Английский для менеджеров

UNIT 7

MOTIVATION. JOB SATISFACTION

2.Discuss these questions.

1A recent US survey showed children preferred parents to go out and earn money rather than spend more time with them. What does this show, in your opinion?

2Would you prefer a male or female boss? Why?

3For what reasons might you change jobs? How often would you expect to do so in your lifetime? Is changing jobs often a sign of success in your culture?

TEXT 1

1.What kind of perks would you like to have when joining a new company?

2.In which lines are these ideas mentioned?

1.money is a less important motivator than a caring company

2.giving employees more choice how they organise their time away from work

3.the disadvantages of offering perks

4.creating an atmosphere and culture which employees feel they belong to

5.examples of up-market perks offered by technology companies

6.the increased benefits being offered to employees

3.Look in the article to complete these word partnerships. For example: personal problems

4. Complete these sentences with word partnerships from Exercise 3

1He has resigned after having a lot of…………………………………….this year.

2Building up……………………is important with unemployment at a record low.

3Our……………………………………….is in charge of running the company and for making joint strategic decisions with the CEO.

4The new CEO transformed the bureaucratic…..to profit-minded entrepreneurship.

5Companies who pollute the environment are ignoring their ethical and

………………….. …………………………………………….. .

6The ……………… …………….. should get the biggest bonuses.

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Perks that work

By Robert Burke

Keeping people happy is an increasingly tough trick. With unemployment at record lows, 'companies are trying just about anything' to retain -employees, says Jay Doherty of the New York-based human-resources consulting firm William M. Mercer Inc. Not only are employees being pampered, they're getting more money, better benefits and help with personal problems such as child care and financial planning. Bosses once shunned such intervention. Retention 'is no longer a human resource issue, it's a business issue,' Doherty says.

Because technology companies face the tightest labor markets, they have been the most aggressive in devising ways to keep workers. Herndon-based Net2000 Communications, for example, puts top performers behind the wheel of luxury cars like a BMW 323i or Z3. MicroStrategy, a Vienna-based data miner, goes a step further and has hosted all of its employees on Caribbean cruises.

Such perks are great for the employee, but do they make sense for the company? Maybe. Doherty says all companies -including technology firms -'have to be careful they don't create a business model that's not profitable.' Don't throw money at workers who want to leave because pay raises don't always work. Perks and benefits can be effective, but they have to be custom-fit to the company and the business sector. Don't add new perks just because they seem like hot trends, he says. 'Too often there's a desperation sometimes to just try anything, and it's very expensive.' MicroStrategy, which reported lower earnings earlier this year, has been rethinking its cruises, for example.

Yet companies still face labor crunches that can really hurt. How do you keep workers? Start by making them feel they're part of a special place with a unique culture. 'We want to hire people that are totally aligned with our values,' says Tim Huval, general manager for South Dakota-based Gateway's 2,200-employee call center and manufacturing facility in Hampton. 'Honesty, efficiency, aggressiveness, respect, teamwork, caring, common sense and fun. Those are values that we live by.' Richmondbased Xperts also lives by the value system. Founder and CEO William Tyler pushes pairing quality of life with a sense of social responsibility.

Workers can designate which non-profit groups Xperts contributes to, for example. A strong culture makes it hard for people to leave, Tyler says. 'They don't have an urge to leave because they've found a home. They're happy.'

Notice this corporate culture stuff doesn't say much about shareholders or profit. It's a decidedly employee-centric approach. 'If you ask any of them, they're all going to say, "Pay me more money." But that's not the truth,' Tyler says. 'What people are looking for is, "A place that's looking out for me.'"

What that means is helping employees cope with problems they face outside the office. 'That is where companies can build employee loyalty,' says Barbara Bailey of William M. Mercer's Richmond office. One popular tool is revamping leave policies to create 'flexible leave banks' that put all employee leave into a single category. Employees take time off when they need it and don't have to call it a sick day or vacation. 'Work-life issues are huge,' Bailey says. 'You make them feel as though they're not no interested in looking elsewhere, because they're very happy with their life.'

From Virginia Business Online

Discuss these statements.

