Chapter 6 : Motivation II

Job involvement

A cognitive state of psychological identification with one's job and the importance of work to one's total self-image.

Gainsharing

A group pay incentive plan based on productivity or performance improvements over which the workforce has some control.

Piece-rate

A pay system in which individual workers are paid a certain sum of money for each unit of production completed.

Variable pay

A portion of employees' pay that is based on a measure of performance.

Job rotation

Rotating employees to different tasks and jobs in an organization.

Job crafting

Self-initiated changes that employees make in their job demands and job resources to improve the fit or match between characteristics of their job and their personal abilities and needs.

6.6 Explain how flexible work arrangements respect employee diversity.

Some organizations have adopted flexible work arrangements, which permit flexibility in terms of where and when work is completed. Common examples include flex-time, compressed workweeks, job and work sharing, and telecommuting. These flexible work arrangements have the potential to meet diverse workforce needs and promote job satisfaction. They can also reduce absenteeism and turnover and enhance the quality of working life.

Merit pay plans

Systems that attempt to link pay to performance on white-collar jobs.

Restriction of productivity

The artificial limitation of work output that can occur under wage incentive plans.

Job scope

The breadth and depth of a job.

Flexible work arrangements

Work options that permit flexibility in terms of "where" and/or "when" work is completed.

gainsharing

a compensation system in which companies share the financial value of performance gains, such as increased productivity, cost savings, or quality, with their workers

merit pay

a system of linking pay increases to ratings on performance appraisals

Which of the following has a stronger effect on job performance?

bonus pay

The 4-40 system is the most common example of what flexible work arrangement?

compressed work-week

The most effective motivational approach will depend on a combination of ________ factors.

contingency

Wage incentives that reward individual productivity might __________ cooperation among workers.

decrease

Which one of the following is NOT a job crafting dimension? increasing social job resources increasing job characteristics increasing challenging job demands increasing structural job resources

increasing job characteristics

What job crafting dimension is the most important for predicting work outcomes? increasing challenging job demands increasing structural job resources increasing social job resources decreasing hindering job demands

increasing structural job resources

6.2 Explain how to tie pay to performance on white-collar jobs and the difficulties of merit pay plans.

Attempts to link pay to performance on whitecollar jobs are called merit pay plans. Evidence suggests that many merit pay plans are less effective than they could be, because merit pay is inadequate, performance ratings are mistrusted, or extreme secrecy about pay levels prevails.

Work design characteristics

Attributes of the task, job, and social and organizational environment.

Stretch assignments

Challenging assignments and projects that are larger in scope than one's current job and involve more responsibility.

6.3 Explain the various approaches to use pay to motivate teamwork.

Compensation plans to enhance teamwork include profit sharing, employee stock ownership plans, gainsharing, and skill-based pay. Each of these plans has a different motivational focus, so organizations must choose a plan that supports their strategic needs.

Job enlargement

Increasing job breadth by giving employees more tasks at the same level to perform but leaving other core characteristics unchanged.

Feedback

Information about the effectiveness of one's work performance.

Work sharing

Reducing the number of hours employees work to avoid layoffs when there is a reduction in normal business activity.

Telecommuting

A system by which employees are able to work at remote locations but stay in touch with their offices through the use of information and communication technology.

Skill-based pay

A system in which people are paid according to the number of job skills they have acquired.

Flex-time

An alternative work schedule in which arrival and departure times are flexible.

Compressed workweek

An alternative work schedule in which employees work fewer than the normal five days a week but still put in a normal number of hours per week.

Job sharing

An alternative work schedule in which two part-time employees divide the work of a full-time job.

Management by Objectives (MBO)

An elaborate, systematic, ongoing program designed to facilitate goal establishment, goal accomplishment, and employee development.

6.5 Understand the connection between goal setting and Management by Objectives.

Management by Objectives (MBO) is an elaborate goal-setting and evaluation process that organizations typically use for management jobs. Objectives for the organization as a whole are developed by top management and diffused down through the organization and translated into specific behavioral objectives for individual members.

Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)

Incentive plans that allow employees to own a set amount of a company's shares and provide employees with a stake in the company's future earnings and success.

Lump sum bonus

Merit pay that is awarded in a single payment and not built into base pay.

