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he would not be too concerned about security and social needs. But once he had enough food, he would start thinking about those other needs.

Research into Maslow’s theory has not been very conclusive. Studies showed that needs vary greatly among individuals. At the higher levels in a company, selfactualizing needs may be very strong whereas at lower levels, social and security needs may be dominant. As a manager it is helpful for you to know where each of your team member’s needs are on the ladder.

Another theory of motivation, which has been very popular with managers, is

Frederick Herzberg’s “two factor” theory. Herzberg conducted a number of studies in the late 1950s. He concluded that at work there are certain factors which cause job satisfaction while others lead to dissatisfaction.

The group of factors bringing about satisfaction were called “motivators”. They include things like a challenging job, responsibility, advancement, recognition etc. These factors give rise to positive satisfaction. Herzberg called the other group of factors “hygiene” or “maintenance” factors. These include company policy and administration, salary and fringe benefits, job security, status and personal life. These factors are considered to be only “dissatisfiers”, not motivators. If they do not exist, they cause dissatisfaction. If they do exist in quality and quantity, they do not, however, give increased satisfaction.

Herzberg’s two-factor theory is shown in the following diagram. It is worth noting that the hygiene factors refer to the context of the job – the conditions of work – while the motivators refer to job content.

Hersberg’s motivation-hygiene theory

motivators – achievement, challenging work, the work itself, career prospects, responsibility, recognition.

hygiene factors – company policy and administration, salary and fringe benefits, quality of supervision, relationships with colleagues, job security, status, personal life, work conditions.

Hygiene factors are essential if workers are to be motivated. They mostly deal with the question: ”Why work here?” The motivators deal with the question: ”Why work harder?”.

If Herzberg theory is true, it means that managers must pay great attention to job content. Even with the development of computers and robotics, there are and always will be plenty of boring, mindless, repetitive and mechanical jobs in all sectors of the economy, and lots of unskilled people who have to do them. So managers must find ways of making jobs more challenging and interesting.

One solution is to give people some responsibilities, not as individuals but as part of a team. For example, some supermarkets combine office staff, the people who fill the shelves, and the people who work on the checkout tills into a team and let them decide what product lines to stock, how to display them, and so on. Other employers ensure that people in repetitive jobs change them every couple of hours, as doing four different repetitive jobs a day is better than doing only one.

Sweden has been leading in motivating people. At one car plant, for example, Volvo workers assemble the whole of a car rather than do a few simple operations. In a glass factory, production workers have complete control over the work process in the

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grinding and polishing department. Other workers have helped to build and design paper mills.

Many people now talk about the importance of a company’s shared values or corporate culture, with which all the staff can identify: for example, being the best hotel chain, or hamburger restaurant chain, or airline, or making the best, the safest, the most user-friendly, the most ecological or the most reliable products in a particular field.

Comprehension / interpretation

Decide whether the following statements are true or false. Give detailed answers.

1.According to Maslow people are not concerned about achieving their personal goals in life unless they have satisfied their physiological needs.

2.Senior managers who want to become company directors have self-actualization needs which they wish to satisfy.

3.Herzberg, like Maslow, believes that people satisfy their needs systematically.

4.Herzberg believed that workers would not necessarily work harder if they earned more money.

5.Job security is one of the most important factors which motivates employees.

6.People are more and more concerned about the importance of a company’s shared values or corporate culture.

Language focus

1. Match up the words on the left with their definitions on the right.

2. Opposites

Complete the following sentences with words opposite in meaning to the words in italics. Use prefixes: in, ir, un, dis

3.Read the following guidelines for managers. Agree with them and say why.

While motivating people working under you:

1.reward only that which you intend.

2.be specific about the criteria the reward hinges on.

3.allow for people wanting different rewards – individualize as far as possible.

4.find out what people really want.

5.make sure goals are attainable.

6.ensure a clear link between performance and rewards.

4.Which of the words below can describe possible indicators of:

5. Translate the following sentences into English

1.Мотивация – это внутренняя сила, побуждающая людей работать для достижения целей организации, тем самым удовлетворяя личные потребности.

2.Задача руководителя (менеджера) состоит в том, чтобы создать возможности для служащих удовлетворять их потребности в полной мере в качестве вознаграждения за их работу и мастерство.

3.Фредерик Тейлор полагал, что служащие работают только за деньги, и он доказывал, что оплата должна быть связана с производительностью. Теория Тейлора породила сдельную систему оплаты труда (piece payment).

