Motivation Flashcards
Why do People work?
Have a better standard of living: by earning incomes they can satisfy their needs and wants
Be secure: having a job means they can always maintain or grow that standard of living
Gain experience and status: work allows people to get better at the job they do and earn a reputable status in society
Have job satisfaction: people also work for the satisfaction of having a job
Why motivate workers? Why do firms go to the pain of making sure their workers are motivated?
When workers are well-motivated, they become highly productive and effective in their work, become absent less often, and less likely to leave the job, thus increasing the firm’s efficiency and output, leading to higher profits.
Explain the F.W Taylor theory
F. W. Taylor: Taylor based his ideas on the assumption that workers were motivated by personal gains, mainly money and that increasing pay would increase productivity (amount of output produced). Therefore he proposed the piece-rate system, whereby workers get paid for the number of output they produce. So in order, to gain more money, workers would produce more.
Disadvantages of F.W Taylor theory
this theory is not entirely true. There are various other motivators in the modern workplace, some even more important than money. The piece rate system is not very practical in situations where output cannot be measured (service industries) and also will lead to (high) output that doesn’t guarantee high quality.
Explain Maslow’s Hierarchy
Maslow’s Hierarchy: Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs shows that employees are motivated by each level of the hierarchy going from bottom to top. Mangers can identify which level their workers are on and then take the necessary action to advance them onto the next leve
Limitation of Maslow’s Hierarchy
One limitation of this theory is that it doesn’t apply to every worker. For some employees, for example, social needs aren’t important but they would be motivated by recognition and appreciation for their work from seniors.
Explain Hzerbeg’s theory
According to Herzberg, the hygiene factors need to be satisfied, if not they will act as de-motivators to the workers. However hygiene factors don’t act as motivators as their effect quickly wear off. Motivators will truly motivate workers to work more effectively.
Explain wages
Wages: often paid weekly. They can be calculated in two ways:
Time-Rate: pay based on the number of hours worked. Although output may increase, it doesn’t mean that workers will work sincerely use the time to produce more- they may simply waste time on very few output since their pay is based only on how long they work. The productive and unproductive worker will get paid the same amount, irrespective of their output.
Define Piece Rate System
Piece-Rate: pay based on the no. of output produced. Same as time-rate, this doesn’t ensure that quality output is produced. Thus, efficient workers may feel demotivated as they’re getting the same pay as inefficient workers, despite their efficiency.
Define Comission
paid to salesperson, based on a percentage of sales they’ve made. The higher the sales, the more the pay. Although this will encourage salespersons to sell more products and increase profits, it can be very stressful for them because no sales made means no pay at all.
Define Job Satisfication
The enjoyment derived from the feeling that you’ve done a good job
Define Job Rotation
involves workers swapping around jobs and doing each specific task for only a limited time and then changing round again
Define Job Enlargement
where extra tasks of similar level of work are added to a worker’s job description.
Define Job Enrichment
involves adding tasks that require more skill and responsibility to a job
Define opportunities for Training
providing training will make workers feel that their work is being valued. Training also provides them opportunities for personal growth and development, thereby attaining job satisfaction
