Motivation

Question 1

define motivation

Answer 1

the desire to complete a task to the best of your ability

Question 2

What are the two types of motivation?

Answer 2

Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.

Question 3

What is intrinsic motivation?

Answer 3

The will to work due to enjoyment of the work itself or personal ambition or work ethic.

Question 4

What is extrinsic motivation?

Answer 4

The will or desire to complete a goal due to external factors, such as the promise of a reward or to avoid punishment.

Question 5

What is employee engagement?

Answer 5

When an employee is fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about their work, taking positive actions to meet the organisation’s goals.

Question 6

What are the components of employee engagement?

Answer 6

Intellectual engagement, affective engagement, and social engagement.

Question 7

What is intellectual engagement?

Answer 7

Thinking hard about the job and how to do it better.

Question 8

What is affective engagement?

Answer 8

Feeling positively about doing a good job.

Question 9

What is social engagement?

Answer 9

Actively taking opportunities to discuss work-related improvements with others at work.

Question 10

What is the relationship between employee engagement and motivation?

Answer 10

Increased engagement can lead to higher motivation as employees feel more responsible and trusted by the business.

Question 11

What are the benefits of motivated and engaged employees?

Answer 11

Increased labor productivity, lower unit costs, increased efficiency, lower labor turnover, improved brand image, better quality products/services, and less waste.

Question 12

What is intellectual engagement?

Answer 12

Thinking hard about the job and how to do it better.

Question 13

What is affective engagement?

Answer 13

Feeling positively about doing a good job.

Question 14

What is social engagement?

Answer 14

Actively taking opportunities to discuss work-related improvements with others at work.

Question 15

What is the relationship between employee engagement and motivation?

Answer 15

Increased engagement can lead to higher motivation as employees feel more responsible and trusted by the business.

Question 16

What are the benefits of motivated and engaged employees?

Answer 16

Increased labor productivity, lower unit costs, increased efficiency, lower labor turnover, improved brand image, better quality products/services, and less waste.

Question 17

What is a piece-rate system?

Answer 17

A payment system based on the number of items each worker produces.

Question 18

What are some financial methods of motivation?

Answer 18

Methods include piece rate, commission, salary schemes, and performance-related pay.

Question 19

What are the potential problems of a piece-rate system?

Answer 19

It may encourage workers to focus on quantity over quality, lead to increased scrap costs, and influence output based on worker needs rather than customer demand.

Question 20

What did Taylor believe about piece-rate systems?

Answer 20

He considered it an important motivator for workers.

Question 21

How can piece-rate systems affect supervision costs?

Answer 21

They may reduce supervision needs, but increased costs from reworking and waste can offset these savings.

Question 22

What is commission in the context of employee pay?

Answer 22

A sum of money paid to employees based on their sales performance, often in addition to a base salary.

Question 23

What is a typical mix of base salary and commission?

Answer 23

A common mix is 30% from base salary and 70% from commission.

Question 24

What are the advantages of commission-based pay?

Answer 24

It allows high-performing salespeople to earn more, incentivizes hard work, and links payroll costs directly to sales revenue.

Question 25

What are the disadvantages of commission-based pay?

Answer 25

Employees may have unreliable income and might engage in dishonest practices to increase earnings.

Question 26

What are salary schemes?

Answer 26

Payment structures that include a base salary along with commissions based on performance.

Question 27

Advantages of salary schemes

Answer 27

Relatively simple and cheap to administer and allow labour cost to be forecast of accuracy Lead to stability and pay in our easily understood by the workforce who will be able to be more readily predict and check their pay

Question 28

Disadvantages of salary schemes

Answer 28

Do not provide direct incentives to improve productivity or performance and can lead to rigid hierarchical pay ranges Pay meant by time is payment for input rather than output

Question 29

What is performance related pay?

Answer 29

Systems that reward employees based on an assessment of their individual performance are usually measured against pre-agreed objectives. This generally takes the form of a bonus or increase in salary.

