Motivation and Pay Worksheet (Student Version)
This worksheet looks at a variety of different theories about motivation, considers the extent to which pay is the main motivation factor and then looks at how some companies motivate their staff in practice.
Step 1 - Are you a worker or shirker?
What are the main characteristics you would have to have to be a 'worker'?
1.
Step 2 - How can you be 'Mr.Motivator'?
It is vital for all companies that they motivate their staff as well as possible. This leads to a happier and more importantly a more productive environment. More productive means more competitive and more profitable.
There have been a wide variety of theories about motivation developed over the years. Use your coursebook or library, to find out brief details about the following theories:
MASLOW
Maslow classified people's needs into a hierarchy of 5 levels. Use your book to fill in details of these levels in the table below:
| Level number | Needs | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 5 |
McGREGOR
Douglas McGregor published his work on motivation in 1960. He looked at the reasons why people work, and he classified them in two ways - Theory X and Theory Y. Find out the main characteristics of each of these types of worker:
| THEORY X | THEORY Y |
|---|---|
HERZBERG
Herzberg considered the things that satisfy people about their work, and the things that dissatisfy them. He argued that if a firm reduced factors that dissatisfy people, that would not in itself motivate them. However, it would avoid potential problems and the possibility of lower productivity as a result. He called these two factors - Motivators and Hygiene factors. Find out some details of each from your book and detail them below:
| Definition | Examples | |
|---|---|---|
| MOTIVATORS | ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ | __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________ |
| HYGIENE FACTORS | ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ | __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________ |
Step 3 - What job motivates you?
Go to one of the employment agency sites on the Internet and use them to find two contrasting jobs - one earning a fairly high salary, and one a lower salary. Some sites you could use are given below:
- Reed Employment (http://www.reed.co.uk/)
- Jobsite (http://jobsite.co.uk/)
Hint: Don't be too specific with the jobs and places you search for or you may not find many jobs available - use general search terms or leave boxes blank where possible.
Put the details of each job in the table below:
| Job 1 | Job 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Job title? | ||
| Level of pay? | ||
| Nature of work? | ||
| Location? | ||
| Skills required? |
If you personally were to be doing these jobs which level of needs on the Maslow hierarchy of needs do you think you would achieve?
Job 1 ____________________ Job 2 ____________________
Justify your answer:
As we saw above, Herzberg looked at aspects of people's work that may satisfy or dissatisfy them. What would you expect to be the motivators and hygiene factors from the two jobs you have chosen? Fill them in in the table below:
| Job 1 - ___________________ | Job 2 - ___________________ | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Motivators | Hygiene factors | Motivators | Hygiene factors |
What do you think the management of each company could do to try to overcome the hygiene factors?
|
Step 4 - In the public (or private) eye?
Human resource managers in the public (government) sector face a slightly different task to those in the private sector. Motivating staff who are running a 'public service' may take different skills.
Why do you think people working for the government may be differently motivated, and is this always true?
|
The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) has done a considerable amount of work on Human Resource management in the public sector. Have a look at their pages and write a brief summary of the issues facing human resource managers in the public sector around the world - OECD Human Resource Managment (http://www.oecd.org/department/0,2688,en_2649_34139_1_1_1_1_1,00.html).
|
Step 5 - Are we just in it for the money?
Obviously the amount people earn is an important part of their motivation, but the amount it is possible to earn in different parts of the countries varies considerably. Go once again to the Reed Employment Agency (http://www.reed.co.uk/) and find their 'regional salary calculator' (under career tools). Choose a salary of £20,000 per annum in Bristol, and see what the equivalent salaries would be in the following places:
| Town | Salary |
|---|---|
| London | |
| Manchester | |
| Edinburgh | |
| Leicester | |
| Your home town? |
Why do these differences occur?
|
What factors other than pay do you think will be important in the job you choose?
|
So how else do companies motivate their staff in practice? Follow the link below to the business profiles section on Biz/ed and choose two companies. Note down briefly the arrangements they make for employee participation, and how they motivate their employees.
| Company | Arrangements for employee participation? | Methods of employee motivation? |
|---|---|---|
| Company 1 | _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ | _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ |
| Company 2 | _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ | _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ |