GCSE / Level 2 Revision Notes

People management - Non-financial methods of motivation

Most businesses recognise the need for non-financial methods of motivation. The main ones are described briefly below:

Job enlargement

Job enlargement involves adding extra, similar, tasks to a job. In job enlargement, the job itself remains essentially unchanged.  However, by widening the range of tasks that need to be performed, hopefully the employee will experience less repetition and monotony.

With job enlargement, the employee rarely needs to acquire new skills to carry out the additional task.
A possible negative effect is that job enlargement can be viewed by employees as a requirement to carry out more work for the same pay!

Job rotation

Job rotation involves the movement of employees through a range of jobs in order to increase interest and motivation.

For example, an administrative employee might spend part of the week looking after the reception area of a business, dealing with customers and enquiries.  Some time might then be spent manning the company telephone switchboard and then inputting data onto a database.

Job rotation may offer the advantage of making it easier to cover for absent colleagues, but it may also reduce' productivity as workers are initially unfamiliar with a new task. Job rotation also often involves the need for extra training.

Job enrichment

Job enrichment attempts to give employees greater responsibility by increasing the range and complexity of tasks they are asked to do and giving them the necessary authority. It motivates by giving employees the opportunity to use their abilities to the fullest.  Successful job enrichment almost always requires further investment in employee training.

Teamworking and empowerment