• Table of Content

Syllabus Content

• By the end of the chapter, you should be able to understand:
• Learning objectives:

Motivation theories

Motivation are the reasons for behaving in a certain way, desire to succeed and reach certain achievement.

• Intrinsic motivation: Fuelled by own motivation.
• Extrinsic motivation: Motivation driven by external factors. (Rewards)

Motivated staff has greater job satisfaction and higher productivity which means there is high quality output, allowing a higher profitability. The opposite goes for demotivated staff.

Taylor’s scientific management theory (Taylorism)

Father of motivation theory.

Taylor: People are motivated by money. The more you work, the more you earn.

Introduced the concept of rest breaks.

Taylor’s scientific management theory says that employees are motivated by higher wages amongst everything else. Hence, money is one of the best ways to motivate these employees.

Taylor’s scientific management is about

• Manager’s duty: Managers are in charge of everything and employees are to get things done.
• Division of labour: People only complete tasks they are responsible for.
• Differentiated piecework: Workers are paid a standard level of output and receive a higher rate if they exceed that level.
• Does not allow much flexibility in the workplace because everything is stated and scientific.
• Workers are selected based on their abilities following a strict criteria and objective data.

Differentiated piece rate refers to a system where workers paid based on their individual performance.

Advantages of Taylor’s scientific management

• Theory existed for 100 years and it is still applicable.
• Works well for money-driven staff.
• Works well for low-paid & low-qualified labour.
• In line with some cultures.

Disadvantages of Taylor’s scientific management

• Mental output is hard to measure. (Designers, teachers)
• Not all people are motivated by money.
• More educated people want to have a say in how things are done.
• Lacks in motivation: Due to repetitive and tedious work as well as being told what to do.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Primary focus of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are physiological and psychological desires.

1. Self-actualisation: Be best of the best.
2. Esteem: To have recognition in what is done.
3. Social: Communicating with other people.
4. Security: Safe from danger, can sustain future.
5. Physiological: Basic needs, shelter, clothes.

Managers need to identify which levels of needs are satisfied to find the next motivating factor in the hierarchy.

Advantages of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

• Easy to use, very straightforward.
• Applicable to all industries.
• Can be used to motivate staff intrinsically. Encourage worker’s intrinsic motivation.

Criticism of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

• Impossible to motivate all workers using the same hierarchy of needs.
• Levels of hierarchy are impossible to measure. The borders between each level can be difficult to measure.
• Order of needs might be different for different employees.