Question 30

Advantages of performance related pay

Answer 30

There are direct links between pay and effort It may lead to a reduction in cost as a result of low levels of supervision and increase in productivity and an improvement in quality There may be improve improvement in motivation and a passport reduction and labour turnover and absenteeism

Question 31

Disadvantages of PRP

Answer 31

It may become a source of conflict among staff who are receiving differential payments for what they perceive to be the same effort The effects on motivation is the debatable because PRP usually represents only a small proportion of salary

Question 32

Define profit sharing

Answer 32

Profit sharing our financial incentives in which a proportion of firms profit is divided among its employees in a form of a bonus paid in addition to the employees salary

Question 33

Advantages of profit sharing

Answer 33

It may help to reduce problems related to a feeling of them and us between employees and management or shareholders It may lessen resistance to change because the focus is on profits of the whole organisation rather than the individuals job performance

Question 34

Disadvantages of profit sharing

Answer 34

Unless the profit share amounts to a reasonable proportion of salary employees are unlikely to consider it a significant incentive and hence it will have little or no effects on motivation and behaviour As it is not linked to individual performance and may encourage the free rider problem or a certain work is putting in less effort knowing that all employees receive the same awards

Question 35

Define share ownership

Answer 35

A financial incentive whereby companies give shares to their employees or sell them at favourable rates below the market price

Question 36

Advantages of share ownership

Answer 36

Believed to provide senior management with the incentive to perform at their very best

Question 37

Disadvantages of share ownership

Answer 37

Some people suggest that it’s likely to lead to short-term ism, i.e. a focus on improving performance when the share options is due in order to make a profit from the sale of shares rather than a long-term commitment to improve performance

Question 38

What is job enlargement?

Answer 38

Increasing the scope of a job either by job rotation or job enrichment

Question 39

Define job rotation

Answer 39

Were the jobs expanded horizontally by giving the workers more task but at the same level of responsibility?

Question 40

What is job enrichment ?

Answer 40

Whether the job is expanded vertically by giving the workers more responsibility

Question 42

Advantages of job rotation

Answer 42

Relieves the boredom of work Workers may be motivated because of their wider range of skills and they will become more flexible Greatest sense of participation

Question 43

Disadvantages of job rotation

Answer 43

Retraining costs will increase and there may be a fallen output because there is less specialisation It could be seen as simply involving a greater number of boring task but with a reduction in the social benefits of working since groups will be constantly changing

Question 44

Advantages of job enrichment

Answer 44

It develops workers unused skills and presents them with challenges It allows workers to make greater contributions to the decision-making process It enhances promotional prospects

Question 45

Disadvantages of the job enrichment

Answer 45

Although many workers will relish the challenges, other might find the whole process intimidating and may simply feel that a place is additional pressure on them It’s costly and benefits may only be achieved in the long-term as when re-organising the shop floor and retraining the workforce in a manufacturing business

Question 46

What is job empowerment?

Answer 46

Giving employees the means by which they can power over their working life

Question 47

What is teamwork?

Answer 47

Teamwork generally means a system wire production is organised into large units of work and a group of employees work together in order to meet shared objectives

Question 48

How does Taylor theory increase labour productivity?

Answer 48

That small repetitive work and high divisions of labour but also uses piece rate so worker has produced more in the same time

Question 49

Why do businesses want to increase labour productivity?

Answer 49

Increases output, which is good if demand is rising and it also lowers unit cost which causes a bigger operating profit margin on the lower price

Question 50

What are the problems of Taylor’s theory?

Answer 50

Poor quality items Large number of defect High wastelevel Links to hard HRM workers don’t feel appreciated and it can lead to large labour turnover

Question 51

Define hygiene needs with examples

Answer 51

Factors that demotivate if not present for example working conditions, supervision and pay

Question 52

Define motivators with examples

Answer 52

Factors that motivating employees to work hard for example job enrichment job empowerment and training

Question 53

Links between hygiene needs and motivators?

Answer 53

Both are equally important and need to be present to have motivated workers

Question 54

How does the hierarchy of needs work?

Answer 54

* you can move up and down the hierarchy * Maslow didn’t say there was one best way to motivate it depends on the level you are on * There are a range of motivational methods

Question 55

Describe levels in hierarchy of needs

Answer 55

Psychological needs – do you pay enough to cover the employees basic needs? Safety/security needs – contract to ensure job and financial security, we should ensure working conditions are safe (health and safety training) free from discrimination/harassment Esteem needs – praise, recognition, promotion, enrichment, empowerment Self actualisation – reaching full potential in workplace, enrichment/empowerment

Question 56

What can improving business’ relations with its employees improve ?

