Unit 2.1 - motivating workers Flashcards
Explain Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
- Believed people are motivated by having their needs met. Said needs are sorted into a hierarchy based on their importance.
- For example, first and foremost people initially work to earn enough money to satisfy their physiological needs (foods, clothes, etc). Once this is satisfied, people are motivated by the competition of their needs, such as job security.
What are the 5 layers of Maslow’s hierarchy (starting from most important).
- Physiological needs - anything needed for survival or daily function such as food, water, clothing, etc.
- Safety needs - anything that provides safety and security, such as job security, health and safety laws, money?
- Social/belonging needs - anything that allows people to socialise and form bonds.
- Esteem needs - anything that allows people to find respect and achievement through the recognition of others or themselves
- Self-actualisation - anything that allows people to fulfill their potential through achieving their personal goals.
Explain the benefits of Maslow’s hierarchy
- It is simple and easy to understand because most people can relate to it
- It can be applied across a variety of different jobs/industries, because most employees want the same things (pay, job security, etc.)
Explain the limitations of Maslow’s hierarchy
- It assumes that all needs have to be met in this order, which is not true
- Cultural differences between different countries might affect the needs of employees
Explain Taylor’s theory of scientific management
Taylor’s theory suggests that labour productivity would improve if:
-production was split into small, simple segments (through division of labor)
-each employee specialized in a particular task
Employees are only motivated by money, so they should be rewarded when meeting production targets. The extra output the employees produced would be more than the extra pay they received, thus making average costs lower and profits higher.
State 3 benefits of Taylor’s theory
- It reduces cost of production because the fixed costs are spread over a wider number of units produced
- Employees are motivated to work harder due to the possibility of getting payed more
- Fewer resources are wasted because employees make fewer mistakes (due ti them being specialized in a particular task which is repeated over and over again)
State 3 limitations of Taylor’s theory
- It assumes that all employees are only motivated by money, which is not always true
- If employees output is not measurable, it is difficult to see if increased pay is motivating them/leading to higher levels of productivity
- The process of breaking up a job into specialized tasks can be repetitive and boring
- Cannot measure manager’s productivity and is most suitable for those who produce goods
Explain Herzberg’s two factor theory
Herzberg believed that all factors linked to a motivated workforce can be split into 2 groups:
- Hygiene factors are necessities such as pay and adequate working conditions. These factors will demotivate the workforce and lower labour productivity if they aren’t present. However, they do not increase motivation if they are increased
- Motivation factors such as meaningful work, potential for promotion, recognition, good management, etc will improve motivation and labour productivity if they are increased.
He also assumes that people are not motivated by money, but are motivated by promotion
State 3 benefits of the two factor theory
- More flexible than Taylor’s theory because a wider range of factors is considered
- It is simple to understand and easy for managers to use
- Recognizes that different people are motivated by different factors
State three limitations of the two factor theory
- It assumes that money doesn’t motivate people, which is not always true
- Does not take into account that factors which motivate employees can change over time
- Assumes that all employees are ambitious for promotion, which is not true
Why do people work?
People are motivated to work by a verity of financial and non-financial factors. Those include:
-Pay (people will work to earn money to live on)
- Security (financial)
- Belonging (they are able to form friendships and share ideas)
- Personal development (learning new skills, chance to prove themselves by taking extra responsibility through promotion)
- Recognition (positive feedback from managers can help raise their self esteem)
What is industrial action?
Action taken by employees to reduce the productivity of a business (e.g. strikes) usually to gain some improvement such as higher pay
What makes a job satisfying?
Opportunities for promotion
Job security
Job status
Good relationships with colleagues
Bonus payments in recognition for good work
Good wages & other benefits (e.g. company car)
Regular feedback on performance
A safe and clean working environment
Generous holiday entitlement
Training opportunities
What are wages?
A form of financial reward; the amount of money payed to employees based on amount of work produced.
There are 2 types of wages - time-based rate (employees receive a fixed amount of money for each hour they work)
- Piece-based rate (employees are paid based on how many units of output they produce.
Benefits:
- more efficient for business, as employees are only paid for time spent working
- lowered business costs, as employees paid by wages usually earn less than those on a salary
Limitations:
- employees may stress about losing jobs if output falls
- quality of output may be compromised in order to produce goods faster
What are 5 benefits of a well motivated workforce?
- Improved productivity - employees are wiling to work harder if they are motivated. This will likely cause their output to increase, which will result in lower cost of producing good and increase the profit for the business
- Reduced absenteeism - if employees are happy at work, they are unlikely to take unjustified time off. Higher attendance will result in higher productivity.