4.Теория Дугласа МакГрегора основывалась на концепции о том, что работники могут вести себя как ответственные члены организации, когда им ясно, что осуществление организационных целей принесёт им личные выгоды.

5.Это приводит к преданности и верности фирме и к общему желанию хорошо выполнять работу.

6.Абрахам Маслоу предполагал, что люди стремятся осуществить пять основных потребностей: физиологические потребности, потребности в безопасности, социальные потребности (принадлежность к социальной группе), потребности в уважении и признании заслуг, потребности в самореализации.

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Reading 3.

You will read the text about some forms of performance appraisal of employees.

Most organizations have some form of performance appraisal of their employees. The appraisals are usually carried out once a year. The manager makes an evaluation of the performance of the subordinate. This involves finding out a form or writing a report on the person concerned. After this, there is a meeting at which the two parties discuss the appraisal. A performance appraisal is, then, a judgment on how well a person is doing his work.

Appraisals help organizations to reward staff properly. They are useful when decisions have to be made about salary increases and bonuses. In addition, they are needed when managers are considering transferring or promoting staff. In these situations, they provide up-to-date information about an individual’s performance, skills and career objectives.

An important purpose of appraisals is to give the subordinate feedback on how he is performing. The manager can talk to the subordinate about the strengths and weaknesses of his performance. He can also discuss how the subordinate can learn to work more effectively.

At appraisal interview, subordinates can not only talk about their future, but also seek guidance from the manager. The interview may help them to think more realistically about their goals. Besides doing this, it gives the subordinate the opportunity to ask the manager for further training.

There are many methods of evaluating a person’s performance at work. Some of the better-known methods are described below.

A traditional method has been to give a “rating”. The subordinate’s evaluation is based on traits – qualities - that he shows in his work. Subordinates are judged on such things as: knowledge of the job, reliability, cooperation, initiative, quality of work, sense of responsibility, productivity and punctuality.

The manager rates the subordinate by marking a letter or figure on a scale. For example, the rating could be A-E, where A indicates outstanding and E - unsatisfactory.

However, the most popular form of appraisal, in Britain and the United States, is

Management by Objectives. This appraisal is based on a person’s performance, and how well he is achieving his goals. The manager and the subordinate agree on a certain number of objectives, which should be achieved in a given period of time. The focus is on results, not personality traits. The subordinates can be judged on such things as: number of sales calls, number of new customers contacted, number of wholesalers stocking new product, sales of product, customer complaints, service calls, etc.

Another appraisal method is worth mentioning too. This is the Critical Incident Method. With this system, the manager keeps a record of good and unsatisfactory examples (incidents) of a person’s work. These are kept in a file and reviewed with the manager when the interview takes place. An advantage of the system is that the manager has to think about the subordinate’s performance throughout the year. Furthermore, specific examples of the person’s work can be looked at and discussed at the appraisal interview.

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In spite of the need for performance appraisals, people do not like them. Many managers see appraisals as their most unpleasant duty and those who are appraised rarely have a good word to say for the system used by their organization. One problem is that the manager is expected to criticize the subordinate and to give guidance at the same time. However, it is not easy for a manager to combine those roles. Many people are naturally suspicious of appraisals. They think managers are trying to find out their weaknesses, so they are on the defensive. Moreover, managers are often unwilling to say that a subordinate’s performance has been “outstanding” or “bad”. So, the individual is described as being “just above average”. This means that high fliers in the organization do not get a good enough evaluation while the work of poor performers may be over-valued. Finally many managers do not like to criticize, in writing, a subordinate with whom they are working closely, day-to-day.

Appraisal can be a valuable process. At the interview, the manager should act as a guide to the subordinate, not as a judge. The purpose of the interview should be to discuss how the individual can “grow” in the organization, and make an effective contribution. The situation allows both parties to review the work of the individual, fix realistic targets, and plan that person’s career development.

Comprehension / interpretation

1.What is performance appraisal?

2.Why do organizations carry out appraisals?

3.What is the main purpose of any appraisal?

4.What is the main difference between the rating and the Management by Objectives methods of appraisal?

6.If the Critical Incident Method is used, what does the superior have to do before the performance appraisal interview takes place?

7.Why do some people think that the Critical Incident Method is fairer than the others mentioned?

8.Why do very good employees often complain about their performance appraisals?

9.Which of the three systems of appraisal mentioned in this article do you think is the

best for a) the manager? b) the employee?

Language focus

1. Find the best synonym. Match the words and expressions on the left with