Chapter 10: Motivating Employees Practice Flashcards

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key concepts, theories, and historical figures from the lecture notes on motivating employees, including Scientific Management, Herzberg's Motivating Factors, and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

Engagement

A term used to describe an employee’s level of motivation, passion, and commitment to their work.

Employee experience

The level of satisfaction at every step along an employee’s path throughout their time with a company.

Intrinsic reward

The personal satisfaction you feel when you perform well and complete goals; the belief that your work makes a significant contribution to the organization or society.

Extrinsic reward

A reward given to you by someone else as recognition for good work, such as pay raises, acknowledgments, and promotions.

Scientific management

Studying workers to find the most efficient ways of doing things and then teaching people those techniques.

Time-motion studies

Studies begun by Frederick Taylor to determine which tasks must be performed to complete a job and the time needed to do each task.

Gantt charts

Charts developed by Henry L. Gantt used by managers to plot the work of employees days in advance down to the smallest detail.

Principle of motion economy

A theory developed by Frank and Lillian Gilbreth stating that every job can be broken down into a series of elementary motions called therbligs.

Hawthorne effect

The tendency for people to behave differently when they know they are being studied.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

A theory of motivation based on unmet human needs ranging from basic physiological needs to safety, social, and esteem needs to self-actualization needs.

Physiological needs

Basic survival needs, such as the need for food, water, and shelter.

Safety needs

The need to feel secure at work and at home.

Social needs

The need to feel loved, accepted, and part of a group.

Esteem needs

The need for recognition and acknowledgment from others, as well as self-respect and a sense of status or importance.

Self-actualization needs

The need to develop to one’s fullest potential.

Motivators (Herzberg)

In Herzberg’s theory of motivating factors, job factors that cause employees to be productive and give them satisfaction, mostly related to job content.

Hygiene factors (maintenance factors)

In Herzberg’s theory of motivating factors, job factors that can cause dissatisfaction if missing but do not necessarily motivate employees if increased.

Theory X

Managerial assumptions that the average person dislikes work, must be forced or threatened with punishment to achieve goals, and prefers to be directed to avoid responsibility.

Theory Y

Managerial assumptions that people like work, are naturally committed to goals, seek responsibility, and are motivated by a variety of rewards and empowerment.

Goal-setting theory

The idea that setting ambitious but attainable goals can motivate workers and improve performance if the goals are accepted and accompanied by feedback.

Management by objectives (MBO)

Peter Drucker’s system of goal-setting and implementation involving a cycle of discussion, review, and evaluation of objectives among managers and employees.

Helping

Working with an employee and doing part of the work if necessary.

Coaching

Acting as a resource—teaching, guiding, and recommending—without participating actively or doing the task.

Equity theory

The idea that employees try to maintain equity between what they put into the job (inputs) and what they get out of it (outputs) compared to others in similar positions.

Job enrichment

A motivational strategy that emphasizes motivating the worker through the job itself by assigning tasks individuals can complete from beginning to end.

Job simplification

A strategy that produces task efficiency by breaking a job into simple steps and assigning people to each individual step.

Skill variety

One of the five characteristics of work; the extent to which a job demands different skills.

Task identity

The degree to which a job requires doing a task with a visible outcome from beginning to end.

Autonomy

The degree of freedom, independence, and discretion in scheduling work and determining procedures.

Job enlargement

A type of job enrichment that combines a series of tasks into one challenging and interesting assignment.

Job rotation

A strategy that involves moving employees from one job to another to make the work more interesting and flexible.

High-context culture

A culture where workers build personal relationships and develop group trust before focusing on tasks (e.g., Koreans, Italians, and Saudis).

Low-context culture

A culture where workers often view relationship building as a waste of time and a diversion from the task.

Expectancy theory

Victor Vroom’s theory that the amount of effort employees exert depends on their expectations of the outcome (Can I do it? What is the reward? Is it worth it?).