- Business reputation - motivated employees can give the business a good reputation as a good employer. This will attract better/highly skilled employees who are more productive, need less training and bring fresh ideas
- Reduced labour turnover - means the number of people who leave the organisation each year. If employees are unmotivated and unhappy, they are more likely to leave which will result in the business having to pay recruitment costs to replace them
- Improved workforce relations - motivated employees are less likely to cause industrial action, such as strikes, which can often lead to dissatisfied customers and loss of potential customers to competition
What are financial rewards?
Any payments of money made by an employer to an employee in exchange for their labour.
What is a salary?
A form of financial reward; a fixed amount of money that is paid to an employee every year. The employee is usually paid each month.
Benefits:
- employees feel that they are less likely to be dismissed than those on a wage
- easier to manage for business, as each employee is payed a fixed cost, therefore business can easily work out what their cost will be
Limitations:
- employees lose incentive to produce more output as they are on a fixed pay
- employees often work longer hours than wage workers, due to higher difficulty of their job
What is a bonus?
A form of financial reward; an amount of money paid to an employee in addition to their wage/salary, usually as a reward for good performance.
Benefits:
- employees are motivated to work harder to earn bonus
- the business’s reputation of rewarding good performance will attract highly skilled employees
Limitations:
- targets set to get bonus may be unrealistic
- if employees are given a fixed time to receive a bonus, motivation may fall once target has been achieved
What is a commission?
A form of financial reward; a payment given to salespeople, where they receive a percentage of the value of the goods they sell.
Benefits:
- employees are more motivated to sell because their pay is linked directly t their productivity
- managers will be able to easily assess the performance of salespeople
Limitations:
- salespeople may feel like they will lose their job if sales are to low
- salespeople may use aggressive sales methods to get customers to buy, which will damage the business’s brand
What are fringe benefits?
Benefits that employees receive in addition to their salary. Also known as perks. Not cash payments, but may take the form of: company car, extra holiday time, pension schemes, free health insurance, free training, etc.
Benefits:
- attracts more highly skilled employees
- employees who are given health-related benefits are less likely to take time off
Limitations:
- these benefits generate additional costs
- the time spent organizing the perks could be spent increasing output/productivity, creating an opportunity cost
What is a net earning?
The take home pay of an employee after income taxes, pension contributions and trade union subscriptions have been deducted from gross earnings
What is a profit sharing scheme?
Where employees receive an additional payment to their wage/salary when the business they are working for makes a profit
Benefits:
- employees are more willing to accept manager decisions because they want the additional payment
- likely to attract highly skilled employees
Limitations:
- profit paid to shareholders is reduced
- employees may see the scheme as unfair is profits are distributed equally and not based on effort/contribution
What is job design?
The process through which employees can be motivated that does not involve giving them a financial reward.
What is job rotation?
a non-financial reward/motivator; employees are moved from one task to another for a short period of time in order for them to experience more variety in their work.
Benefits:
- reduces boredom
- makes employees more flexible by letting them develop new skills
Limitations:
- only works in the short term as it can become repetitive
- some employees may not want to change jobs
What is job enlargement?
a non-financial reward/motivator; employees are given a wider range of tasks to complete at the same level of work.
Benefits:
- employees get variety of skills, making them more flexible
- employees handle a wider range of tasks, lowering wage costs for business
Limitations:
- employees may require additional training, increase costs
- employees need to adjust to their new roles, reducing productivity in the short term
What is job enrichment?
a non-financial reward/motivator; employees are given a wider range of tasks at different levels, which offers more challenges and responsibility
Benefits:
- improve’s employees self-esteem as they are given work which develops their skills and interests
- reduces rate of labour turnover and absenteeism
Limitations:
- Not all employees are interested in moving to the next stage
- Can be difficult to make some jobs more challenging
What is teamwork in business?
When a business organises their employees into teams and gives them the responsibility of completing a specific task. Some do this under
instruction or supervision (working groups) while others do it unsupervised (autonomous working groups)
Benefits:
- encourages employees to mix socially and form friendship groups
- encourages employees to share ideas and experiences, improving efficiency
Limitations:
- could result in conflict between team members
- could allow employees to resist changes the management want to implement
State the benefits and limitations of opportunities for promotion
Benefits:
- allows employees to learn new skills, developing flexibility
- employees feel their efforts have been recognized and their work adds value to the business
Limitations:
- limited number of promotion opportunities are available in many businesses
- giving promotion results in higher wage costs for the business
- assumes that all employees are motivated by promotion, which is not true
Which factors are important to consider when choosing a method of motivation?
- Type of job role
- The employees
- Impact on efficiency
- External pressure
What is employee share owndership?
Rewarding employees with shares in the ownership of the company they work for
