Research Motivational Theories And Analyse How The Employees

Expectancy theory:

This states that workers will only act when they have a reasonable expectation that their work will lead to the desired outcome. If they believe that they possess the ability and skill to achieve the goal, then their level of effort will be great and they will be motivated.

Equity theory:

This states that each worker will wish to receive a remuneration package (equal to their pay plus fringe benefits) in return for their efforts. Each worker will only be motivated if their remuneration package is seen to be fair (or equitable) in relation to the remuneration packages received by the other workers for their efforts.

• The importance of motivation for employees

The way your employees feel about their job and their workplace determines how motivated they are. There is a clear link between job satisfaction and productivity.

Job satisfaction depends partly on tangible rewards - for example, how much a person is paid and what benefits they receive. See our guides on how to set the right pay rates and implement staff incentive schemes.

However, job satisfaction also depends on the culture of an organisation. This means the things that make your business distinctive and make the people who work there proud to do so. You can motivate people with:

• varied and interesting work - perhaps giving the opportunity to travel

• high-quality training and development - eg encouragement to study for professional qualifications

• an "open door" culture in which managers are approachable

• respect for a good work-life balance - for example offering the opportunity for flexible working

• fairness at work, including equal opportunities

• proactive and regular communication

• regular appraisal and positive feedback - restating business objectives and recognising your staff's contribution

• requests for feedback, either in person or via staff surveys, on how employees feel about their roles, the support they get, and improvements to the business

• the chance to socialise with colleagues at organised events

• recognition and reward for ideas or competitive intelligence

Poor employee motivation

When a firm grows, staff may have less personal contact with management. In large organisations there is often a sense of alienation.. If staff believe that their efforts are going unnoticed a sense of despondency may spread. According to the motivation theorist Elton Mayo, employees enjoy working for managers who pay an interest in them as individuals. This is the so-called “Hawthorne effect”. In large organisations like Maghaberry some managers may feel that they do not have the time for frequent informal chats with their staff. This must try to be avoided as it can lead to poor motivation. Professor Herzberg also believes that recognition for achievement is vital for employee motivation. If managers do not take this into account the likelihood is that staff motivation will fall. A falling level of work effort will increase the organisations costs which are important for Maghaberry prison because they only get a set budget each year and cannot surpass this budget.

A low staff turnover would suggest that employee motivation is good at Maghaberry

Prison would suggest that employees are motivated as there is something keeping them

loyal to the organisation.

• Methods of financial motivation and their effectiveness

• Bonus

A bonus is an extra payment made to employees who work well and help the business. An example of when a bonus may be given is when a business is under pressure and needs to meet an order.

Bonuses encourage employees to work harder. Bonuses are both beneficial to the business and employees as the Business benefits from greater production which will in turn increase the businesses sales.

• Equal Pay

The law says that men and women are entitled to equal pay for work of equal value. Equal pay includes basic pay as well as other contractual conditions of employment, eg hours of work, bonuses and pension contributions.

Employees have the right to ask their employer for information to help them work out whether they have received equal pay, and if not, why.

At Maghaberry prison equal pay is very important, both male and female staff have the same rights and are entitled to the same pay.

• Sick Pay

Sick pay is paid to employees who are unable to work because of sickness. Sick pay is paid by a Business for up to a maximum of 28 weeks.

If staff are unable to work due to an illness or bad health then they are full entitled to receive sick pay. Maghaberry prison understands that staff will be sick from time to time as they are carrying out a very strenuous job.

• Paid Leave

In addition to working a maximum of 48 hours per week, the working time regulations state that every worker is entitled to four weeks paid leave per annum. Before 23 November 1999, this was three weeks.

A week’s leave should allow workers to be away from work for a week. It should be the same amount of time as the working week: if a worker does a 5-day week, they are entitled to 20 days’ leave; if they do a 3-day week, the entitlement is 12 daysвЂ™Ð²Ð‚™ leave.

The leave entitlement under the regulations is not additional to bank holidays. There is no statutory right to take bank holidays off. Workers must give the employer notice that they want to take leave.

Employers can set the times that workers take their leave,