Theme 1 - 1.4.4 - Motivation In Theory And Practise

Question 1

Whats the definition for motivation ?

Answer 1

Having motivated staff leads to greater productivity which means less wastage and higher profitability for a business

Question 2

Why is employee motivation important ?

Answer 2

Motivated employees are more:
- productive
- accurate
- analytical
- better at handling problems and customer complaints
- better at giving good customer service
- better at selling

Motivated staff become more loyal and reliable to the busniness and loyal staff are less likely to leave and this increases retention rates in the business - loyal staff also tend to take less time off which improves absenteeism rates - this reduces the cost of having to recruit and train new staff to replace those that leave or for hiring temporary staff to cover

Question 3

What are the 4 motivation theories ?

Answer 3

• Taylor ( scientific management )
• Mayo ( Human relations theory )
• Maslow ( Hierarchy of needs )
• Herzberg ( Two factor theory )

Question 4

What did Taylor believe in and what were the implications of Taylors theory for managing behaviour at work ?

Answer 4

• He belived in a ‘fair days pay for a fair days work’
• he also believed that employees would do the minimum amount of work if not supervised
• he carried out time and motion studies

The implications for managing behaviour at work were:
- The main form of motivation is high wages, higher wages equalled higher output
- A managers job is to tell the employees what to do
- a workers job is to do what they are told and get paid accordingly

Question 5

What did Mayo base his assumptions on ?

Answer 5

(1930) Mayo based his assumptions on research undertaken with workers at the Hawthorne factory of the Western Electric Company in Chicago

Question 6

What did mayo learn when he looked at motivation in the Hawthorne factory ?

Answer 6

• He changed the working conditions such as break times and duration of the ladies who worked in the relay assembly room at the factory
• Found that just by being studied - the employee’s levels of motivation increased
• Working in teams was more important than money
• Non-financial motivators were the most important
• Boring and repetitive work can be a demotivator

Question 7

What did Mayo find out when he studied the ladies of the relay assembly room ?

Answer 7

• Mayo stated that everything depends on how they see each other; the employees, managers, directors
• It’s about how well they communicate with each other
• It’s the recognition and appreciation that increase the internal job satisfaction of any person and as a result the overall productivity is increased
• The relay assembly production was not increased because of the environment it was the feeling of being recognised and appreciated plus more social interaction among the employees that caused the internal satisfaction and increased the productivity

Question 8

What did Mayo conclude from his experiments ?

Answer 8

Mayo concluded from his experiments that the concept the employees purely work to earn money and living is totally false.

Question 9

What are the pros on cons of the human relations theory ?

Answer 9

Pros:
- Encourages positive workplace relationships
- Considers the individual needs and wellbeing of employees
- Social factors help to increase employee: morale, retention, motivation and productivity

Cons:
- unscientific approach and original findings lack sufficient supportive evidence
- ignores the potential impact of conflict
- Oversimplifies human behaviour

Question 10

What was Maslow’s theory of Hierarchy of needs ?

Answer 10

• Maslow’s theory was that we all have a pyramid of needs.
• We start by meeting our needs at the bottom for example; food, water, shelter
• We then look for a secure job to meet our safety needs
• We then look for teamwork and a social job
• We then look for responsibility and promotion
• Then when all these needs are met we start to self actualise, which is where we reach our potential

Question 11

Whats the hierarchy of needs starting from the bottom ?

Answer 11

• Physiological needs - these are the basic needs, food, water, warmth
• Safety needs - roof over head, security, if employees think that they may be sacked for being sick and not coming in for work they will come into work and will likely be unproductive because their safety needs are not being met
• Love/belonging needs - feeling wanted, sense of belonging, part of a team
• Esteem needs - need for the respect of others, we seek recognition, honour, status. we seek the feeling of accomplishment
• Self actualisation - we only rise to this level of needs once we fulfilled all others - at this stage we are highly engaged in our work environment, accepting of our circumstances, inspiring others, problem solving. We are interested in educating ourselves and enriching activities and realising out potential

Question 12

What was Herzberg’s theory ?

