People in business Flashcards
Why do people work?
Money
Security
Affiliation (Social needs)
Self-importance (esteem)
Job Satisfaction
What is motivation?
the feeling that makes employees want to work hard and effectively in a business
What are the benefits of a well-motivated workforce
Well-motivated workers high productivity increased output higher profits
What is Taylor’s motivational theory?
Taylor’s idea was that if the workers produced more, they would receive a bonus
But the problem with this approach is that Taylor believed everyone is ONLY motivated by money, which doesn’t, always stand true
What is Maslow’s theory?
Also known as “Hierarchy of Needs” – a pyramid showing the different types of needs and how some are more important than others
What is Hezbergs theory?
Also known as “the 2-factor theory”
Humans have two sets of needs:
Basic animal needs (called ‘Hygiene’)
To be able to grow physiologically (called
‘Motivator’ needs)
The presence of hygiene factors doesn’t motivate employees, but their absence demotivates them.
What are 3 factors that motivate employees?
Financial rewards
Non - financial rewards
Job satisfaction
What are financial motivators
Wages
Time Rate
Piece Rate
Salaries
Commission
Bonus
Share ownership
What are non financial motivators
Fringe benefits
Job Satisfaction
Job Rotation
Job Enlargement
Job Enrichment
What is organisational structure?
The levels of management and division of responsibilities within a company
What do organisational charts show?
a clear structure of the business and make it easy to see which part of the company does what
Features of an organisational chart
It is a hierarchy
Organised into departments
Shows the chain of command and span of control
Benefits of an organisational chart
The chart shows how everybody is linked in the organization
Gives a sense of belonging
Employees know their position
It shows how departments are linked
All employees are aware from which communication channel will they receive messages
What is the chain of command?
The structure in an organization which allows instructions to be passed down from senior management levels to lower levels of management
What is the span of control?
The no. of employees working directly under a manager
What are the two types of organizational structures
You can have a ‘tall’ structure, with a long chain of command
You can have a ‘wide’ structure, with a short chain of command
What are the advantages to have a short (and wide) structure
Communication is faster and more accurate
Top managers are more in touch with subordinates because there are less levels
Wider span of control means employees feel trusted and take more decisions by themselves
Higher job satisfaction
What are the disadvantages to have a short (and wide) structure
Difficult to control
Inefficient supervisors
Communication problems
Difficult to motivate workers
Sometimes there may be a conflict between
departments
What are the functions of managers?
Planning
Organising
Co-ordinating
Commanding
Controlling
Without clear and effective management, what will a business lack
A sense of control and direction
Control of employees
Organization of resources
Coordination between departments
What does delegation involve?
Giving a subordinate the authority to
perform particular task.
However, if the employee does a bad job, the manager must accept the responsibility for it.
Why is delegation important?
Managers cannot do every job by themselves
Managers can then measure the success of the employees
Work becomes more interesting for subordinate, increases their motivation
Makes employees feel trusted and important
Gives workers greater career opportunities and chances of promotion
Why do some managers not delegate?
They might be afraid the subordinates will fail and manager wants to control everything
Manager might also feel threatened that subordinate will do a better job than them
What are the 3 leadership styles?
Autocratic Leader
Democratic Leader
Laissez-Faire Leader
What is an autocratic leader?
Where the manager expects to be in charge of the business and expects to have their orders followed with no questions asked
What is a democratic leader?
Where the manager allows the subordinates to be involved in the decision-making process
What is a Laissez-Faire Leader?
Where the manager makes broad/general objectives for the employees and leaves them to make their own decisions.
What is a trade union?
A group of workers that join together to
protect their interests
What are benefits of a trade union
Improved conditions of employment
Improved work environment
Advice/support if member thinks they have been unfairly fired, mistreated, etc
What are disadvantages of trade unions?
Costs money
May required to take industrial action
What is recruitment?
The process from identifying that a business needs to employ someone, to the point where applications have arrived at the business
What is the recruitment process?
A job analysis is done to identify the tasks and responsibilities to be carried out by the new employee
Once the details of the job are gathered, a job description will be made, outlining these duties.
From the job description, a job specification is created, which outlines the requirements,
qualifications and expertise for the job
Then the job is advertised
Internal advertisment
When the vacancy is filled by someone who is an existing employee of the business
It is cheaper, motivates other employees,
potential of the employee is already known.
