Motivation and Pay Worksheet (Tutor 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. Self-discipline
2. Willingness
3. Team-worker
4. Motivation to succeed - determination?

And??

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:

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:

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:

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.

Students should be encouraged here to choose one relatively high earning job and one lower earning one. They should then relate them to Maslow's hierarchy for the questions below. It would be reasonable to assume that the lower earning job would get them personally to lower levels on the hierarchy, but they should be able to justify this.

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?

Once again the answers here should be related to the jobs they have chosen. They should try to think carefully what each job may involve and therefore what may dissatisfy them. If they find this difficult they could perhaps work from their own experience of weekend or holiday jobs?

What do you think the management of each company could do to try to overcome the hygiene factors?

They could carefully consider their company policies, and look at areas like:

• giving responsibility
• ensuring fair, but differentiated pay
• good and safe conditions of work
• good promotion / career structure
• encouragement & involvement for employees

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?

They are providing a public service and therefore many staff may be more motivated by the service provision itself? However, the absence of the profit motive and competition may cause some problems and many difficulties may arise from the permanent strain on the level of resources.

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).

• Governments need to ensure that they can still attract and retain a high quality workforce
• There has been major reform in the way many governments operate - privatisation, contracting-out and de-regulation
• Pressures to adapt to a rapidly changing economic and social environment
• The need to equip all public sector workers with the required skills for their new roles and responsibilities
• The need to ensure motivation to adopt new organisational cultures

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'. Choose a salary of £20,000 per annum in Bristol, and see what the equivalent salaries would be in the following places:

Why do these differences occur?

• Differences in the cost of living
• Differing structure of industry / industrial inertia
• Geographical immobility
• Different unemployment levels
• Pressures (or lack of them) on development

What factors other than pay do you think will be important in the job you choose?

• Job satisfaction
• Potential career progression
• The nature of the company (are they Theory X or Y?)
• Job status - how is it perceived generally

So how else do companies motivate their staff in practice? Follow the links below to the company facts section on Biz/ed for each of the companies given. Note down briefly the arrangements they make for employee participation, and how they motivate their employees.

• Business Profiles