2.4 Motivation

Question 1

Motivation

Answer 1

The intrinsic and extrinsic factors that stimulate people to take actions that lead to achieving a goal

Question 2

Extrinsic motivation

Answer 2

Comes from external rewards associated with working on a task, for example pay and other benefits

Question 3

Intrinsic motivation

Answer 3

Comes from the satisfaction derived from working on and completing a task

Question 4

Indicators of poor staff motivation

Answer 4

Absenteeism

Lateness

Poor performance

Accidents

Labour turnover

Grievances

Poor response rate

Question 5

What are the 5 motivation theories?

Answer 5

Taylor’s scientific management

Maslow’ hierarchy of human needs

Herzberg’s two factor theory

Adams’ equity theory

Pink’s theory

Question 6

What was Taylor’s principle factor in motivation?

Answer 6

Workers are motivated by cash

Productivity can be improved by relating output/productivity to pay

Known as ‘economic man’

Question 7

What were Taylor’s seven steps to improve worker productivity?

Answer 7

Select workers for a task

Observe them performing the task and not the key elements of it

Record the time taken to do each part of the task

Identify the quickest method recorded

Train all workers in the quickest method and do not allow them to make any changes to it

Supervise workers to ensure that it is being carried out

Pay workers based on the results

Question 8

Taylor’s piece rate

Answer 8

Paying workers a certain amount for each unit produced

Encourages high output

Question 9

Limitations of Taylor’s theory

Answer 9

Ignored non-financial motivators

Non-physical contribution may not be quantified

Repetitive and monotonous work – job dissatisfaction

Quality may not be as good

Workers will vary output depending on their economic need

Not accept change in case of losing money

Very autocratic leadership

Question 10

What was Maslow concerned with?

Answer 10

Trying to identify and classify the main needs that humans have

Question 11

What are the 5 human needs according to Maslow

Answer 11

Self actualisation - reaching one’s full potential

Esteem needs - respect from others, status, recognition of achievement

Social needs - trust, acceptance, friendship, belonging to a group

Safety needs - protection from threats, job security, health and safety at work

Physical needs - food, shelter, rest

Question 12

How can a business reach self actualisation?

Answer 12

Challenging work that stretches the individual - give a sense of achievement.

Opportunities to develop and apply new skills will increase potential

Question 13

How can a business reach esteem needs?

Answer 13

Recognition for work done well - status, advancement and responsibility will gain the respect of others

Question 14

How can a business reach social needs?

Answer 14

Working teams or groups and ensuring good communication to make workers feel involved

Question 15

How can a business reach safety needs?

Answer 15

A contract of employment with some job security - a structured organisation that gives clear lines of authority to reduce uncertainty. Ensuring health and safety condition are met.

Question 16

How can a business reach physical needs?

Answer 16

Income from employment high enough to meet essential needs

Question 17

Limitations of Maslow’s approach

Answer 17

Needs cannot be quantified

Money may be necessary to meet the levels such as status and esteem.

Self actualisation is never permanently achieved

Not everyone has the same needs or importance of each level

Question 18

What was Herzberg’s two factors that affect motivation

Answer 18

Hygiene factors

Motivating factors

Question 19

Hygiene factors

Answer 19

Aspects of a worker’s job that have the potential to cause dissatisfaction.

Eg: pay, working conditions, status and over-supervision by managers

Question 20

Motivating factors

Answer 20

Aspects of a worker’s job that can lead to positive job satisfaction.

Eg: achievement, recognition, meaningful and interesting work and advancement at work

Question 21

What did Herzber believe about money?

Answer 21

A business can offer higher pay, improved working conditions and less heavy handed supervision of work which would remove dissatisfaction, but would be quickly taken for granted.

If work is not interesting, rewarding or challenging, then workers will not be satisfied or will not be motivated to offer their full potential whatever the pay level offered to them.

Question 22

What did Herzberg believe were the motivating factors?

Answer 22

Assign workers complete units of work - giving workers the job of doing a small part of the finished product has been shown to not be fulfilling or rewarding and leads to it being repetitive and boring.

Provide feedback on performance - gives recognition for work well done, gives will to achieve even more

Give workers a range of tasks - challenge and stretch the individual even some being beyond the workers’ current experience.

Question 23

Criticism of Herzberg’s theory

Answer 23

Does not apply to low skill, low wage jobs

Some workers may not like the increased workload in job enrichment

His research was only on 200 professionally qualified workers

Question 24

Consequences of Herzberg’s theory

Answer 24

Team working is more widespread because of Herzberg’s findings, with whole units of work being delegated to groups.

