Herzberg Flashcards
Explain Herzbergs 2 factor theory
Based on two sets of factors, hygiene factors which are extrinsic factors such as pay and job security and that if these factors are present, it enables the employees to be reasonably satisfied in their job but it does not provide large amounts of motivation. If these factors are not present it will cause extreme dissatisfaction. The other factors are motivating factors which are intrinsic factors such as challenging work and recognition, these factors provide high levels of motivation.
What a HR manager must do in terms of Herzbergs
Often an organisation may provide employees with good pay, good conditions and have positive relationships. According to Herzberg this will only get employees to a neutral state and not provide motivation. To provide motivation they must provide he hygiene factors but also provide motivation factors to ensure employees are satisfied and motivated to work productively.
Hygiene factors and motivation factors compared to Maslow
Bottom 3 tiers of Maslow hierarchy are all hygiene factors, top 2 tiers are all motivation factors.
Differences between Maslow and Herzberg
Maslow says hygiene factors will motivate if employees are on that level of hierarchy but Herzberg says they will only provide satisfaction but not motivation.
Similarities between Herzberg and Maslow
Both involve extrinsic and intrinsic factors but in Maslows theory both factors can motivate whereas in Herzbergs theory only motivator factors which are intrinsic can motivate and extrinsic factors can provide satisfaction.
Advantages and disadvantages of Herzberg
The advantages of Herzbergs theory of motivation is that it recognises that employees need basic extrinsic factors to be satisfied and that on top of that the business needs to offer motivating factors such as reward and recognition, it shows that businesses need to ensure that employees are both motivated and satisfied if they want them to achieve their best. The disadvantages are that Herzberg’s model is more of a generalization that may not be appropriate to all groups of employees or individuals within a group. Herzberg based his theory on interviews with accountants and engineers. His finding are not necessarily directly applicable to vastly different employee groups. Hourly employees may not be particularly interested in job enlargement and enrichment, and may be more motivated by increased pay. Some employees may be more motivated by flexible work arrangements. Additionally, too much of a good thing can be bad: giving an employee responsibility they are not prepared for can be overwhelming and become a demotivator.
Explain Herzbergs theory of motivation and discuss how Prestige Motors could apply thus theory during the relocation process.
Herzberg’s theory is based on two sets of factors, hygiene factors which are extrinsic factors such as pay and job security and that if these factors are present, it enables the employees to be reasonably satisfied in their job but it does not provide large amounts of motivation. If these factors are not present it will cause extreme dissatisfaction. The other factors are motivating factors which are intrinsic factors such as challenging work and recognition, these factors provide high levels of motivation.
Prestige motors could apply this theory during the relocation process by offering employees who help work towards the relocation with long term contracts. This will satisfy the employees and thus make employees more satisfied with the relocation process. They could also offer development and training to employees who work towards the relocation. This is a motivating factor and will motivate employees to work towards the relocation.
The advantages of Herzbergs theory of motivation is that it recognises that employees need basic extrinsic factors to be satisfied and that on top of that the business needs to offer motivating factors such as reward and recognition, it shows that businesses need to ensure that employees are both motivated and satisfied if they want them to achieve their best.
The disadvantages are that Herzberg’s model is more of a generalization that may not be appropriate to all groups of employees or individuals within a group. Some employees at Prestige Motors may only want decent pay and training and development opportunities don’t interest them.
Explain one performance management system the organisation could introduce.
One performance management system the organisation could introduce are performance appraisals. This is the formal assessment of how efficiently and effectively an employee is performing their role in the organisation. It is a chance for management to give feedback to employees. It allows the organisation to determine if they need to update recruitment and selection to find better recruits or if they need to train and develop their current employees by assessing the skills and ability of the current employees.
As a result of increased competition, supermarket chain Foodaway has been forced to make a number of changes. Head office has announced that environmentally friendly bags and self-service checkouts. Employees have heard rumours that Foodaway will be downsizing and as a result many employees are not welcoming the change and staff turnover levels have increased. Human Resource Manager Jeff Lancer has been called in to help the remaining employees cope with the transition.
a. Explain Hertzberg’s theory of motivation. Discuss how using this theory might assist a Human Resource Manager in motivating the employees.
Herzberg’s theory is based on two sets of factors, hygiene factors which are extrinsic factors such as pay and job security and that if these factors are present, it enables the employees to be reasonably satisfied in their job but it does not provide large amounts of motivation. If these factors are not present it will cause extreme dissatisfaction. The other factors are motivating factors which are intrinsic factors such as challenging work and recognition, these factors provide high levels of motivation.
As there are rumours circulating around about downsizing staff turnover is increasing, herbert’s theory would ensure that these rumours are dispelled. Job security is a hygiene factor and it ensures there is no dissatisfaction. If the business follows herzberg’s theory and offer long term contracts to employees, the rumours will be dispelled and less staff will be leaving the business as they know they will have long term employment. They will then have to provide motivating factors such as challenging work to motivate employees to work productively.
A disadvantage however is that this theory is a generalisation and there may be many employees at Foodaway who are motivated with just hygiene factors such as pay and job security. If this is true for the employees at Foodaway then managers might be wasting resources by offering motivating factors such as recognition.
Identify and deserve a human resource management strategy that could be used reduce staff turnover levels and how this strategy meets two employee expectations.
A strategy that could be used to reduce staff turnover is training. Training is the teaching of staff so that they can perform their job more effectively and efficiently. There is on the job trying where employees are trained while continuing to work and there is off the job training where employes attend seminars, worksops or other similar places where they learn new skills away from work.
It would reduce staff turnover as many employees leave the business due to feeling that they don’t have the skills to perform their job effectively. If business’s train their employees then employees will have the required skills to be able to perform their job effectively. This will decrease staff turnover as employees now feel that they know how to perform.
