chapter 6 - motivating employees Flashcards
1
Q
why do people work? (5)
A
- Money – to pay for necessities and some luxuries.
- Security – a sense of security (ex. Secure job)
- Social needs (affiliation) – feeling part of a group, meeting people, making friends at work.
- Esteem needs – feeling important, feeling that the job you have is important.
- Job satisfactory – enjoyment I s derived from the feeling that you have done a good job.
2
Q
what are the benefits of a well-motivate workforce? (6)
A
- High output per worker – keep costs low and increase profits
- Willingness to accept change, new methods of working.
- Two-way communication with management (ex. Suggestions for improving quality).
- Low labour turnover – a loyal workforce.
- Low rates of absenteeism – reducing the disruption caused by absence from workers.
- Low rates of strike action – avoiding damage to customer relations.
3
Q
describe the human needs in maslow’s hierarchy (4)
A
- Most business managers now recognize that if employees are going to be motivated to work effectively then the higher levels in the hierarchy must be available to them – money alone will not be the single route to increased productivity.
- Maslow also suggested that each level in the hierarchy must be achieved before an employee can be motivated by the next level.
- There are problems in that some levels do not appear to exist for certain individuals, while some rewards appear to fit into more than one level.
- Managers must identify the level of hierarchy that a particular job provides then look for ways of allowing the employees to benefit from the next level up the hierarchy.
4
Q
name the levels of human needs in maslow’s hierarchy (5) - bottom to top
A
- physiological needs - wages high enough
to meet weekly bills, ex. food, rest, recreation,
shelter. - security/safety needs - job security, protection against danger,
protection against poverty,
fair treatment. - social needs - work colleagues who
support you at work, ex. friendship, a sense of belonging to a team. - esteem needs - being given recognition for a job well done, having status and recognition, achievement, independence.
- self-actualization - being promoted and given more
responsibility, succeeding to your full potential, feeling
that you have done a good job not just for financial and personal reward
5
Q
describe motivation theory by F.W. Taylor (2). what are the criticisms towards this theory? (2)
A
- Taylor based his ideas on the assumption that all individuals are motivated by personal gain and therefore, if they are paid more, they will work more effectively.
- If the workers produced this target output, they would be paid more money. Taylor saw employees rather like machines – when they were working hard, their productivity would be high and therefore the labour costs would be low for each unit produced.
- Criticisms:
The ides were too simplistic – employees are motivated by many things and not just money.
You can pay an employee more money, but if they are unfulfilled by their work in some way, there will be no increase in their effectiveness at work and there will be no productivity gains.
A practical problem arises if you cannot easily measure an employee’s output.
6
Q
describe motivation theory by hertzberg (2)
A
- According to Hezberg, humans have two sets of needs, one is for the basic needs, which he called “hygiene” factors or needs, and the second is for a human being to be able to grow psychologically, which he called “motivational” needs or “motivators”.
- According to Herzberg, the hygiene factors must be satisfied; if they are not satisfied, they can act as demotivators to the workers. However, they do not act as motivators, as once satisfied the effects of them quickly wear off.
7
Q
what are the motivators (5) and hygiene factors (7) in the theory made by herzberg?
A
- Motivators:
Achievement
Recognition
Personal growth/development
Advancement/promotion
Work itself - Hygiene
Status
Security
Work conditions
Company policies and administration
Relationship with supervisor
Relationship with subordinates
Salary
8
Q
what are the financial methods of motivation? (5)
A
wage
salary
bonus
commission
profit-sharing
9
Q
describe wage (4), types of wages (2), describe each type of wages (5,4)
A
1.
* Wage – payment for work, usually paid weekly.
* Workers get paid on a regular basis. Wages tend to be paid to manual workers.
* Workers are paid overtime if they work longer than their working hours. This is an incentive to work additional hours when required by the business.
* Because workers are paid weekly, the wages need to be calculated every week.
* Wages clerks are often employed to perform this task.
2.
* Time rate and piece rate can be used to calculate wages.
- Time rate is the amount paid to an employee for one hour of work.
- Time rate is easy to calculate as the business already knows how much they will receive.
- However, the hours worked are often recorded on a time-sheet and it takes time.
- Good and bad workers are paid the same amount.
- Supervisors are often needed, but this may be expensive as more supervisors are needed by the business.
- A clocking-in system is needed to determine the number of hours worked by the employees.
- Piece rate – the amount paid for each unit of output.
- The workers are paid depending on the quantity of the products mad. The more the workers make, the more they get paid.
- Piece rate can be applied to the bonus system. But it can only be used where it is possible in making a large number of products and ignore the quality. This usually requires a good quality control system and it’s expensive. Reputation of the business may be affected by the production of poor quality products.
- Workers who are careful in their work will not earn as much as those who rush, which is quite unfair. Friction between employees may happen.
- If machinery breaks down, the employees will earn less money. Workers will still earn the minimum wage.
10
Q
descibe salary (4)
A
- Salary is easier to calculate as the amount of money is divided into 12 months amounts.
- The employer has the money in their bank account longer.
- However, the workers might want to be paid weekly.
- No payment for extra time worked – workers may be reluctant to work longer.
11
Q
describe bonus (3)
A
- Workers often consider themselves to be “recognized” and “special” if they are paid a bonus.
- Bonuses may be expected to be an annual thing and if workers are not paid their disappointment can be hard to manage.
- Bonuses can also have negative effect on workers as some would question why they do not receive bonuses but others do.
12
Q
describe commissions (4)
A
- This encourages the sales staffs to sell as many as possible. This should benefit the business as their sales can increase.
- However, if the sales staffs persuade customers to buy goods they do not want, the business’s sales may increase but then will drop as it gets a bad reputation.
- This can be stressful for the sales staffs because their pay will fall if the business has a bad month.
- There can be too much competition between sales staffs.
13
Q
describe profit-sharing (4)
A
- This should motivate the workers to work hard now that they all receive a share of the profits earned. The rest of the profits will be paid as dividends to the shareholders.
- Is often used in service sector because it’s hard to measure workers’ outputs.
- There may be no profit sharing if the business makes very low profits or even a loss.
- It is paid as an additional percentage of a worker’s existing salary or wage higher paid workers will receive more money.
14
Q
describe fringe benefits (2)
A
- Some workers from a factory may be rewarded with discounts on the business’s products. Workers. Like senior manager, receive fringe benefits of their job.
- Fringe benefits – in addition to these financial rewards, business may give other employee benefits such as company vehicle, discounts on the business’s products, heath care paid for, children’s education fees paid, free accommodation, etc.
15
Q
what are the non-financial methods of motivation (5)
A
job rotation
job enrichment
teamworking
training
promotion
