Unit 7 employee motivation

Warming- up

1. Why do people change jobs and careers?

2. What would encourage you to stay in a particular job or career?

3. What benefits can employees bring to their companies?

4. What do organizations do to recognize and reward employees?

5. Which factors below are important for getting a job?

age gender appearance astrological sign contacts and experience

handwriting hobbies intelligence marital status personality degree

qualifications references sickness record blood group connections family background

6. What is motivation, do you think?

7. Which of the things listed below can motivate you more: colleagues, interesting work, gifts for achieving targets, promotion, training, flexible hours, money, job security, hard-working boss, threat of redundancy.

Rank them in order of importance. What else would you add to this list?

8. What is the difference between ‘a reward’ and ‘an incentive’? Financial and non-financial incentives?

9. Which would motivate you more: a pay rise or a better job title? Why?

10. To what extent do you judge someone by their job title? Why might job titles cause problems among staff?

11. What motivation theories do you know? As a leader, how would you motivate your employees?

Text 1

Read the text and be ready to do the task after it.

Recruiting

Managers perform various functions, but one of the most important and least understood aspects of their job is proper utilization of people. Research reveals that worker performance is closely related to motivation; thus keeping employee motivated is an essential component of good management. In a business context, motivation refers to the stimulus that directs the behavior of workers toward the company goals. In order to achieve company goals, managers must be aware of workers’ needs.

Recruiting good people is a difficult task. It is time-consuming and costly. But a well-chosen labor force will be more productive than a poorly-chosen one. Do a good job of selecting and recruiting employee and they will stay with you. People who work a territory for years build up goodwill for the company; they become well-acquainted with the customers’ needs and are able to give advice rooted in experience. Customers place a lot of confidence in such people. A poorly-selected labor force means a high staff turnover. There are two main reasons for having to recruit: expansion and replacement. But in any case you need to prepare a "man profile". Some of the points that might be included in the man profile are:

age range qualifications skills

experience single or married appearance

physical abilities personal characteristics foreign languages

educational level

These should be listed in terms of what is acceptable and what is preferable, as in Table 1.

Table 1. Man profile for sales person

	General	Preferred
Age	26-45	Under 30
Experience	Minimum	1 to 2 years
Skills	---	Ability to read blueprints
Education	Minimum	First degree
Foreign languages	---	French
Qualification	Minimum	Member of Institute of Sales
Single/married	---	Married with children
Appearance	Neat/tidy	M: clean-shaven, clean nails, non-smoker, short hair; F: neat, good-hands, slim, non-smoker, shortish hair;
Physical characteristics	---	Well-spoken, well-mannered, pleasant voice, articulate

Sometimes a list of characteristics and guidelines is created. The list may include the following points:

Appearance Handshake Courtesy Friendliness Poise Speech Self-control Handwriting Ambition Curiosity

Enthusiasm Numeracy Flexibility Health (smoker?) Knowledge Originality Persuasiveness Mental alertness Interest in job Self-starter

There are many sources of recruitment. The following are among them: educational establishments, employee agencies, trade associations, job centers, advertising.

Task I. Prepare a man profile for 2-3 different professions or trades. Add the list of characteristics including at least 7-10 points. Don’t show the notes to your classmates. Let them guess what profession (trade) you are speaking about.

Text 2

Read the text. Be ready to give your own examples of a trade or profession illustrating each category of the job specification.