MOTIVATION

 It is defined as a management process of influencing people’s behavior to achieve stated

goals.
 When employees are motivated, it means that the they are satisfied and they enjoy the job
they are doing.
 Motivation is a tool used by leaders and managers to encourage their employees to work
willingly as hard as they can.

WHAT MOTIVATES WORKERS?

 Pay
 Promotion
 Working conditions e.g annual leave, uniforms, working hours, working environment
 Fringe benefits e.g company house, sponsored vacation, school fees for children,
company vehicle, free health care
 Colleagues
 Management style eg democratic leadership style
 Work related achievements

Benefits of motivated staff

 Higher levels of productivity: workers will perform their tasks quickly.

 They work harder and be more productive
 Lower labour turnover: employees won’t be willing to look for other jobs elsewhere.
They are satisfied with their current job.
 Lower absenteeism rate: employees won’t absent themselves from work for no apparent
reason. Employees who are not motivated are likely to take time off when it is not
absolutely necessary Creativity: employees are more likely to come up with new ideas
and they will be willing to take on responsibilities
 Employees loyalty: employees when they feel trusted or valued, they tend to give their
best to the business.
  Improved customer service: a motivated employees will recognise that a happy customer
is likely to be a repeat customer and also that the reputation of the business rests not only
on the goods produced but on the quality of aftercare that their customers receive.
 Better quality products: more attention will be paid to the way in which work is carried
out, whether that is the production of goods or the provision of services.
 Increased likelihood of achieving business goals: when employees are work as hard as
they can the business will have the best chance of achieving any stated objectives.
 Employees will even be willing to work for unpaid overtime.

Indications of poorly motivated staff

 Absenteeism: workers can just decide to be absent from work without any justification
 Reporting late for duty: the workforce will arrive late and may be leave their jobs very
early before the normal knock-off time.
 Poor performance: poor quality work and a greater waste of raw materials
 High labour turnover: employees just ‘come and go’. They won’t take time at the
business and this will cost the business more in training and recruiting new staff
 Conflicts: there will be a lot of disagreements within the workforce. Employees have a
negative attitude towards work.
 Poor response rate: workers do not respond very well to orders and any response is often
slow.
 Low worker morale: employees feel as if they are not needed and this decreases their
productivity

MOTIVATIONAL THEORIES

a)Frederick Winslow Taylor (Economic Man)

 Taylor put forward the idea that workers are motivated mainly by pay.
 Taylor believed that people are were motivated by money and that they should be paid
according to the output that they produce.
 Taylor wanted to advise management on the best ways to increase worker performance or
productivity. He also argued that workers do not naturally enjoy work and so need close
 supervision and control. Managers were required to breakdown production into series of
small tasks.
 An employee is referred to as an economic man i.e he/she is driven by the desire to earn
more money.
 An economic man will work harder to be able to receive the highest pay possible. The
chance of earning extra money stimulate further effort.

How to improve output per worker according to Taylor’s scientific approach

 Select workers to perform a tsk

 Observe them performing the task
 Record the time taken to do each part of the task
 Identify the quickest method and do not allow them to make any changes to it
 Train workers in the quickest method
 Supervise workers to ensure that the best way is being carried out
 Pay workers on the basis of results i.e piece rate (based on theory of economic man)

Limitations of Taylor’s Theory

 Piece rate payment is not suitable in a service industry where the product itself is
invisible
 The theory encourages autocratic style of management which can motivate staff
 Money is not the need at work. Employees have a wide range of needs. Taylor’s theory
does not address the problem of how to motivate employees once their desire for money
has been satisfied. i.e workers may have the desire for status symbols etc
 Mass production can lead to repetitive or boring tasks which the demotivate employees

b) Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)

Maslow based his theory on a series of human needs which he believed could be placed in order
of importance.

Human needs are the wants or desires of people that they hope will be met at their work or in
their activities outside the work environment.
Maslow put forward that there are five levels of human needs which employees need to have
fulfilled at work.

Maslow view. Once a need is satisfied, it no longer motivates the worker.

