Chapter 6 - Motivating Employees Flashcards
Motivation
The reason employees want to work hard and effectively for the business
Reasons why people work (5)
Self-esteem
Job satisfaction
Security
Social-needs
Money
Benefits of a motivated workforce (5)
Willingness to accept change
Higher output per worker
Two way communication
Low labour turnover (less people leaving)
Low absenteeism rates
Low strike rates
Maslows hierarchy (5) +def
Concept of human needs
Each level needs to be achieved before moving on to the next one
-Self actualisation - promotions + responsibility
-Esteem needs - recognition
-Social needs - supportive colluegues
-Security needs - job security
-Physiological needs - wages enough to pay bills
F.W Taylor’s theory + critisisms
Motivation theory - assumed people are motivated by personal gain meaning the more money they get the more motivated. Broke down jobs into simple processes and calculated theoretical output, paying them more money if they reached it.
-too simplistic-employees arent just motivated by money
-cant easily measure each employees output
-if they are unfilfilled there will be no change in productivity.
Herzberg theory
Humans have 2 sets of needs:
Motivators-effects wear off quickly-achievement personal growth,work itself,recognition,promotion
Hygiene/maintenance factors-must be satisfied-status,security,conditions,policies,salary,relationships
Job rotation
Workers swapping around and doing each task for only a limited amount of time before swapping again
Job enrichment
Looking at jobs and adding more tasks that require more skill and/or responsibility
Teamworking
Using groups and allocating specific tasks and responsibilities to them
Hygiene factors (7) +def
Must be satisfied or else they are demotivators. Even if they are satisfied, they are still not motivators, they are just basic requirements to be met (Frederik Herzberg)
-Status
-Security
-Work conditions
-Company policies + administration
-Relationship with supervisor
-Relationship with subordinates
-Salary
Motivators (5)
Achievement
Recognition
Personal growth/development
Advancement/promotion
Work itself
Financial methods of motivation (5)
Wages
Salary
Bonus
Commission
Profit sharing
Wage
Payment for work, usually payed weekly
Wages benefits (2)
Workers are payed on a regular basis and don’t have to wait
Overtime can be payed
Wages drawbacks (2)
Have to be calculated weekly (takes time + money)
Wage clerks have to be employed
How wages can be calculated (2)
Time rate
Piece rate
Time rate
Amount payed to an employee for one hour of work. Used where output cannot be measured eg. Receptionist
Time rate benefits (1)
Easy to calculate + worker knows how much they’ll be paid for a certain period of time
Time rate limitations (4)
Admin (time sheet) takes time
Good + bad workers get payed the same
Need supervisors (expense)
Need clocking in system
Piece rate
An amount payed for each unit of output
Advantage of piece rate
Encourages workers to work faster to produce more goods
Limitations of piece rate (3)
Quality may be ignored -> damages reputation
Unfair, some workers care more than others and produce slower but more qualitative (friction)
No output if machinery breaks (workers must be payed a minimum amount of money)
Salary
Payment for work, usually monthly
Used for office staff/management
Benefits of salaries (3)
Easy to calculate
Employer only has to pay once a month
Payment only has to be calculated once a month
Drawbacks of salaries (2)
Some workers prefer weekly payments
No payment for extra time worked (workers may be reluctant)
Bonus
Additional amount of payment above basic pay as a reward for good work
Bonus benefit
Can be motivating
Bonus limitations (2)
Can become expected, employee may become difficult to manage
Bad feelings as only some workers get bonuses
Commission
Payment relating to number of sales made
Payed in ADDITION to wages or salaries
Commission advantage (1)
Encourages sales staff to sell as many products as possible
Commission limitations (3)
Sales staff convince people into buying things they don’t want results in a bad reputation
Stressful for staff if they have a bad month
Increased competition amongst staff
Profit sharing
System whereby a portion of the company’s -profit is paid out to employees
Often used in sectors where it is hard to identify an individual employees contribution to increased profits, but a;l benefit from more productive work
Limitations of profit sharing (2)
Low profit = no profit share =dissapointment
Calculated based on existing wage/salary higher payed workers get more even if lower paid worked harder
Fringe benefits (9)
Company vehicle
Discounts on business products
Healthcare
Children’s education fees paid
Free accommodation
Share options
Expense accounts
Pension
Free trips/holidays
Non financial motivating factors (5)
Job rotation
Job enrichment
Autonomous work groups/teamworking
Training
Opportunities for promotion
Job satisfaction
Enjoyment derived from feeling that you have done a good job
Training
Process of improving a worker’s skills
Promotion
Advancement of an employee in an organisation to eg. Higher paid job/managerial level