Answer 12

His theory was that employees have motivating factors; interesting work, recognition and personal achievement, responsibility and scope to develop

He also found that there were hygiene factors which if not met would dissatisfy the employees, but if they were met did not motivate them any more than they were already. These were; good working conditions, pay, relationships with other employees

Question 13

Who did Herzberg interview ?

Answer 13

He interviewed accountants and engineers to find out what motivations them

Question 14

What can motivation methods be divided into ?

Answer 14

Motivation methods can be divided into finically and non-financial methods

Question 15

What are the 5 financial motivation methods ?

Answer 15

1. Piecework
2. Commission
3. Bonus
4. profit share
5. performance-related pay

Question 16

What is piece work ( financial motivation method ) ?

Answer 16

It is when employees are paid per finished item or unit - Also called ‘output workers’

Employers choose to pay either the minimum wage or a ‘fair piece rate’ based on the average times taken to complete the product

For e.g. the employee might be knitting gloves and he would get paid per glove knitted

Question 17

What are the advantages and disadvantages of piece work ?

Answer 17

Advantages:
√ Experienced and efficient workers can earn more
√ Incentive to complete the work
√ Employees may work more hours to get the job done
√ Home workers can start and finish when they want which means the work fits round a family

Disadvantages:
£ As workers speed up they may cut corners
£ Quality may suffer
£ Slower workers may fall under the national minimum wage

Question 18

What is commission ( financial motivation method ) ?

Answer 18

Salespeople may be paid commission only, or low basic salary and commission - OTE meaning ‘on target earnings’ and in a job advertisement shows the candidate the potential top earnings that can be made in the job

The commission may be paid a % of unit price or per unit sold

E.g. include - Estate agents, car sales people and financial advisers

Question 19

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Commission ?

Answer 19

Advantages:
√ Skilled salespeople can make very good money
√ Employer is not paying for down time when the employee is not selling
√ Motivates employees to sell more

Disadvantages:
£ Salespeople on commission only could earn no money at all
£ Not a steady income
£ Risky in a recession
£ Employees are selling rather than meeting needs of customers
£ Temptation to pressure sell or oversell

Question 20

What is a Bonus ( Financial motivation method ) ?

Answer 20

Bonus is a lump sum paid on the top of a salary or wages and this can be for:
- Sales - for meeting targets
- Performance - For meeting output or quality targets
- Christmas - as a yearly bonus

Question 21

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a bonus ?

Answer 21

Advantages:
• A bonus payment to an employee can be used as an incentive, especially in a field where employees must make sales or meet specific goals.
• A bonus payment can also be used as a means of appreciation for an employee’s hard work throughout the year or in a specified amount of time in the year.

Disadvantages:
• A cash bonus can be costly for any company, so a business may offer gift cards instead
• When an employee receives a bonus, it becomes part of his total income at the end of the year, the employee will also be paying taxes on the bonus they receive

Question 22

What is profit share ?

Answer 22

Employees may be paid an annual dividend based on the level of profits made by the firm

Employees keep costs down ( don’t overspend a budget ) to keep profits high

Employees become more loyal to the firm - because they feel like they are part of the team as they contribute to making the profit and therefore the business rewards them for having high profits

John Lewis pays dividends to employees - for e.g. they got 17% profit share on top of their wages

Question 23

What are the advantages and disadvantages of profit share?

Answer 23

Advantages:
• Brings employees together to work towards a common goal. Their sole aim will be the success of the company
• Motivation levels will be high and it encourages teamwork
• The employee focus will be on profitability
• Increases commitment to the organisation among the employees - loyalty
• Employee can identify with the company. He or she will feel part of it
• Bridges the gap between the employee and employer

Disadvantages:
• The salaries of the individual employees go up equally, not on the basis of merit or promotion, this does not necessarily motivate individuals
• The focus of the employee may be on the profit share rather than on quality customer service

Question 24

What is performance related pay ( financial motivation method ) ?