Workers often made more responsible for the quality of their work rather than being closely supervised on their quality.

A lot of firms are looking for ways to improve effective communication, and group meetings allowing two way communication.

Question 25

What did Adam's believe demotivated his employees?

Answer 25

If employees felt that their inputs are greater than their outputs. Inputs include effort, loyalty, commitment and skill. Outputs include financial rewards, recognition, security and sense of achievement.

Question 26

What was Adam's belief of motivating employees?

Answer 26

Making the employee's inputs and output balanced Will make the employee feel like they are treated fairly Will respond with a positive attitude and high levels of motivation

Question 27

What are the three elements that motivates people according to Pink?

Answer 27

Autonomy Mastery Purpose

Question 28

Autonomy (Pink)

Answer 28

Giving people real control over various aspects of their work - whether it is deciding what to work on or when to do it

Question 29

Mastery (Pink)

Answer 29

Sense of progress in work and ability Tasks must not be too hard or too easy to foster improvement without causing boredom or frustration Named it the Goldilocks tasks

Question 30

Purpose (Pink)

Answer 30

Contributing to a greater cause Purpose and vision must be communicated

Question 31

What are the most common payment systems?

Answer 31

Salary Wage: time based wage rate and piece rate Commission Performance related pay and bonuses Profit related pay Employee share ownership schemes Fringe benefits (perks)

Question 32

Salary

Answer 32

Fixed annual rate paid on a monthly basis Time-rate payment Gives security of income Suitable where output is not measurable Little incentive to work hard due to consistent pay Difficult to reward better workers Can be improved by using appraisals

Question 33

Time based wage rate

Answer 33

Payment to a worker made for each hour worked More income security than piece rate Speed of work is not rewarded

Question 34

Piece rate

Answer 34

A payment to a worker for each unit produced Encourages greater efforts and faster working Able to set a price for the product Requires output to be measurable and standardised Leads to worse quality and safety levels Little security over pay level

Question 35

Commission

Answer 35

A payment to a sales person for each sale made Pays workers based on percentage of sales or output contributed rather than a fixed amount per unit like piece rate Similar advantages and disadvantages to piece rate

Question 36

Profit related pay

Answer 36

A bonus for staff based on the profits of the business - usually paid as a proportion of basic salary People believe profits should only go to the shareholders Employees more committed to the success of the company

Question 37

Employee share ownership schemes

Answer 37

Giving shares for free or at a discount Usually only given to senior management Impractical for most companies

Question 38

Employee share ownership schemes

Answer 38

Giving shares for free or at a discount Usually only given to senior management Impractical for most companies Quickly sold by workers

Question 39

Fringe benefits (perks)

Answer 39

Meets employee’s safety needs (Maslow) at a cost Includes medical insurance, bonus schemes, company car, subsidised meals, discounts Difficult to know the effect on productivity

Question 40

Non financial methods of motivation

Answer 40

Job enlargement Job enrichment Job rotation Team working Empowerment

Question 41

Job enlargement

Answer 41

Horizontal expansion by increasing scope of work required Enhances employee pride in work, feeling of responsibility May lower productivity or quality because of higher workload

Question 42

Job enrichment

Answer 42

Provides employee with more complex and fulfilling tasks Adds sense of control, pride, and achievement

Question 43

Job rotation

Answer 43

Shifting of cross trained workers to other tasks Allows understanding of different operating areas of business Can reduce fatigue, since new tasks are assigned

Question 44

Employee empowerment

Answer 44

Employees are delegated tasks assigned to managers Increases employee motivation and productivity Managers must share: Decision-making power Rewards (based on organizational performance) Knowledge/expertise needed to enhance performance Employees must be highly skilled, motivated, and competent Managers are ultimately still liable for whatever they delegate

Question 45

Teamworking

Answer 45

Staff work together on a task Reduce boredom, build sense of belonging, greater flexibility Adair Model 3 parts or effective teams Tasks – must engage whole group Team – must work collectively Individual – needs of the individual are met

Question 46

Advantages of non financial methods of motivation

Answer 46

Everyone has an interest in higher profits Likely to attract better recruits Does not add business costs If successful can increase business productivity

Question 47

Disadvantages of non financial methods of motivation

Answer 47

Reward not related to individual effort - might be demotivating Schemes can be costly to set put and operate profit shares at the end of the year unlikely to promote motivation throughout the year Can dilute the value of existing shares