1.4.4 Motivation In Theory And Practice Flashcards
(15 cards)
What is motivation and what are the types of motivation?
- motivation refers to the inner desire or willingness that propels a person to take action and achieve a specific goal or outcome
- Intrinsic motivation = comes from within a person
- Extrinsic motivation = comes from external factors
- The impact of motivation on productivity.
- Motivated employees and more productive and efficient, as they are more likely to be engaged in their work and taking initiative to meet or exceeded their goals
- They will generate higher levels of output and quality
- Increased productivity results in higher profits for the business
- The impact of motivation on the reliability of workers.
- Motivated employees are more likely to be reliable and dependable
- They take pride in their job, show up on time, meet deadlines, and take fewer sick days
- This leads to increased trust between the business and its employees and higher productivity
- The impact of motivation on turnover rates
- Motivated employees and more likely to stay with the company long-term, which reduces the turnover rate
- Lower turnover rates reduce the need for costly recruitment and training
Motivation theories: Taylor’s scientific management
- Developed in the early 20th century
- It focuses on breaking down complex tasks into simpler ones, standardising work processes, and providing workers with clear instructions and training to achieve a maximum efficiency
- Many manufacturing businesses use tailors principles to structure their staff benefits
- Study and analyse the work process.
- Carefully analyse each step of the work process and breakdown complex tasks into simpler ones and identify the most efficient and effective way to perform each task - Standardise the work process.
- This involves creating detailed procedures and instructions for each task so that workers can follow these procedures consistently - Select and train the workers.
- Worker should be carefully selected based on their skills and abilities
- Train workers to perform their task efficiently and effectively this training includes both technical skills and the proper attitudes and behaviour is required to be successful - Provide incentives for performance.
- Scientific management emphasises the useful incentives to motivate workers, which may include bonuses or piece rate pay
Ways in which businesses use Taylors scientific management and the advantages and disadvantages of the theory
How its used:
- Work as a train to perform only one task, which they become a very skilled at
- Workers are usually only paid for the completed work (piece rate pay)
Advantages:
- Increased efficiency, which lowers costs
- Standardised procedures for work processes that everyone follows can help produce errors and inconsistencies
- Specialisation of labour leads to greater efficiency and productivity
- Clear hierarchy in line authority can lead to more efficient decision-making and communication
- Improved to training and development can lead to better performance and job satisfaction
Disadvantages:
- Over emphasis on efficiency reduces worker satisfaction and creativity
- Workers may disengage from work if they reduced to working in a machine like system
- Limited applicability as this approach may not work for roles that require high levels of creativity, problem-solving, or interpersonal skills
- Potential for exploitation this approach may be used to extract more work from workers without compensating them fairly
Motivation theories: mayo’s human relations theory
- Developed in the 1930s
- It focuses on the importance of social factors in the workplace, including communication, motivation, and job satisfaction
- Mayo suggests that the key to improving productivity and job satisfaction lies and understanding and improving their relationships between workers, supervisors, and management
Ways in which businesses use mayo’s human relations theory and the advantages and disadvantages of it
How businesses use it:
- Empowering employees in decision-making
- Teambuilding activities are used to build relationships
- Providing feedback and recognition to employees
- Creating a positive work environment by promoting open communication and providing support to employees
- Encouraging employee development by offering training programs, mentorship opportunities, and career advancement paths
Advantages:
- Improved job satisfaction
- Increased productivity as workers feel valued and supported
- Better communication as workers value open and honest communication, which reduces misunderstandings and conflicts
- Employee empowerment increases workers sense of ownership and responsibility
- Stronger teams as there is a sense of community and team spirit
Disadvantages:
- time-consuming as building positive relationships requires time and effort
- Lack of control as workers take more decisions
- Resistance to change, as some workers and managers may be resistant to the changes required by this theory
- Potential for conflict as a attempts to build stronger relationships can also lead to conflict and disagreements
- Limited applicability as it may not work for businesses which require a high degree of individual autonomy and independent
Motivation theories: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
- It is a theory of human motivation that outlines five tears of human needs that must be met for individuals to reach their full potential
- Psychological needs.
- Including breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, excretion
- Businesses can provide necessities for their employees - Safety needs.
- Including security of body, of employment, of resources, of morality, of the family, of health, of property
- Businesses can provide job security, fair pay, benefits, and safety working conditions for their employees - Love and belonging needs.
- Including friendship, family, love
- Businesses can encourage teamwork and generate a sense of community within the workplace - Esteem needs.
- Including self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by other others
- Businesses can provide recognition for employees accomplishments and provide a positive work culture that values individual contributions - Self actualisation needs.
