motivating employees

• Motivation


  The reason why employees want to work hard and work effectively for the business
• Reasons why people want to work

  • Money
  • Job satisfaction
  • Job security
  • Social needs (feeling part of the team)
  • Esteem needs (feeling good within themselves)
• Businesses need to motivate their staff because there are a number of studies that have proven that motivated staff mean that there are higher profits for business
• Workers are unhappy


  Lower output and no profit, higher absenteeism, higher labour turnover
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs


  • Physiological needs (food, rest, recreation, shelter)
  • Safety and security needs (protection against danger, poverty, job security)
  • Social needs (friendship, sense of belonging)
  • Esteem needs (recognition for job)
  • Self-actualization (promotion, more responsibility)
• Maslow says that in order to be motivated, employees must have access to the higher levels of motivation
• Once a level of Maslow's hierarchy has been completed, it can no longer be used to motivate
• Managers must identify the level of hierarchy their employees are at and find ways for them to access the next level
• Taylor's view on motivation


  Financial rewards, piece rate (pay per item produced)
• Herzberg's view on motivation

  Hygiene factors (company policy, supervision, working conditions, salary, status, security) are not motivating, only motivator factors (achievement, recognition, the job itself, responsibility, growth) are motivating
• Financial rewards


  • Wage
  • Piece rate
  • Time rate
  • Salary
  • Bonus
  • Commission
  • Profit sharing
• Non-financial methods of motivation

  • Job rotation
  • Job enrichment
  • Team working
  • Training
  • Opportunities for promotion
• Fringe benefits can also be used to motivate employees (e.g. car, shares, healthcare, vacation, pension)
• You need to be able to recommend and justify appropriate methods of motivation in given circumstances