The employee is aware of the working
conditions and other workers, lesser time
taken for induction training
But no new ideas come into the business and there may be jealousy and rivalry amongst employees
External advertisment
When the vacancy is filled by someone
who isn’t an existing employee and will be new to the business
New ideas come into the business. There’s
wider choice of workers
It is expensive and time-taking and may
demotivate existing employees
What are the type of workers?
Part - time workers (>35 hours / week)
Full - time workers (<35 hours / week)
Advantages of part-time workers
Work hours are flexible.
Business can extend the opening/closing hours
Employees can just work at busy times
Cheaper for the employer than employing a full time worker
May agree for a low salary as good work-life balance
Disadvantages of part-time workers
Employees are less likely to be trained because they might see it as temporary and don’t want a promotion
Takes longer to recruit many part-time workers than a couple full-time workers
Communication problems may arise
Might be less committed to the company
Advantages of full-time workers
Higher training and chances of promotion
Lesser time taken in recruitment
Highly committed to the business
Lesser communication problems
Disadvantages of full-time workers
No flexible working hours
Expensive
May demand higher pay as poor work-life balance
When is training needed
New technology is employed
Less supervision is required
Need to increase efficiency
Need to increase chances of internal promotion
New skills needed
Need to lower accidents
What are the 3 types of training?
Induction Training
On-the-job Training
Off-the-job training
What is induction training?
Where the employee is given an
introduction on the company’s procedures and customs, and is introduced to their co-workers
Advantages of induction training
Employees settle into their job quickly
Workers make fewer mistakes
May be a legal requirement
Disadvantages of induction training
Time consuming
Worker is being paid while not doing work
Delays the start of work for the employee
What is On-the-job Training
Where the employee does the job while being supervised by a more experienced worker, giving tips, suggestions and help
Advantages of on-the-job training
Employee does not need to be sent away
So cheaper than off-the-job training
There is still production from worker while training
Disadvantages of on-the-job training
Trainer won’t be as productive because they are teaching employee
Trainer might have bad habits and pass on to employee
Not recognized training qualifications outside the business
What is off-the-job training?
Where the employee is trained away from the workplace, normally by specialized trainers.
Advantages of off-the-job training
Lots of skills are taught
Trainings are sometimes off work hours, worker will still work
Employees become versatile
Disadvantages of off-the-job training
Expensive to send employees off to expert trainings
Workers are being paid but not doing any work
Professional training gives employees additional qualifications
Why would a company need to reduce the size of their workforce?
Automation (robots replacing human jobs)
Less demand for products or services
Business might have relocated abroad
Business being taken over/merged and now there are too many workers doing same job
What is dismissal?
When the worker is told to leave the job due to poor work or poor behavior
It is more commonly known as
being ‘fired
What is redundancy?
When a business no longer needs an employee. Even though the employee did nothing wrong.
Usually happens during period of falling sales or due to an economic recession
Employees of a business have legal right that must be protected, which includes:
Unfair discrimination at work/when applying
Health and safety
Unfair dismissal
Wage protection
What is internal communication?
communication between employees of the same business
What is external communication?
communication between the business and other businesses and individuals
Effective communication involves?
The transmitter/sender sending a message to pass on information
A medium of communication – the method for sending message (i.e. e-mail, phone, etc)
The message being sent to the receiver
The receiver confirming that the message has been received and responds to it (feedback)
What are the two types of communication
One-way communication – where the receiver cannot reply to the message (i.e. posters)
Two-way communication – where the receiver can respond to the message, could be just confirmation that message was received (e-mail)
What are the methods of communication?
Verbal methods
Written methods
Visual methods
Advantages of verbal methods
Information given out quickly & Efficient way to communicate with many people
Opportunity for immediate feedback
Message is reinforced by the speaker’s body language
Disadvantages of verbal methods
If talking to many people, it’s hard to tell whether everyone got the message
Not good for accurate messages and if a permanent record of the message is needed
Advantages of written methods
Message can be referred to in the future “hard evidence”
Easy to explain complicated messages
Can be copied and re-sent to many people
Disadvantages of written methods
Might lead to too many emails and ‘information overload’
Two-way communication is difficult
Hard to check if message has been received
Advantages of visual methods
Information presented in more appealing way, people will be more interested to
look at it
Can be used to make written messages clearer, to illustrate the point
Disadvantages of visual methods
No feedback and needs other methods of communication to go with it
Graphs and charts may be difficult for people to understand, message may be
misunderstood
Define communication barriers
Things that prevent efficient communication
What are communication barriers
Problems with the sender
Problems with the medium
Problems with the receiver