6.1 Discuss how to tie pay to performance on production jobs and the difficulties of wage incentive plans.

Money should be most effective as a motivator when it is made contingent on performance. Schemes to link pay to performance on production jobs are called wage incentive plans. Piece-rate, in which workers are paid a certain amount of money for each item produced, is the prototype of all wage incentive plans. In general, wage incentives increase productivity, but their introduction can be accompanied by a number of problems, one of which is the restriction of production.

6.7 Describe the factors that organizations should consider when choosing motivational practices.

Organizations need to conduct a diagnostic evaluation to determine the motivational practices that will be most effective. This requires a consideration of employee needs, the nature of the job, organizational characteristics, and the outcome that is of most concern to the organization.

Depth

The degree of discretion or control a worker has over how work tasks are performed.

Job enrichment

The design of jobs to enhance intrinsic motivation, quality of working life, and job involvement.

Prosocial motivation

The desire to expend effort to benefit other people.

Task identity

The extent to which a job involves doing a complete piece of work, from beginning to end.

Growth need strength

The extent to which people desire to achieve higherorder need satisfaction by performing their jobs.

Autonomy

The freedom to schedule one's own work activities and decide work procedures.

Task significance

The impact that a job has on other people.

Breadth

The number of different activities performed on a job.

Skill variety

The opportunity to do a variety of job activities using various skills and talents.

Profit sharing

The return of some company profit to employees in the form of a cash bonus or a retirement supplement.

Relational architecture of jobs

The structural properties of work that shape employees' opportunities to connect and interact with other people.

Job design

The structure, content, and configuration of a person's work tasks and roles.

6.4 Compare and contrast the different approaches to job design, including the traditional approach, the Job Characteristics Model, job enrichment, work design, and relational job design, and discuss the meaning and relevance of job crafting for job design.

The traditional approach to the design of most non-managerial jobs was job simplification. Recent views advocate increasing the scope (breadth and depth) of jobs to capitalize on their inherent motivational properties, as opposed to the job simplification of the past. The Job Characteristics Model, developed by Hackman and Oldham, suggests that jobs have five core characteristics that affect their motivating potential: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback. When jobs are high in these characteristics, favourable motivational and attitudinal consequences should result. Job enrichment involves designing jobs to enhance intrinsic motivation, job involvement, and the quality of working life. Some specific enrichment techniques include combining tasks, establishing client relationships, reducing supervision and reliance on others, forming work teams, and making feedback more direct. Work design involves the use of a variety of work design characteristics, which refer to the attributes of the task, job, and social and organizational environment. Relational job design involves motivating employees to make a difference in other people's lives or prosocial motivation. The relational architecture of jobs refers to the structural properties of work that shape employees' opportunities to connect and interact with other people. Job crafting involves self initiated changes that employees make in their job demands and job resources to improve the fit or match between characteristics of their job and their personal abilities and needs.

Wage incentive plans

Various systems that link pay to performance on production jobs.

When telecommuting is an option, companies can hire the best person for a job, regardless of where they live in the world, through _________________.

distant staffing

Team-based pay for performance programs have a positive effect on behavioural, operational, and_________________ outcomes.

financial

Which group incentive plan commonly results in reductions in the cost of labour, material, and/or supplies?

gainsharing

In the Job Characteristics Model, task identity refers to _________________________________.

he extent to which a job involves doing a complete piece of work, from beginning to end

Pay-for-performance merit pay plans and bonus pay have a positive effect on job performance, especially in jobs where performance is more ________________________.

objectively mesured

Jobs can be relationally designed to provide employees with opportunities to interact and communicate with the people affected by their work, thereby allowing them to see the benefits and significance of their work for others. The desire to expand effort to benefit other people is called ____________.

prosocial motivation

In Management by Objectives, objectives, time frames, and priorities are __________________.

put in writing

What is it called when employees are given opportunities to work on a variety of new tasks that are larger in scope than their current job and involve more responsibility?

stretch assignments

If your organization offers flexibility with respect to where you perform your job, what type of flexible work arrangement are they providing you?

telecommuting

Job design refers to ____________________________________________.

the structure, content, and configuration of a person's work tasks and roles

The choice of motivational practices requires a ________ diagnosis of the organization and the needs and desires of employees.

thorough

What is the purpose of flexible work arrangements?

to meet diverse workforce needs, promote job satisfaction, and help employees manage work and non-work responsibilities

Providing employees some portion of their pay that is based on a measure of performance is called ______________________.

variable pay

Pay for performance on production jobs is called ______________; pay for performance on white-collar jobs is called __________________.

wage incentive; merit pay