- Including morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem-solving, lack of prejudice, acceptance of facts
- Businesses can help employees achieve this by offering opportunities for employees to pursue their passions and interests
Advantages and disadvantages of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Advantages:
- Higher employee satisfaction: by meeting the needs of employees, businesses can create a more satisfying working environment, which can lead to increase productivity and lower turnover rates
- Increased motivation: businesses motivate their employees by offering incentives that align with their specific needs and desires
- Improved employee performance: employees who feel valued and supported by the employers are more likely to perform at a higher level
Disadvantages:
- One size does not fit all: businesses need to tailor their approach to meet the individual needs of their employees
- Expensive: meeting many individual needs can be costly, especially when offering perks such as the use of a company car
- Time-consuming: requires significant effort from management to connect individually to understand which opportunities for personal growth are desired
Motivation theories: Herzberg’s two factor theory
- The theory suggests that there are two types of factors that affect employee motivation and job satisfaction
- Hygiene factors elements that do not necessarily lead to job satisfaction, but their absence can cause dissatisfaction, which decreases motivation
- Motivators are elements that lead to job satisfaction and motivation
Hygiene factors:
- Working conditions
- Coworker relations
- Policies and rules
- Supervisor quality
- Base wage, salary
Motivator factors :
- Achievement
- Recognition
- Responsibility
- Work itself
- Advancement
- Personal growth
How businesses can use hygiene factors to decrease dissatisfaction
- Pay fair wages and salaries: if an employee is not paid a fair wage for their work, they may become dissatisfied and demotivated
- Offer excellent working conditions: if the workplace is dirty, unsafe, or uncomfortable, employees may become dissatisfied and demotivated
- Offer employment contracts which provide job security: if employees feel that their job is not secure, they may become anxious and demotivated and contribute less to the business goals
How businesses can use motivate factors to increase satisfaction
- Build a recognition and reward culture: when employees are recognised and rewarded for their hard work, they are motivated to continue performing well
- Offer opportunities for growth and development: when employees are given opportunities to learn new skills and advanced in Nares, they are motivated to continue working for the company
- Provide challenging work which requires problem-solving: when employees are given challenging work that allows them to use their skills and abilities, they are motivated to continue performing well
Financial incentives to improve performance
- Financial incentives are rewards or payments given to employees in return for their labour or improved performance
- Peace Work. (Taylor’s scientific management.)
- Employees are paid according to the number of units or pieces they produce
- Commonly used in manufacturing or assembly line settings and encourages workers to produce more and increase their output - Commission. (Hygiene factor in Herzberg’s theory and connects to esteem needs in Maslow’s hierarchy.)
- A percentage of sales revenue paid to workers who sell products or services
- Commonly used in sales roles and motivate staff to sell more and increase their sales revenue - Bonus. (Connects to esteem needs in Maslow’s hierarchy and Herzberg’s theory believed that bonuses as the main form of payment would negatively influence individual behaviour in the workplace)
- An additional payment is given to staff as a reward for achieving specific goals, completing projects on time, or exceeding performance expectations
- Motivate start to work harder and achieve better results - Profit share. (Motivator in Herzberg’s theory.)
- A portion of the companies profits are distributed among staff, which encourages them to think like owners, work collaboratively and focus on the companies overall goals - Performance related pay. (Hygiene factor in Herzberg’s theory.)
- Staff paid based on their performance, which theoretically motivate staff to work harder and achieve better results
- This form of payment has been severely criticised as discriminatory and open to abuse bye managers
Non-financial incentives to improve performance
- non-financial incentives are rewards or motivators not directly related to money
- Delegation (Maslow’s esteem needs and a motivator in Herzberg’s theory.)
- It involves transferring responsibility from a manager to their staff
- Gives employees a sense of ownership and control over their work, which can lead to improved productivity - Consultation. (Maslow’s esteem needs.)
- It involves seeking the input of staff on decisions that affect their work
- This inclusion can increase staff engagement and commitment, leading to improve productivity - Empowerment. (Maslow’s esteem needs and a motivator in Herzberg’s theory.)
- It involves giving staff the authority resources to make decisions and take action without first receiving management approval
- Increases staff sense of ownership and responsibility, leading to improve productivity - Team working. (Mayo theory)
- Involves creating opportunities for staff to work collaboratively
- Staff can share ideas and expertise, leading to improve productivity and innovation - Flexible working. (Maslow’s self actualisation needs and a motivator in Herzberg’s theory.)
- Involves providing staff with the option to work remotely or to adjust their hours to suit their lifestyle
- Can increase staff satisfaction and work life balance, leading to improve productivity and reduce to turnover rates - Job enrichment (mayo theory and a motivator in Herzberg’s theory.)
- Involves adding more challenging or meaningful task to a job
- Staff film of motivated and engaged, leading to improved productivity - Job rotation. (Motivator in Herzberg’s theory.)
- involves moving staff between different roles in the business
- Expose the staff new challenges and experiences, which can increase motivation, understanding and skill - Job enlargement. (Mayo theory and a motivator in Herzberg’s theory).
- involves expanding staff job duties to include additional task and responsibilities
- Engaging with a variety of task and increase motivation and job satisfaction, leading to improved productivity