1. Companies should be fully involved in the lives of their employees.

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2.'Sick days' are a perk.

3.A pay rise is better than a job in a caring company.

TEXT 2

A well-known theorist of the psychology of work, Frederick Herzberg, has argued that many of the features listed above do not in fact motivate people. Read the following text and find out why.

'SATISFIERS' AND 'MOTIVATORS'

It is logical to suppose that things like good labour relations, good working conditions, good wages and benefits, and job security motivate workers. But in Work and the Nature of Man, Frederick Herzberg argued that such conditions do not motivate workers. They are merely 'satisfiers' or, more importantly, 'dissatisfiers' where they do not exist. 'Motivators', on the contrary, include things such as having a challenging and interesting job, recognition and responsibility, promotion, and so on.

However, even with the development of computers and robotics, there are and always will be plenty of boring, mindless, repetitive and mechanical jobs in all three sectors of the economy, and lots of unskilled people who have to do them.

So how do managers motivate people in such «jobs? One solution is to give them some responsibilities, not as individuals but as part of a team. For example, some supermarkets combine office staff, the people who fill the shelves, and the people who work on the checkout tills into a team and let them decide what product lines to stock, how to display them, and so on. Other employers ensure that people in repetitive jobs change them every couple of hours, as doing four different repetitive jobs a day is better than doing only one. Many people now talk about the importance of a company's shared values or corporate culture, with which all the staff can identify: for example, being the best hotel chain, or hamburger restaurant chain, or airline, or making the best, the safest, the most user-friendly, the most ecological or the most reliable products in a particular field. Such values are more likely to motivate workers than financial targets, which ultimately only concern a few people. Unfortunately, there is only a limited number of such goals to go round, and by definition, not all the competing companies in an industry can seriously claim to be the best.

Summarizing

Read the text again and complete the following sentences, using your own words as much as possible.

1.Herzberg suggested that good labour relations and working conditions ...

2.According to Herzberg, the kind of things that motivate ...

3.The problem with saying that only challenging, interesting and responsible jobs are motivating is that...

4.Ways of motivating people in unskilled jobs include ...

5.The problem with trying to motivate workers by the belief that their company is the best is that...

TEXT 3

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You are a journalist working for Business Week and you are to interview Frederick Herzberg who developed the Two-Factor Theory. Invent a dialogue between these individuals using the following briefing materials.

Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory

Frederick Hetzbeig's theory is known as the motivator-hygiene theory. His basic premise is that dissatisfaction and satisfaction are not opposite ends of a single continuum. Rather, the opposite of dissatisfaction is no dissatisfaction, and the opposite of satisfactions no satisfaction.

The way to move an individual from dissatisfaction to no dissatisfaction is by utilizing Hygienes. These are factors that are extrinsic to the work itself. Hygienes are factors concerning the environment within which the work is performed like the color of the walls, the temperature of the room, or the paving in the company parking lot.

Unfortunately, hygienes are not the factors that can move your employees toward satisfaction. These factors simply placate employees, but do nothing to truly motivate them. Before the real motivation can be addressed, employees must have sufficient hygienes so as not to be dissatisfied.

To move employees from no satisfaction to satisfaction, motivators must be used. These are the factors that are intrinsic to the work itself. Examples of motivators include more autonomy, opportunities for promotion, and delegation of responsibility.

TEXT 4

Fill in the blanks using terms given below.

People are more inclined to deliver ……………. that is minimally acceptable.

Some even wonder today if Americans are still in search of excellence, or they are in search of mediocrity instead. In the past, the motivation technique was a scare tactic. "Do it or else..." was the refrain of the ……….manager. It no longer ………….. the desired results today, in the …………of employee's involvement in ………......and

……………….…………...

Motivation is a complex issue requiring an understanding of individuals. It is no longer answered with just money. In the past, a manager might have been able to raise

In fact money is not the prime motivation………………….any longer. Adam Smith suggested in 1776 that self-interest for monetary …………………. is the primary

………………….. to the work itself and does not really move people toward satisfaction.

