PowerPoint presentation on this topic:
Motivation is the will to work.
A motivated employee is someone that works hard because they feel fulfilled when they do so.
Motivation is an important area of business research and over the years there have been many 'motivational theories'.
More here.
Also this video covers the motivational theory you may use in the exam.
Motivation
Why (if you do) are you motivated to work hard at college; to prove your intelligence to people, because you want to do well, to please your family?
What motivates people to work in their workplace; to earn money, because they like their colleagues, because they are ambitious and want to do well, because they get job satisfaction?
What motivates people to work in their workplace; to earn money, because they like their colleagues, because they are ambitious and want to do well, because they get job satisfaction?
What factors motivate people?
This has been a question that has been tried to be answered by various writers since the industrial revolution. We shall examine the four primary theorists.
This has been a question that has been tried to be answered by various writers since the industrial revolution. We shall examine the four primary theorists.
1. F W Taylor (Scientific Management Theory)
He viewed every worker as an ‘economic man’ out for their own self interest.
He believed managers could best motivate by using financial rewards (carrot) and financial threats (stick).
He suggested that every task should be scientifically broken down, analysed and studied.
Inefficiencies could then be removed and the correct level of output calculated by management which the workers should achieve each day.
Workers who exceeded this level should received financial incentives; those that did not should receive financial penalties.
He was amongst the first to realise that workers doing the same repetitive job (specialisation) were more efficient than those that didn’t – a new concept at the time.
Hated by workers but adored by industrialists, one of Taylor
- 2. Elton Mayo’s (Human Resources Theory)
Mayo developed Taylor
Mayo’s Human Resources Theory came about when he conducted a series of experiments at GE's Hawthorne plant known as the ‘Hawthorne Experiments’.In the experiments, Mayo did a series of changes to the pay, conditions and work environment of group of workers and measured any change in output.
He concluded that, whilst money was still a motivating factor, providing the working conditions that meet the workers’ social needs was incredibly important to output.
If workers were allowed to develop a team atmosphere as well as receive praise and recognition from managers, output increased dramatically.
If workers were allowed to develop a team atmosphere as well as receive praise and recognition from managers, output increased dramatically.
Mayo’s work was highly influential and instigated a huge rise in Personnel departments in the UK and USA
More on Mayo here.
More on Mayo here.
3. Abraham Maslow (Hierarchy of Needs)
Until the existing need is met the higher needs are not motivating.
Once the need is met it not longer acts as a motivating factor and the next need in the hierarchy is the motivating factor to the worker.
More on Maslow here.
4. Fredrick Herzberg (The Two Factor Theory)
Herzberg developed his theory on worker motivation by asking a sample of employees what made them happy or unhappy at work.
On this basis he identified hygiene factors, such as adequate pay and working conditions, which needed to be fulfilled to prevent dissatisfaction but could not be motivating factors themselves.
The motivating factors were the job itself, the opportunity for achievement, recognition and advancement.
Hygiene Factors (can create job dissatisfaction)
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Motivating Factors (can create positive satisfaction)
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Company policy and red tape
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Achievement
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Supervision
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Recognition for achievement
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Pay
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Meaningful, interesting work
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Interpersonal relations
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Responsibility
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Working conditions
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Advancement
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Motivating factors has the power to create considerable job satisfaction.
Hygiene factors will cause considerable job dissatisfaction unless they are provided for, but do not motivate.
Both sets of factors are equally important, but for different reasons.
More on Herzberg here.
A day with Richard Reed, one of the three co-founders of Innocent Drinks. What motivational techniques are evident in this documentary?
More pages for 1.4 available. Click on Older Posts below.
