D1 Non-Financial Motivators
Non-financial motivators are methods of motivation that do not relate to money. They include;
Job enrichment refers to methods used to make work more interesting by making it more challenging. This may include giving them tasks that are usually completed by more senior staff, allowing them to be more self-directed in their work and by providing training to enhance their skill set.
Job enlargement is a motivation strategy where the number of tasks and responsibilities included in a job role are increased. This is aimed at making a job more interesting through increasing the variety of tasks, thereby reducing monotony and boredom. The tasks are typically of the same skill level.
Job rotation is a method of changing the job role that an employee is performing at regular intervals during the day. In a fast food outlet, this may mean that each hour an employee changes role from front counter to making drinks to making fries to making burgers. This method of motivation helps to alleviate boredom in repetitive tasks but is only suitable in low skilled work where it is easy to switch from one task to another.
Delegation is the passing of decision making authority to personnel further down the hierarchy. When staff are involved in decision making, they feel more valued and empowered which leads to improved motivation. It can also lead to better decisions being made as staff in different parts of the organisation may be better informed about the needs in that area. For example, through talking to customers sales staff in a department store in Liverpool will have a better idea about customer preferences than the staff in head office in London.
Praise and gratitude from managers can make employees feel valued and more motivated. This can be delivered in a variety of ways including informal conversation or more formally through an appraisal process.
Autonomy refers to the ability of employees to make their own decisions. When giving staff autonomy, managers may work with their subordinates to set targets but step back and allow staff to plan their work and solve any problems in order to meet those targets.
Teamwork refers to the organisation of staff into groups to work together to achieve shared goals. The team may be given the responsibility to decide together how to achieve their goals and how to distribute tasks among the team. This allows staff to interact with others regularly which can help meet their social needs.
Job Enlargement
Benefits of Job Enlargement
Increased job satisfaction: By having more variety of tasks in their work, employees may find their role more interesting and less monotonous. This can enhance job satisfaction leading to higher productivity and lower staff turnover.
Skill development: By completing a wider variety of tasks in their roles, employees are exposed to more opportunities for skill development. This both enhances their future career prospects and enhances their flexibility to switch roles within the organisation.
Improved team cohesion: By completing different tasks, employees are more likely to have opportunities to work with people outside of their normal teams. This can help meet their social needs and improve team cohesion.
Drawbacks of Job Enlargement
Stress levels: By adding tasks to an employee’s workload without taking any away or providing adequate training, the employee may become overwhelmed and confused. This can lead to stress which can reduce quality and increase absenteeism.
Lack of specialisation benefits: As the range of tasks an employee completes increases, the amount of time they spend on an individual task decreases. This means they get less practise and may not become as specialised as they would if their role was less varied.
Resistance to change: If employees are comfortable with their current roles, they may become resistant to change. This may be due to a fear of incompetence in the new skills or that an increased workload will become overwhelming.
Job Enlargement at DingDong Ltd (June 2022 exam)
A non-financial method of motivation used at DingDong Ltd is job enlargement. This is by providing an opportunity for the existing taxi drivers to take on extra roles as delivery drivers. This adds more variety to their role but at a similar level of difficulty. .
One benefit of job enlargement is improved job satisfaction. By adding different tasks such as collecting parcels from the warehouse and dealing with different staff, variety is added to the drivers’ roles which should reduce monotony and make their jobs more interesting. By making the details of an employee’s role more interesting, morale can improve.
Another benefit of job enlargement is improved team cohesion. The taxi drivers would previously have worked in isolation but adding the delivery role would have created a central point of contact at the warehouse. This would allow them to connect with the warehouse staff and other drivers collecting parcels. This could help to satisfy their social needs, a key motivator and support team cohesion.
A drawback of job enlargement is resistance to change as employees feel the new tasks may increase workload and become overwhelming. At DingDong Ltd, several drivers resigned immediately when Masoor emailed the drivers with the new procedures regarding route tracking. When additional tasks are added without proper management and communication, it can have a negative impact on morale, in this case leading to resignations.
Another drawback of job enlargement is the lack of specialisation benefits. As drivers are switching between roles or taxi drivers and delivery drivers, they are not working full time in their role of delivery driver. This limits the opportunity for them to repeat tasks related to their new role and become more proficient in them. The large numbers of parcels that are not arriving on time could be due to a lack of familiarity the drivers have with the delivery routes and technology. Should this be the case, training would be more appropriate than threats to end contracts.
