2.4 Motivation

Question 1

1. What is meant by motivation?

Answer 1

Motivation refers to the desire, effort and passion to achieve something - willingness to complete a task or job with enthusiasm.

Question 2

2. What are the benefits to a business in having a highly motivated workforce?

Answer 2

Higher morale and job satisfaction - improved productivity and quality
Better industrial relations - reduces chance of conflict in the workplace
Lower absenteeism
Lower staff turnover
Improves corporate image
Higher profitability

Question 3

3. What are the signs of a demotivated workforce?

Answer 3

Higher absenteeism rate
High labour turnover rate
High waste level
Increasing number of customer complaints
Low quality output
Poor punctuality
More disciplinary problems

Question 4

4. Distinguish between the theories of Taylor, Maslow, Herzeberg and Pink.

Answer 4

Taylor (1911)
Principles of scientific management - employees are primarily motivated by money and that productivity could be improved by setting output and efficiency targets related to pay.
Criticised for ignoring the non-physical contributions of workers - people are not only motivated by money
Failed to acknowledge that workers can be innovative and independent thinkers

Maslow (1943)
Focused on the psychological needs of workers as he believed that people are motivated by more than just money.

Herzberg (1959)
Two categories of factors affecting the level of motivation in the workplace:
Hygiene factors (mainly physical aspects) - aspects of work that do not motivate but must be met to prevent dissatisfaction
Pay, working conditions, supervision, policies etc.
Motivators (mainly psychological aspects) - increase satisfaction and performance at work
Job enlargement - giving workers more variety in what they do, thus making the work more interesting
Job enrichment - giving workers more complex and challenging tasks to exploit their potential
Job empowerment - delegating decision-making power to workers over areas of their jobs

Adam’s Equity theory (1963)
Workers will only be motivated if their input to outcome ratio is seen to be equitable in relation to others in the workplace.
Equity norm - expect an equitable renumeration for their contributions in their jobs
Social comparison - comparisons of their inputs and outcomes with those of their peers
Cognitive distortion - under-compensated workers may be demotivated so might withdraw

Pink (2009) 
Extrinsic factors no longer work because humans are not motivated by rewards, but three innate factors: 
Autonomy
Mastery 
Purpose

Question 5

5. State five methods of financial and non-financial ways to motivate individuals.

Answer 5

Financial: 
Salary
Wages (time and piece rates) 
Commission 
Profit-related pay 
Performance-related pay 
Employee share ownership schemes
Fringe payments 

Non-financial: 
Job enrichment
Job rotation 
Job enlargement
Empowerment
Purpose

Question 6

6. Distinguish between job enlargement, job rotation and job enrichment.

Answer 6

Job enlargement - giving workers more variety in what they do, thus making the work more interesting
Job enrichment - giving workers more complex and challenging tasks to exploit their potential
Job rotation - workers are given different tasks, but of the same level of complexity, to help reduce problems caused by performing repetitive tasks