Answer 24

• A line manager sits with a worker in an appraisal and decides a set of criteria or objectives that the employee must fulfil. From this personal targets are set.

• Further appraisals will then determine how well the employee has done. For example:
• Excellent 10% bonus on pay
• Good 5% bonus on pay
• Satisfactory no bonus

Question 25

What are the advantages and disadvantages of performance related pay ?

Answer 25

Advantages:
•Advantage is there is a direct link between the performance of an employee and how much they are paid
•Easy for the business to rank their staff when look at who to promote

Disadvantages:
• Critics say it causes jealousy and unrest
• Those that don’t meet the targets blame the line manager and can become demotivated. Bonuses are often too low to act as an incentive to work towards targets

Question 26

What are the 8 non-financial methods ?

Answer 26

1. delegation
2. consultation
3. empowerment
4. team working
5. flexible working
6. job enrichment
7. job rotation
8. job enlargement

Question 27

What is delegation ( Non-financial motivation method ) ?

Answer 27

• This method of non-financial motivation involves allocating tasks to employees
• The manager or supervisor delegating needs to have the authority to delegate
• The manager can make a list of everything they do then divide up some of the tasks amongst subordinates

Question 28

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Delegation ?

Answer 28

Advantages:
- Gives managers self confidence, empowers managers to make decisions and allocate tasks to the most appropriate member of staff - empowers the staff as they feel like they are trusted with a task and that they are the most appropriate staff for the task

• Makes sure the teams potential is maximised as different staff do different tasks that they are good at
• Builds trust between the manager and the employees

Disadvantages:
- Managers sometimes allocate tasks when overloaded with work and not when they want to motivate an employee

• Managers may not always choose the most suitable employee to delegate to - give work to - they might choose an employee that is not fit for the job

Question 29

What is consultation ? ( non financial method of motivation )

Answer 29

This method of non-financial motivation involves giving employees a chance to be part of the decision making process

This will involve employees in discussions with management on topics such as how to improve productivity, cut costs or problem solve

By law a business has to consult with their employees:
- health and safety issues
- changes to the contract of employment
- redundancies
- changes to pension schemes

Question 30

What are the advantages and disadvantages of consultation ?

Answer 30

Advantages:
• Effective consultation can help avoid any minor issues in the business becoming larger e.g. lack of air conditioning
• Consultation can help avoid a union action - a strike
• Consultation can help the employees feel motivated as their views are asked for on certain matters
• Quality circles are a useful way to motivate workers in a production environment

Disadvantages:

• Employees may not know what it needs to run a successful business, keeping costs low

• Employees may come up with grudges against the company or amongst themselves

Question 31

What is empowerment ?

Answer 31

This method of non-financial motivation involves allowing employees more authority to delegate tasks to others

This means that the person most suitable to make the decision gets the responsibility of taking it and can be held accountable for it - it also means that the employees are more free and are able to make more decisions about their day-to-day roles so they feel more empowered

Question 32

What are the advantages and disadvantages of empowerment ?

Answer 32

Advantages:
• Staff that are recognised for their ability, trusted and given control over decisions, therefore are less frustrated with the business and have increased productivity levels
• Empowered employees are close to issues and problems, may be more effective at problems solving at that level
• Great involvement means greater loyalty to the business

Disadvantages:
• Sometimes regarded as a cost cutting, a way of delayering, making management redundancies, makes managers insecure and has an associated cost of training
• Some see this as giving employees more to do for the same pay, so that mangers can be made redundant
• Lack of experience in the job can increase risk of mistakes being made

Question 33

What is team working ? ( non-financial method of motivation )

Answer 33

-This method of non financial motivation involves grouping employees to work in teams

• Team work is becoming m,ore common in a variety of work settings
• Through collaboration and discussion a team can often produce a better product or solution than an individual working on their own - because the members of the group all motivate each other to do better etc

Question 34

What are the advantages and disadvantages of team working ?

