Motivating employees Flashcards
Motivation
is the reason why employees want to work hard and effectively for the business
Benefits of a well-motivated workforce
- high output per worker - which helps to keep costs low and increase profits
- Willingness to accept change (ex: new methods of learning)
- Two-way communication with management, (ex: suggestions for improving quality)
- low labor turnover
- low rates of absenteeism
- low rates of strike action
Maslow’s hierarchy
- self-actualization – Succeeding to your full potential, feelings you have done a good job (Promotion)
- esteem needs – having status and recognition, achievement and independence
- social needs – Friendships, sense of belonging
- safety/security needs – protection against danger and poverty (Job security)
- physiological needs – food, rest, recreation, shelter
F.W Taylor
workers are motivated by money – and only by money, while employers want low labor costs.
Herzberg
Motivators (to grow)
- achievement
- recognition
- personal growth/development
- promotion
- work itself
Hygiene factors (needs)
- status
- security
- work conditions
- company policies and administration
- relationship with supervisor
- relationship with subordinates
- salary
methods of motivation (financial rewards)
- wage
- salary
- bonus
- commission
- profit sharing
Wage
is a payment for work, usually paid weekly
Wages (Advantages)
- Worker gets paid on a regular basis, so no need to wait for long time for money.
- Overtime is paid if the worker works extra hours
(intensive to additional work when business needs)
Wages (Drawbacks)
- Has to be calculated every week, which is time consuming
- wages clerks are needed to perform this task, so money wasted as well
wages (Time rate)
is the amount paid to an employee for one hour of work
wages (Time rate Pros)
- Easy to calculate worker’s wage and worker know the amount they are getting paid for certain amount of hours
wages (Time rate Cons)
- Good and bad workers get paid the same
- Supervisors are needed to make sure all the workers are productive and continue working and producing good quality products
- A clocking-in system is needed to determine the number of hours worked by the employees
wages (Piece rate)
is an amount paid for each unit of output
wages (Pieces rate Pros)
- it encourages workers to work faster and produce more goods
wages (Pieces rate Cons)
- workers may focus on making more products than focusing on the quality of the product, which would damage the reputation of the company
- Workers who are careful in their work will not earn as much as those who rush, which would cause friction between employees.
- If machinery breaks down, workers would earn less, due to this companies pay workers a guaranteed amount of money.
Salaries
is a payment for work. usually monthly
Salaries (Advantages)
- Easy to calculate salary as it needs the annual amount divided into 12 months
- The employer has the money in the bank account for longer than if paying wages.
- The payment only needs to be calculated only once a month
Salaries (Disadvantages)
- Workers may be preferred to be paid weekly
- No overtime payment, so workers may refuse to work longer
Bonuses
is an additional amount of payment above basic pay as a reward for good work
Bonuses (Disadvantages)
- Bonuses can be expected every year, and if not paid due to a unproductive year for the business, workers may be disappointed
- If only a number of workers are paid bonuses, the others might get bad feelings on why they did not receive one
Commission
is payment relating to the number of sales made
Commission (Disadvantages)
- if the staff is very persuasive, they might make the customer buy the product without any interest in the product, which would result in a short increase of sales.
- Stressful for the staff, bad month = less payment
- too much competition between sales staff to get the next customer
Profit sharing
is a system whereby a proportion of the company’s profits is paid out to employees
Profit sharing (Disadvantages)
- If a business makes low profits, no profit sharing can be done, leading to employee disappointment
- The higher workers will receive a higher share and lower worker would receive a lower share, which would cause bad feeling among the lower paid workers who thought they have worked just as hard.
Fringe Benefits
- Company vehicle
- discounts on business products
- health care paid for
- children’s edu fees
- Free accommodation
- Pensions
- Free holidays/trips
Job satisfaction
is the enjoyment derived from feeling that you have done a good job
Job Rotation
involves workers swapping around and doing each specific task for a limited time and then changing back around.
Job enrichment
involves looking at jobs and adding tasks that require more skill or responsibility
Teamworking
involves using groups of workers and allocating specific tasks and responsibilities to them.
Training
is the process of improving a worker’s skills
Promotion
is the advancement of an employee in an business to a higher job / managerial level
