Untis 10: Human Needs And Rewards & 11: The workforce

Question 0

Describe the 5 stages of the Maslow’s hierarchy

Answer 0

Physiological needs - life essentials such as food, clothing and shelter.
Safety and security needs - in order to be in the safe environment, also to be able to pay medical fees and so on.
Love and social needs - to be able to give and receive love and friendship. Companionship and socialising with employees.
Esteem needs - to satisfy the desire of self respect and respect of others. To be recognised as an individual and have a status or a title in the society.
Self-actualisation needs - to develop skills and achieve full potential as individuals.

Question 1

What is the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? Name the 5 stages from bottom to the top.

Answer 1

Physiological needs
Safety and security needs
Love needs
Esteem needs
Self-actualisation needs

Question 2

Name 7 payment systems

Answer 2

Flat rate
Time rate
Piece rate
Bonus
Commission
Performance rate
Profit share

Question 3

Explain 7 payment rates and their key benefits

Answer 3

Flat rate - a set rate of pay (a certain amount for a certain period of time). Easy to calculate, cheap to run.
Time rate - the longer the person works, the more pay they get. (If they work overtime - they get paid more). Good way to encourage employees to work longer.
Piece rate- the more pieces the employee produces, the higher the pay. Acts as an incentive to employees to produce higher levels of output.
Bonus- rewards for high performance, targeted at higher formers.
Commission - a payment made as a percentage of the sales a salesperson makes.
Performance rate- encouraging high performance.
Profit sharing - the workers get payed a share of the profit. Enables them to see the direct link between their efforts and company profits.

Question 4

Name examples of fringe benefits for each Maslow’s hierarchy stage

Answer 4

Physiological needs - provident shelter. Subsidised canteen meals.
Safety and security needs - insurance and health care benefits.
Love needs - sports club or social activities that provides the environment for socialising
Esteem needs- company cars, laptop computers and other status items.
Self-actualisation needs - the company pays for employees to go training and development courses to master their line of work

Question 5

The importance of motivation to a business

Answer 5

Motivated employees work harder.
They feel proud to work for their employer.
When they come in contact with the customers, they are mire likely to be more positive and present the company in a better way.

Question 6

Name 4 factors that influence motivation. Explain

Answer 6

Job satisfaction: by improving the environment they work in, encouragements from work tasks, suitable rewards, feelings of being treated fairly, good relationship with colleagues.
Job rotation: moving the employees around a range of works.
Job enrichment: adding more tasks of the same difficulty to the job
Job enlargement: making the tasks more difficult on the job

Question 7

Name the main 3 management styles and explain

Answer 7

Autocratic: the manager makes all the decisions with no contribution of the employees. It is tightly controlled, the manager provides clear instructions.
Democratic: the decisions are made after considering everyone’s ideas (consultation)
Laissez-faire: loose management style. The manager gives vague guidelines and objectives, but then leave the staff to carry out the tasks themselves.

Question 8

Advantages and disadvantages of the 3 management styles:

Answer 8

Autocratic:
-ad: rapid decision making. Good for armed force, fire and other emergency services.
-dis: can lead to dissatisfaction. Motivation can drop.
Democratic:
-ad: make use of many ideas. Involves consultation about decision making.
-dis: can be slow in making decisions. May lead to disagreement and arguments.
Laissez-faire:
-ad: employees have freedom to manage their own work within given guidelines.
-dis: lack of clarity lead to low motivation and disagreement.

Question 9

What are the two types of recruitment?

Answer 9

Internal and External

Question 10

Explain the difference between the two types of recruitment

Answer 10

Internal means employing someone already working for the organisation (promotion).
External means appointing someone from outside the organisation.

Question 11

Advantages of internal recruitment

Answer 11

There is less risk because the employer already knows the person and their capabilities.
The cost of advertising is saved, so the process is cheaper.
The opportunity for promotion within the organisation encourages people to work hard.
Induction costs are saved.

Question 12

Advantages of external recruitment

Answer 12

New ideas are brought into the organisation from outside.
Advertising externally may reach more widely into the business community.
Internal jealousies are avoided from promotion.

Question 13

What is the job description?

Answer 13

A clear description of what the job entails

Question 14

What is the person specification?

Answer 14

Sets out the skills, characteristics and attributes needed for a particular job.

Question 15

What are the two main types of training and explain

Answer 15

On the job: workplace based- learning while you are working

Off the job: learning away from the immediate job environment - for example, learning at a training centre or University

Question 16

What are the main purposes of training? And explain

Answer 16

• Induction: to introduce an employee to a new job and to the company and/or workplace.
• Understanding the job requirements: initial training should focus on making sure that an employee is able to fulfil the basic requirements of the job.
• Development of job skills: specialist skills will need to be developed to enable an employee to do the job well.
• Broadening knowledge of the business: the more trainees know about the wider activities of the business and the nature of its work, the more they will be able to help the organisation meet its objectives.
• Changing attitudes and skills: organisations frequently have to make changes. Training needs to be designed to help individuals adapt to new attitudes which move the organisation forward.

Question 17

What is dismissal? Why does it happen?

Answer 17

Dismissal occurs when employer terminates a worker’s employment contract. Employees can be dismissed for poor timekeeping, stealing, bullying, harassments.

Question 18

What is redundancy?

Answer 18

Redundancy occurs when a job role is no longer required, the person in that role therefore loses their job.
The employers have to offer redundancy payment (related to how long the employee has worked for a company).

Question 19

Why do redundancies occur? (2)

Answer 19

Focus:When a business reduces its labour force in order to focus the business on what it does best, if doing too many things does not bring good performance.
Automation: when machinery takes over work carried out by people