Answer 34

Advantages:

• Team working means pooled talents,
• Individuals can specialise,
• shared responsibility,
• Fresh business ideas can be gained through brainstorming sessions, making the business more innovative
• Well managed work-place teams can produce better results
• Peer pressure in the group can help to keep motivation levels high

Disadvantages:
• Tensions can occur, not everyone gets along, teams suffer from too many meetings, a team is not the solution to every problem
• sometimes an individual approach would be better

Question 35

What is flexible working ( flexitime ) ? ( method of motivation - non-financial )

Answer 35

• This method of non-financial motivation involves offering a variety of working patterns so that employees can achieve a work life balance

• These may include; part-time, homeworking, term time only, job share and flexible start and finish times with a core of worked times

So basically you motivate employees by giving them a more flexible workplace and this encourages productivity levels during the times that the employees have to work and this is because they will have a better attitude to work as they have a more flexible timetable etc

Question 36

What are the advantages and disadvantages of flexible working ?

Answer 36

Advantages:
• Greater cost effectiveness and efficiency, such as savings on overheads when employees work from home or less downtime for machinery when 24-hour shifts are worked
• The chance to have extended operating hours
• More job satisfaction and better staff motivation
• Reduced levels of sickness absence as people have a better motivation / attitude to work

Disadvantages:
• It can be difficult to to fit shifts and schedules to suit everyone
• Some staff may take advantage of the flexible system and not work as hard or when they should e.g. working from home the temptation may be to do something else - which decreases the business revenue etc

Question 37

What is job enrichment - non-financial method of motivation ?

Answer 37

• This method of non-financial motivation involves giving the employee a greater variety of tasks of a higher responsibility

• This means the job may be redesigned so that it is more challenging and less repetitive

• For example an employee may be responsible for; planning a task, quality, ordering materials, scheduling activities

job enrichment often means giving employees more responsibility, allowing them to make more decisions and enabling them to have more of a say in how they complete their role and this would empower them and make them more motivated and this would increase the work ethic and the productivity of the employees and this makes the busniess more revenue

Question 38

What is job rotation - non-financial method of motivation ?

Answer 38

• This method of non-financial motivation involves moving employees from one task to another
• This means that staff can be trained in a variety of skills, so can be better utilised when there are shortages
• This is most common on a production line or in a factory

Therefore the employee has more variety on what they will do on their day to day job therefore they will have a better attitude towards the job and work better

Question 39

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Job rotation ?

Answer 39

Advantages:
• Advantage is the business gets multi-skilled employees who can carry out more than one task
• The job can be less monotonous and boring for the employees, reducing labour turnover rates - meaning the amount of people that leave the job
• It is an easy and cost effective way to motivate employees and improve productivity

Disadvantages:
• Convincing employees that job rotation is a good thing can be a time consuming process, they may be unwilling to leave a job they know well or work with a different team
• It also takes time for employees to learn the new skills and get up to speed - this means that the business spends money on employee training which means that more people have to give up their jobs to train the employees or they will have to hire an external teacher which also costs a lot and means lower revenue to the business

Question 40

What is job enlargement non-financial method of motivation ?

Answer 40

• This method of non-financial motivation involves giving an employee more tasks of the same level of responsibility
• This is designed to prevent the employee from getting bored and to expand the scope of their job at the same level (horizontal)
• This can improve motivation levels as it can give the employee more interesting and varied tasks

Question 41

What are the advantages and disadvantages of job enlargement ?

Answer 41

Advantages:
• This method can make the job less boring, less repetitive, and can get the maximum use out of an employee e.g. administrator given some recruitment tasks such as shortlisting candidates
• Employee productivity may be improved
• Improves employee retention and absenteeism - which means avoided costs as the business wont have to by supply workers to replace the absent employees

Disadvantages:
• May be seen as more of the same if the employee regards it as just more tasks to get done in a working day
• Needs to be linked to a clear career progression to make sense to the employee -otherwise the employees can get less motivated and make them more likely to leave or work less / less productive