be used as a means of appreciation for an employee’s hard work throughout the year or in a specified amount of time in the year.

Disadvantages
• A cash bonus can be costly for any company, so a business may offer gift cards instead
• When an employee receives a bonus, it becomes part of his total income at the end of the year, the employee will also be paying taxes on the bonus they receive

Question 24

Profit share advantages and disadvantages

Answer 24

Advantages
• Brings employees together to work towards a common goal. Their sole aim will be the success of the company
• Motivation levels will be high and it encourages teamwork
• The employee focus will be on profitability
• Increases commitment to the organisation
among the employees
• Employee can identify with the company. He or she will feel part of it
• Bridges the gap between the employee and employer

Disadvantages
• The salaries of the individual employees go up equally, not on the basis of merit or promotion, this does not necessarily motivate individuals
• The focus of the employee may be on the profit share rather than on quality customer service

Question 25

Performance related pay advantages and disadvantages

Answer 25

Advantages
•Advantage is there is a direct link between the performance of an employee and how much they are paid
•Easy for the business to rank their staff when look at who to promote

Disadvantages
• Critics say it causes jealousy and unrest
• Those that don’t meet the targets blame the line manager and can become demotivated. Bonuses are often too low to act as an incentive to work towards targets

Question 26

Non - financial motivation methods

Answer 26

1. delegation
2. consultation
3. empowerment
4. team working
5. flexible working
6. job enrichment
7. job rotation
8. job enlargement

Question 27

delegation

Answer 27

• This method of non-financial motivation involves allocating tasks to employees
• The manager or supervisor delegating needs to have the authority to delegate
• The manager can make a list of everything they do then divide up some of the tasks amongst subordinates

Question 28

Delegation advantages and disadvantages

Answer 28

Advantages
• Gives managers self confidence, empowers managers to make decisions and allocate tasks to the most appropriate member of staff
• Makes sure the team’s potential is maximised
• Builds trust between the manager and the employees

Disadvantages
• Managers sometimes allocate tasks when overloaded with work and not when they want to motivate an employee
• Managers may not always choose the most suitable employee to delegate to

Question 29

Consultation

Answer 29

• This method of non-financial motivation involves giving employees a chance to be part of the decision making process
• This will involve employees in discussions with management on topics such as how to improve productivity, cut costs or problem solve
• By law a business has to consult with their employees on:
• health and safety issues
• changes to the contract of employment
• redundancies
• Changes to pension schemes

Question 30

Consultation advantages and disadvantages

Answer 30

Advantages
• Effective consultation can help avoid any minor issues in the business becoming larger e.g. lack of air conditioning
• Consultation can help avoid a union action
• Consultation can help the employees feel motivated as their views are asked for on certain matters
• Quality circles are a useful way to motivate workers in a production environment

Disadvantages
• Employees may not know what it needs o run a successful business, keeping costs low
• Employees may come up with grudges against the company or amongst themselves

Question 31

empowerment

Answer 31

• This method of non-financial motivation involves allowing employees more authority to delegate tasks to others
• This means that the person most suitable to make the decision gets the responsibility of taking it and can be held accountable for it

Question 32

Empowerment advantages and disadvantages

Answer 32

Advantages
• Staff that are recognised for their ability, trusted and given control over decisions, therefore are less frustrated with the business and have increased productivity levels
• Empowered employees are close to issues and problems, may be more effective at problems solving at that level
• Great involvement means greater loyalty to the business

Disadvantages
• Sometimes regarded as a cost cutting, a way of delayering, making management redundancies, makes managers insecure and has an associated cost of training
• Some see this as giving employees more to do for the same pay, so that mangers can be made redundant
• Lack of experience in the job can increase risk of mistakes being made

Question 33

Team working

Answer 33

• This method of non-financial motivation involves grouping employees to work in teams
• Team work is becoming more common in a variety of work settings
• Through collaboration and discussion a team can often produce a better product or solution than an individual working on their own

Question 34

Advantages and dissadvantages of team working?

Answer 34

Advantages
• Team working means pooled talents,
• Individuals can specialise,
• shared responsibility,
• Fresh business ideas can be gained through brainstorming sessions, making the business more innovative
• Well managed work-place teams can produce better results
• Peer pressure in the group can help to keep motivation levels high

Disadvantages
• Tensions can occur, not everyone gets along, teams suffer from too many meetings, a team is not the solution to every problem
• sometimes an individual approach would be better

Question 35

Flexible working (flexitime)

Answer 35

• This method of non-financial motivation involves offering a variety of working patterns so that employees can achieve a work life balance
• These may include; part-time, homeworking, term time only, job share and flexible start and finish times with a core of worked times

Question 36

Flexible working advantages and disadvantages

Answer 36

Advantages
• Greater cost
effectiveness and efficiency, such as savings on overheads when employees work from home or less downtime for machinery when 24-hour shifts are worked
• The chance to have extended operating hours
• More job satisfaction and better staff motivation
• Reduced levels of sickness absence

Disadvantages
• It can be difficult to to fit shifts and schedules to suit everyone
• Some staff may take advantage of the flexible system and not work as hard or when they should e.g. working from home the temptation may be to do something else

Question 37

Job enrichment

Answer 37

• This method of non-financial motivation involves giving the employee a greater variety of tasks of a higher responsibility
• This means the job may be redesigned so that it is more challenging and less repetitive
• For example an employee may be responsible for; planning a task, quality, ordering materials, scheduling activities

Question 38

Job enrichment advantages and disadvantages

Answer 38

Advantages
• The employee benefits from having a more interesting job role, which can be very motivating and improve employee productivity and lower absenteeism rates
• The employee will feel more loyal to the organisation and they get the sense of achievement (Maslow?)
• Prepares the employee for possible promotion in the future (succession planning)

Disadvantages
• Some employees may just feel that the job has become harder
• May mean the employee will need to be trained on new machinery, in ICT or other job skills to perform the new tasks
• Not all jobs can be enriched e.g. bin man

Question 39

Job rotation

Answer 39

• This method of non-financial motivation involves moving employees from one task to another
• This means that staff can be trained in a variety of skills, so can be better utilised when there are shortages
• This is most common on a production line or in a factory

Question 40

Job rotation advantages and disadvantages

Answer 40

Advantages
• Advantage is the business gets multi-skilled employees who can carry out more than one task
• The job can be less monotonous and boring for the employees, reducing labour turnover rates
• It is an easy and cost effective way to motivate employees and improve productivity

Disadvantages
• Convincing employees that job rotation is a good thing can be a time consuming process, they may be unwilling to leave a job they know well or work with a different team
• It also takes time for employees to learn the new skills and get up to speed

Question 41

Job enlargement

Answer 41

• This method of non-financial motivation involves giving an employee more tasks of the same level of responsibility
• This is designed to prevent the employee from getting bored and to expand the scope of their job at the same level (horizontal)
• This can improve motivation levels as it can give the employee more interesting and varied tasks

Question 42

Job enlargement advantages and disadvantages

Answer 42

Advantages
• This method can make the job less boring, less repetitive, and can get the maximum use out of an employee e.g. administrator given some recruitment tasks such as shortlisting candidates
• Employee productivity may be improved
• Improves employee retention and absenteeism

Disadvantages
• May be seen as more of the same if the employee regards it as just more tasks to get done in a working day
• Needs to be linked to a clear career progression to make sense to the employee