Section 2.6 Motivating Employees Flashcards
What is motivation?
The factors that influence the behaviour of employees towards achieving set business goals
What are some factors that influence motivation at work?
- Job security
- Status
- Responsibility
- Promotion
- Money
- Fringe benefits
- Friendship
- Training
- Clean and safe workplace
- Variety of task
ect. ..
What are the benefits of having a well-motivated staff?
- Improved productivity
- More competitive
- Better quality products/ services
- Low rate of labour turnover
- Low rate of absenteeism
What does labour productivity mean?
A measure of the efficiency of employees by calculating the output per employee
What does absenteeism mean?
Employees’ non-attendance at work without good reason
What does labour turnover mean?
The rate at which employees leave a business
What is Maslow’s Theory of Motivation?
It is a theory that identifies the main needs of humans. It includes: Step 1: Basic Needs Step 2: Safety Needs Step 3: Social Needs Step 4: Self-esteem Step 5: Self realisation
Give examples for each step on Maslow’s Theory of Motivation.
Step 1: Basic Needs - Air, Food, Shelter
Step 2: Safety Needs - Shelter, safe from physical danger, job security
Step 3: Social Needs - Love, Acceptance, To be part of a group
Step 4: Self-Esteem - To stand out, Being unique/ special
Step 5: Self Realisation - Fully motivated (promotion, Bonus)
What is Taylor’s scientific management theory?
Taylor believes that people are motivated by money alone. This is known as the theory of the economic man.
What is the theory of economic man?
The view that humans are motivated only by money
What is piece-rate?
Paying employees for each unit produced
What is Fredrick Herzberg’s two factor theory?
According to Herzberg, there are some job factors that result in satisfaction (motivators) while there are other job factors that prevent dissatisfaction (hygiene factors).
What are some examples of hygiene factors?
- Working conditions
- Relationships with others
- Salary or wage
- Supervision
- Company policy and administration
What are some examples of motivators?
- The work itself
- Responsibility
- Advancement
- Achievement
- Recognition of achievement
What does working conditions mean? (hygiene factors)
How clean and safe the workplace is and what facilities are provided to the employees
What does relationships with other mean? (hygiene factors)
Friendships with other employees
Good relationship with managers
What does supervision mean? (hygiene factors)
The importance of leadership style and how closely employees are supervised
What does company policy and administration mean? (hygiene factors)
Rules and procedures which control and affect the way that employees work and their relationships with other in the workplace
What does ‘the work itself’ mean? (motivators)
The tasks that employees so are an important influence on their motivation. The tasks must be varied and challenging
What does responsibility mean? (motivators)
Giving employees more responsibility for the tasks they perform shows them that they are trusted and valued
What does advancements mean? (motivators)
Employees have the opportunity for promotion
What does achievement mean? (motivators)
Employees need to feel that they have reached challenging goals
What does recognition of achievement mean? (motivators)
Employees need to have their achievements recognised by management and the other people they work with
What are the two types of rewards given to employees?
Financial rewards and non-financial rewards
What are financial rewards?
Cash and non-cash rewards paid to employees which are often used to motivate employees to increase their efforts
What are non-financial rewards?
Methods used to motivate employees that do not involve giving any financial rewards
Examples of financial rewards.
- Hourly wage rate
- Salary
- Piece-rate
- Commision
- Bonus schemes
- Fringe benefits
- Profit sharing
Examples of non-financial rewards.
- Job rotations
- Job enlargement
- Job enrichment
- Quality circles
- Team working
- Delegation
What is hourly wage rate and what type of reward is it (financial or non-financial)?
A payment to employees based on a fixed amount for each hour (financial reward)
What is quality circle and what type of reward is it (financial or non-financial)?
Groups of employees who meet regularly to discuss work-related problems (non-financial reward)
What is team working and what type of reward is it (financial or non-financial)?
Organising production so that groups of employees complete the whole unit of work (non-financial reward)
What is profit sharing and what type of reward is it (financial or non-financial)?
An additional payment to employees based on the profits of the business (financial reward)
What is delegation and what type of reward is it (financial or non-financial)?
Passing responsibility to perform tasks to employees lower down in the organisation (non-financial reward)
What is salary and what type of reward is it (financial or non-financial)?
A fixed annual payment to certain grades and types of staff not based on hours worked or output (financial reward)
What are fringe benefits and what type of reward is it (financial or non-financial)?
Non-cash rewards often used to recruit or retains employees and to recognise the status of certain employees (financial rewards)
What is job enrichment and what type of reward is it (financial or non-financial)?
Organising work so that employees are encouraged to use their full abilities (non-financial rewards)
What is piece-rate and what type of reward is it (financial or non-financial)?
A payment to employees based on the number of units produced (financial reward)
What is commision and what type of reward is it (financial or non-financial)?
A payment to sales staff based on the values of the items they sell (financial rewards)
What is job rotation and what type of reward is it (financial or non-financial)?
Increasing variety in the workplace by allowing employees to switch from one task to another (non-financial rewards)
What is bonus scheme and what type of reward is it (financial or non-financial)?
An additional reward paid to employees for achieving targets set by managers (financial reward)
What is job enlargement and what type of reward is it (financial or non-financial)?
Increasing or widening tasks to increase variety for employees (non-financial reward)