Critics of the theory
 Not everyone has the same needs as assumed by the hierarchy. It is possible for a person
not to desire the approval of others and therefore, once their ‘safety needs’ have been
met, self-actualization might be their next goal
 In the real world, it is very difficult to identify the degree to which each need has been
met and which level a worker is on. Thus it is very difficult for the manager to know for
sure which level on the hierarchy each employee is on
 Money is necessary to satisfy basic needs, yet it might also play a role in satisfying the
other levels of needs such as status and esteem
  Self-actualization is never permanently achieved as the hierarchy has suggested. In the
real world, life jobs must continually offer challenges and opportunities for fulfilment.
ELTON MAYO (Hawthorne Effect)
 Elton Mayo (1880-1994) thought that the work rate (productivity) of employees is
affected by the physical conditions in which they were placed.
 Mayo introduced the Human Relations Schools of thought which focused on managers
taking more of an interest in the workers, treating them as people who have worthwhile
opinions and realising that workers enjoy interacting together.
 Mayo conducted a series of experiments at the Hawthorne Factory of the Western
Electric Company in Chicago.
 He isolated two groups of women workers and changed factors such as lighting, financial
incentives and working conditions.
 He expected to see productivity levels declining as lighting and other conditions become
progressively worse.
 What he actually discovered surprised him.
 Whatever the change in lighting or working conditions, the productivity levels of workers
improved or remained the same.
 These results forced Mayo to conclude that working conditions in themselves were not
that important in determining productivity levels. Other motivational factors should be
investigated first before conclusions could be drawn.
Mayo’s Conclusion on motivation
 Changes in working conditions and financial rewards have little or no effect on
productivity
 Workers are motivated by better communication between managers and workers (i.e
Hawthorne workers were consulted over the experiments and also had the opportunity to
give feedback).
 Workers are motivated by working in teams of groups
 Workers are also motivated by a greater manager involvement in employees working
lives. Hawthorne workers responded very well to increased level of attention they were
receiving.
 Mayo concluded that workers are not just concerned with money but could be better
motivated by having their social needs met whilst at work. (similarities with Taylor and
Maslow).
Frederick Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory
 Frederick Herzberg (1923) believed in a two factor theory of motivation.
 He argued that there are certain factors that a business could introduce that would directly
motivate employees to work harder (motivators).
 However there are also factors that would demotivate employees if not present but would
not in themselves actually motivate employees to work harder (Hygiene factors).
  Thus Herzberg analysed motivational factors by grouping them into two broad categories
namely hygiene factors and motivators Motivators
 Motivators drive people to achieve more in their work as these are what lead to
employees gaining job satisfaction. Employees are sometimes concerned about the job
itself for instance, how interesting the work is and how much opportunity it gives for
extra responsibility
Examples of Motivators
 Recognition of work done
 Promotion
 Being given responsibility
 Nature of work How business can satisfy motivators
 Give positive feedback to employees
 Involve employees in decision making
 Allow delegation of tasks
 Ensure that the work is stimulating and rewarding good performance
 Implement things like job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment etc
Hygiene Factors
 Refers to the aspects of work that do not motivate but, if not present, cause
dissatisfaction.
 These are factors which surrounds the job rather than the job itself. E.g a comfortable
working temperature.
 It is believed that a worker will only turn up to work if a business has provided a
reasonable level of pay and safe working conditions but these factors will not make him
work harder at this job once hi/she is there.
Examples of Hygiene Factors
 Pay (wages and salaries)
 Fringe benefits
 Relationship with co-workers
 Status and security
 Company policy
How business can satisfy hygiene factors
 Pay a fair wage / salaries Make sure that the working conditions are as good as possible
e.g suitable temperature
 Company rules should be reasonable and not too rigid
 Encourage two-way communication and team work
 Limited supervision NB: Herzberg argued that people do not work harder if the hygiene
factors are present at work, but their output can decline if conditions deteriorate.
 Motivators on the other hand are intrinsic in nature, and produce job satisfaction and
higher output.
Ways to improve the nature and content of the actual Job
 Job enlargement: workers being given a variety of tasks to perform which would make
the work more interesting. The tasks are not necessarily challenging. Additional tasks are
given to broaden the employee’s skills and experience.
 Job Enrichment: involves workers being given a wider range of more complex,
interesting and challenging tasks surrounding a complete unit of work. This would give a
greater sense of achievement
 Job Rotation: This involves changing a worker’s tasks more regularly to overcome
potential boredom d) Empowerment: delegating more power to employees to make their
own decisions over areas of their working life.
McGregor’s Theory X and Y

McGregor’s Theory X and Y (1960) suggested that many managers adopt a particular style due
to their beliefs concerning human nature. A manager’s perception of their employees is also
likely to influence them in terms of which style of leadership they feel is the most appropriate to
adopt.

Theory X: managers assume that

 Employees dislike work and will avoid it if they can.

 They need to be told what to do and to be closely supervised.
 People must be coerced, controlled, directed and threatened in order to get them to work.
 They do not want responsibility and will avoid and perhaps even resist this. Managers
have a negative view of their workforce

Theory Y:

 Managers assumes that the employees enjoy work and can derive job satisfaction from
their work.
 Work is as natural as play.
 Employees are creative and they can exercise self-direction.
 They enjoy responsibility and might even seek it if they are recognized and rewarded
appropriately. Managers have a positive view of their workforce and they believe that
employees can make a positive contribution to business activity