Answer 56

It can improve the performance of the business’s workforce as well as the reputations as an employer. Leading to: - improved communication within business -improved motivation-decrease labour turnover -increased engagement and involvement

Question 57

What is collective bargaining?

Answer 57

Negotiations between mangagement and employee’s representatives (usually trade unions)

Question 58

What are features of collective bargaining?

Answer 58

Employer must recognise the right for employee representatives to act on behalf of the workforce The terms negotiated by the employee representatives are binding for the entire workforce

Question 59

Benefits of collective bargaining

Answer 59

-easier to get better pay/ working conditions -more powerful as group - more time effective -more realistic

Question 60

What are the two legislations that help ensure large firms partake in collective bargaining?

Answer 60

Employment Relations Act 2000 This meant that a trade union with membership of 50% or more demand union recognition and thereby reintroduce collective bargaining . If the union has more than 10% of the workforce as members then it can call a ballot and needs the support of 40% of the employees to be successful Impact of EU in 2000 the EU announced that it is compulsory to consult with employees if they have 50 or more employees

Question 61

Why has the number of trade union members decreases?

Answer 61

Decline of traditional union based industries such as coal mining and ship building Rise in self employment and temporary employment

Question 62

How does leadership and management style used in the business influence the extent of employee representation?

Answer 62

If an autocratic leadership is used, employee representation is less likely due to employees not being involved in decision-making If a democratic leadership is used then employee representation is more likely to be used as employees are already involved in decisions ( uses soft HRM)

Question 63

How did the corporate objectives influence the extent of employee representation?

Answer 63

If profit maximisation is the objective you don’t wanna engage too much as it can decrease profits if wages increase If you have more ethical or social objectives involving employees more shows that you care as you’re going above the legal requirement and this gives a positive brand image for the business

Question 64

How does history and ownership of the business influence the extent of employee representation?

Answer 64

Views of founder/owners Ownership – if you see employees as partners you’re more likely to engage in an employee representation

Question 65

How does the nature of work employees hide in influence the extent of employee representation?

Answer 65

Skilled employees means more employee representation as they can make better decisions and you want high staff retention as they are more valuable and not easy to replace ( and this is the opposite for unskilled employees)

Question 66

How does employee legislation influence the extent of employee representation?

Answer 66

It is a legal requirement so some firms may decide to just do what is legally required and not go above

Question 67

What is a trade union?

Answer 67

This is an organisation of workers established to protect and improve the economic position and working conditions of its members

Question 68

What are the likely objectives of trade unions?

Answer 68

Maximise pay Achieving safe and secure working conditions Attaining job security Participating in an influencing decisions in the workplace

Question 69

What are the benefits of trade unions for employers

Answer 69

They act as a communication link between management and employees, compromises are more likely to be accepted by the workforce and met with less resistance if sold to them by the shop steward Professional negotiation on behalf of a large number of employees can save time and less than the likelihood if disputes occur occurring

Question 70

what does the shop steward do?

Answer 70

The region is made up of a number of branches in each branch has an elected shops steward. The shop to communicate communicates with employers on behalf of the union members and reports back to the members of management decisions

Question 71

What is a work council?

Answer 71

A work counsellor is a form within a business where workers a management meets to discuss issues such as working conditions pay and training

Question 72

What are the qualities of a work council?

Answer 72

Workers are elected by other workers to represent their views to management It’s his common for work council to be used in workplaces where no trade union representation exist however work councils and trade unions can coexist

Question 73

What differs a work council from a trade union?

Answer 73

If a trade union is represented in the workplace, the trade union rap for negotiate on pay and working conditions whilst the work council would discuss other issues related to the workforce

Question 74

How many employees do you need to involve workers in consultation

Answer 74

50 or more

Question 75

How does employee representation differ from trade unions?

Answer 75

They are not backed by regional and national organisations They are organised solely for the individual business

Question 76

Examples of other employee representation

Answer 76

Factory or office committees that run along alongside the employee representatives within the works council staff associations operate on behalf of a single company and are often independent from external influences. They are frequently established at the request of the employer to avoid trade unions gaining recognition for negotiation

Question 77

Describe job rotation

Answer 77

Systematic program switching jobs provide greater variety. The employee will thus have a more varied and interesting job compared to doing the same tasks.