This meets the employee expectation of job security. Employees expect to have ongoing employment at their place of work. Employees will realise that they are valued as the business is allocating resources to their improvement which will make the employees realise that the business wants them to stay for an extended period of time as it would be pointless to train employees if you were planning to terminate them..
It also meets the expectation of occupational health and safety. Employees expect to feel safe at the workplace so that they can work without having to constantly worry about their safety. Training often also involves ensuring that the employee knows how to perform their job safely. This will ensure that the employee knows how to work safely thus meeting the expectation.
As a result of increased competition, supermarket chain Foodaway has been forced to make a number of changes. Head office has announced that environmentally friendly bags and self-service checkouts. Employees have heard rumours that Foodaway will be downsizing and as a result many employees are not welcoming the change and staff turnover levels have increased. Human Resource Manager Jeff Lancer has been called in to help the remaining employees cope with the transition.
Explain two driving and two restraining forces of change in foldaway from the information provided,
Driving forces are those forces that help support the change and encourage its implementation.
One driving force for change at Foodaway is competition. Competitors who offer rival products can often take customers away from other business’s. At Foodaway, the increased number of competitors has led to them making changes to remain competitive and maintaining their customer base instead of losing them to competition. The competitors drove them to make changes so they would remain competitive.
Another driving force for change is management. A management that supports the change will assist and push for its implementation. Management at foodaway have announced environmentally friendly bags and self-service checkouts. They are pushing for this change as they have called in a human resouce manager. This push is driving the change.
Restraining forces are those forces that prevent a change and slow down its implementation.
One restraining force at foodaway are its employees. Employees who are unhappy with the change will be reluctant to help implement them. Foodaway employees are worried about downsizing and staff turnover is increasing making the changes harder to implement as there are less willing employees who are supporting the change.
One possible restraining force is cost. The costs of implementing environmentally friendly bags and self-service checkouts would be quite expensive. Foodaway might be reluctant to implement the changes knowing that it is going to cost a large amount. The costs of the items are restraining foodaway from being able to implement the change.
After implementing the change, Jeff is still experiencing some resistance from some staff members. Identify one low-risk and one high-risk strategy for dealing with the change, and then justify which one would be more effective in change management.
As a result of increased competition, supermarket chain Foodaway has been forced to make a number of changes. Head office has announced that environmentally friendly bags and self-service checkouts. Employees have heard rumours that Foodaway will be downsizing and as a result many employees are not welcoming the change and staff turnover levels have increased. Human Resource Manager Jeff Lancer has been called in to help the remaining employees cope with the transition.
One low risk practice for change is communication. The human resource manager could talk to the employees and explain how the change is better than what was previously happening. They could ensure employees understand the change process so that they are more informed, motivated and better equipped to implement the changes. It involves the slow, incremental implementation of change that maintains employee relationships.
Alternatively they could use a high risk practice such as threats. They could threaten mass redundancies unless they implement the changes. This would result in quick implementation of change but it cools result in increased staff turnover and possible industrial action.
I would suggest the communication as it may be slow and incremental but as there is no urgent need for the changes it would be better as it maintains strong relationships. Staff turnover is already increasing and it would be unwise to implement a high risk practice that might increase staff turnover even more.
Simon is working for a leading insurance company. He is well paid and has a good working environment, but
after three years at the company he has lost motivation and is thinking about resigning and looking to work
for an alternative company.
Describe how a Human Resource Manager could apply the Hertzberg theory to motivate Simon.
Based on two sets of factors, hygiene factors which are extrinsic factors such as pay and job security and that if these factors are present, it enables the employees to be reasonably satisfied in their job but it does not provide large amounts of motivation. If these factors are not present it will cause extreme dissatisfaction. The other factors are motivating factors which are intrinsic factors such as challenging work and recognition, these factors provide high levels of motivation.
Simon has been provided with pay and a good working environment however these are only hygiene factors and will not provide motivation. If they want to motivate him they will need to continue offering the hygiene factors while also supplying motivating factors such as recognition and reward. This will motivate Simon to work productively towards the achievement of objectives.
The Human Resource Manager of a large confectionery manufacturing business has determined that the
productivity of employees within the organisation has fallen.
Select two management practices and processes that are associated with the maintenance phase of the employment cycle. Discuss how these could be used to increase employee productivity, and the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches. Conclude with a recommendation as to which management practice would be most effective for the organisation. Include a reason for your recommendation.
One management practice from the maintenance phase is training. Training refers to the teaching of staff so that they become more effective and efficient at their job. It can be on the job training where they are trained while working or off the job training where they attend seminars, complete tests or other methods of training that are completed when the employee is not working.
Training increases productivity as it can teach employees better ways of performing their job more producitvely.
It also improves morale as staff feel valued as they know that the employer is allocating resources to their improvement.
However training can be quite expensive as it can involve setting up expensive workshops or hiring professional trainers which increase costs.
Another practice from the maintenance phase is induction. Induction refers to familiarising staff with the workplace and ensuring that they know what is required of them and how to perform their job effectively. The business could use the buddy system where the new employee is partnered with an experienced employee who teaches them how to perform their job effectively and efficiently.
This increases productivity as the employee is learning from an experienced person the best way to work that is highly productive.
It also improves morale as the new employee often forms a positive relationship with their buddy which makes them more motivated to work productively.
However a bad induction experience where the employee does not form a positive relationship with their buddy can result in decreased morale and motivation and the employee does not want to work productively.
I would recommend training as this involves the improvement of all employees instead of just new employees and a negative induction experience can actually decrease productivity levels as both the mentor and new employee can become unmotivated due to their negative relationship.