Once basic needs have been met, more money is not necessarily a primary motivator for

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people. There is also a symbolic meaning of money that can be the actual motivator rather than the money itself.

Terms:

rewards, salary, driver, value, adhere, job satisfaction, assumption, extrinsic, workforce, environment, command-and-control, delivers, decision-making, fringe benefits, remuneration, gain, hygiene, challenging, levers, performance, delegation of authority.

Describe how companies take care of their employees. Use the following terms.

'Cafeteria plans are flexible benefits that became popular during the 1980s. With these plans, an employee allocates a set amount of benefit dollars according to personal choice.

LISTENING

I. A Helen Tucker is Human Resources Director at Procter and Gamble. Each year, the company conducts a survey throughout their organisation to find out how satisfied their staff are in their jobs. Write down five questions that you think will appear in the survey.

B 1 Listen to the first part of the interview. Which of your questions does Helen Tucker mention?

C 1 Listen to the first part again. Note down all questions in the survey. Compare your answers with other members of your group.

D 2 Listen to the second part of the interview and answer these questions.

1What three ways have job priorities changed in recent years?

2What examples does Helen Tucker give of flexible working programmes?

3Apart from flexible working conditions, what other factors might persuade people to join Procter and Gamble?

4Why did Procter and Gamble introduce a car share scheme?

II. You will hear Steve Moody, the manager of the Marks & Spencer store in Cambridge, talking about how he and the company try to motivate staff.

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Listen to the first part of the interview and answer the following questions.

1Which of the following things does Steve Moody say? If the statements do not match what Moody says, what does he actually say?

A People require an acceptable salary.

B People need a nice working environment.

C People must understand what they are supposed to do. D People must appreciate their boss and their colleagues.

E People must not be expected to do the same thing lots of times.

2What is the reason he gives why some of his staff prefer working on the till or cash register to other tasks?

3What is the advantage of this for the store?

4What are the other two tasks he mentions that are equally important in any store?

5Steve Moody says that the work of management involves 'tailoring individuals' needs and abilities to the operational needs of the store'. Give another word for tailoring.

6Why does M&S also need staff who like to perform all sorts of different tasks?

Listen to the second part of the interview, about the perks M&S give their staff.

1Make a list of five or six factors that Steve Moody says motivate M&S staff.

2What does he say is the effect of giving staff an annual bonus shortly before Christmas?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.What do you find satisfying and frustrating about your work or studies?

2.Who or what inspires you at work?

3.How true do you think the following statements are?

a)There is no such thing as company loyalty these days.

b)True fulfillment can only come with a job you love.

c)You should work to live not live to work.

4.Is it possible to satiate the need for self-actualization?

5.What is the best possible job for people with the dominant need for achievement, power and affiliation, respectively?

6.What motivation theories can be effective in contemporary Belarus?

CASE STUDY

Motivation

According to what you have read and heard, how would you attempt to motivate people with the following positions?

a bus driver in a big city, who has to work irregular hours, including early morning, evening, and night shifts

a nurse who works with seriously ill children

a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company, who visits hospitals and doctors

a manual worker in the Printing House at Cambridge University Press a shepherd

Would any of the following suggestions be appropriate? If not, what else can you suggest?

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•building sports facilities (a gymnasium, tennis courts, etc.)

•establishing a profit-sharing programme

•giving longer paid holidays (such as an extra day for every year worked over ten years)

•giving a company car

•offering career training

•offering early retirement

•paying a higher salary

•paying productivity bonuses

•reducing the working week (e.g. to 35 hours)

•setting up a nursery for workers' pre-school age children

•spending some money on decorating the organizations premises (with plants, pictures, etc.)

•subsidizing the staff canteen

Office attraction

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Listen to an extract from their conversation.

INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP ACTIVITIES

Write a short account (about 200 words) of the factors that have been or will be important for you in your choice of a job.

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II.In groups, think of someone in a powerful position. List three positive qualities and three negative qualities about this person. Then compare your ideas.

III.Which of the adjectives below would you use to describe an ideal leader? Give reasons for your choice. What adjectives would you add?

IV. Read what some commentators think about leadership. Do you agree with their ideas?

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