People in Business 2

Introduction

In this resource, we are going to look at the issue of motivation at work. In the first of the resources on people in business, we identified the fact that business organisations employ people because of the contribution they make to production. In return for that contribution, people receive money in the form of a wage or salary.

The central theme of this resource is whether a business can get people to do the things it wants them to do. My manager here at Biz/ed wants me to produce a number of resources throughout the year. He also wants me to do other things such as attend conferences, visit schools and colleges, work on marketing Biz/ed, think about new projects and more! Is it possible for him to find ways of getting me to do all these things - not just to do them but to do them all to the best of my ability at all times?

There are times in any person's working life when work just becomes too much; where you just can't be bothered to do what you are supposed to do or where you cut a few corners to get things done. For a business, that is not good. It can result in inefficiency and affects costs. Are there ways in which businesses can ensure that such instances are kept to a minimum? Is it actually physically possible for a business to persuade or encourage a worker to do their best all the time?

We all have to work to earn a living to provide us with the things that we need in life (and want). There are plenty of theories that exist that attempt to explain human behaviour but is it possible to predict how humans will behave in a work setting? Copyright: Zil, from stock.xchng.

These are some of the questions that we will be asking throughout the resource. It is hoped that by the end of it, you will have thought about some of the answers. Remember though, if these answers were easy then every business would have no trouble with getting their workers to do the things they want them to do - so we would not have to study it at all!

Fortunately (or unfortunately as the case may be), human beings are individual, and trying to find one set way of dealing with them all is not possible. You will need to bear this in mind as you work through the resource.

This first resource looks at the following areas:

• The Meaning of Motivation
• Theories about Motivation
• FW Taylor - Scientific Management
• Maslow - Hierarchy of Needs
• McGregor - Theory X and Theory Y
• Herzberg - Hygiene Factors and Motivation Factors
• Final Task