Motivation: financial and non-financial methods - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

13 original exam-style questions - 4 pages of questions with a full mark scheme - free printable PDF.

Download PDF Jump to mark scheme (page 5)Motivation: financial and non-financial methods revision guide

This topic is chapter 5 of GCSE Business: People and human resources Practice Book.

Next in this strand

4.5 Motivation: financial and non-financial methods

AQA 8132 · Calculator allowed · about 60 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions in the spaces provided. Show your working for any calculation: method marks are available even if your final answer is wrong. Hazelmere Bakery, used throughout this pack, is a fictional business.

State two examples of fringe benefits, other than a staff discount, that Hazelmere Bakery could offer its staff.

(Total for Question 1 is 2 marks)

Hazelmere Bakery starts letting an experienced baker plan their own daily production schedule and choose which new recipes to trial, instead of just following instructions from a manager. Which one of the following non-financial methods does this best describe?

A) Job rotation
B) A fringe benefit
C) Piece-rate pay
D) Job enrichment

(Total for Question 2 is 1 mark)

Explain one non-financial method, other than pay, Hazelmere Bakery could use to motivate its staff, linking your answer to one of Herzberg's motivators (question 5).

(Total for Question 3 is 3 marks)

State two limitations of using Maslow's or Herzberg's theory to guide how Hazelmere Bakery motivates its real staff.

(Total for Question 4 is 2 marks)

Explain the difference between Herzberg's 'hygiene factors' and 'motivators', as Herzberg proposed them.

(Total for Question 5 is 3 marks)

Hazelmere Bakery pays its production staff either a time rate of £11.50 an hour for a 35-hour week, or a piece rate of £0.50 per loaf produced. One fast worker bakes 850 loaves in a week.

(a)Calculate this worker's weekly pay under the time rate.(1)

(b)Calculate this worker's weekly pay under the piece rate, based on 850 loaves.(2)

(c)Using your answers to parts a and b, calculate how much more this worker earns under the piece rate than the time rate.(1)

(Total for Question 6 is 4 marks)

A slower worker on the same piece rate (£0.50 per loaf) bakes only 700 loaves in a week.

(a)Calculate this worker's weekly pay under the piece rate.(2)

(b)Using your answer to part a and question 6a, calculate how much less this worker earns under the piece rate than they would under the time rate.(1)

(Total for Question 7 is 3 marks)

Explain one advantage to Hazelmere Bakery of piece-rate pay, linking your answer to Taylor's view of motivation (question 10).

(Total for Question 8 is 3 marks)

Explain why relying only on financial methods, as Taylor suggested, might not motivate every member of staff at Hazelmere Bakery.

(Total for Question 9 is 3 marks)

Explain Taylor's view of what motivates workers at work, and outline one criticism of this view.

(Total for Question 10 is 3 marks)

Explain one risk of piece-rate pay to a worker like the one in question 7, who produces fewer loaves than average.

(Total for Question 11 is 3 marks)

Piece-rate pay rewards Hazelmere Bakery's fastest worker with an extra £22.50 a week (question 6c), matching Taylor's view that money motivates harder work, but leaves a slower worker £52.50 worse off than the time rate (question 7b), and questions 3, 5 and 9 show Herzberg and Maslow's theories suggest pay is not the only thing that motivates staff.
Recommend whether Hazelmere Bakery should extend piece-rate pay to more of its production staff. Justify your answer using the figures and points made earlier in this pack.

(Total for Question 12 is 9 marks)

Hazelmere Bakery is deciding whether to replace its 20% staff discount with an equivalent-cost job enrichment scheme, giving experienced bakers more responsibility for planning production (question 2), at no extra financial cost to the bakery. Analyse the likely impact of this change on staff motivation, using Herzberg's theory (question 5) in your answer.

(Total for Question 13 is 6 marks)

Mark scheme · 4.5 Motivation: financial and non-financial methods

Question 1

B1 a company pension contribution above the legal minimum (oe)
B1 private health insurance/healthcare, or free/subsidised meals (oe)
Answer: Any two, e.g. an above-minimum pension contribution; private health insurance or free meals.

Question 2

B1 D cao
Answer: D

Question 3

B1 identifies a non-financial method, e.g. giving an experienced baker greater responsibility, such as training new staff or planning the day's production
B1 links it to a Herzberg motivator, e.g. this matches Herzberg's 'responsibility' motivator, which he argued genuinely increases job satisfaction, unlike a hygiene factor such as pay
B1 links clearly to an outcome, e.g. this can increase engagement and reduce staff turnover without any extra pay cost
Answer: Giving an experienced baker greater responsibility, such as training new staff, matches Herzberg's 'responsibility' motivator, which he argued genuinely increases job satisfaction unlike a hygiene factor such as pay, and can increase engagement and reduce staff turnover at no extra pay cost.

Question 4

B1 one acceptable limitation, e.g. the theories are difficult to test scientifically and are not universally proven to apply to every workplace
B1 a second acceptable limitation, e.g. different individual staff members may be motivated by different things, so no single theory fits everyone
Answer: Any two, e.g. the theories are difficult to test scientifically and are not universally proven; individual staff may be motivated by different things, so no single theory fits everyone.

Question 5

B1 identifies that hygiene factors, e.g. pay, working conditions, company policy, can cause dissatisfaction if they are poor, but do not themselves create motivation
B1 identifies that motivators, e.g. achievement, recognition, responsibility, the work itself, are what Herzberg argued actually motivate staff and create job satisfaction
B1 draws a clear contrast between the two, e.g. improving hygiene factors alone removes dissatisfaction but will not, on its own, motivate staff to work harder
Answer: Hygiene factors, such as pay and working conditions, can cause dissatisfaction if poor but do not themselves motivate, whereas motivators, such as achievement, recognition and responsibility, are what Herzberg argued actually create job satisfaction; improving hygiene factors alone removes dissatisfaction but will not motivate staff to work harder.

Question 6

(a) B1 £402.50 cao
(a) Answer: £402.50.
(b) M1 850 x 0.50 seen
(b) A1 £425 cao
(b) Answer: £425.
(c) B1 £22.50 cao (ft from parts a and b)
(c) Answer: £22.50.

Question 7

(a) M1 700 x 0.50 seen
(a) A1 £350 cao
(a) Answer: £350.
(b) B1 £52.50 cao (ft from part a and question 6a)
(b) Answer: £52.50.

Question 8

B1 identifies the advantage, e.g. piece rate pays workers directly for output, matching Taylor's belief that money motivates harder work
B1 develops the point, e.g. faster workers, like the one in question 6, are rewarded with higher pay for producing more
B1 links clearly to an outcome, e.g. this can increase total output/productivity for Hazelmere without raising the basic time rate for everyone
Answer: Piece rate pays workers directly for output, matching Taylor's belief that money motivates harder work; faster workers like the one in question 6 earn more for producing more, which can raise Hazelmere's total output without raising the basic time rate for everyone.

Question 9

B1 identifies the point, e.g. Maslow and Herzberg both argue that needs beyond pay, such as belonging, esteem or responsibility, also affect motivation
B1 develops the point, e.g. a staff member whose basic pay needs are already met (Maslow's lower levels) may be motivated more by recognition or responsibility (Herzberg's motivators) than by extra money
B1 links clearly to an outcome, e.g. an approach based only on financial reward, as Taylor proposed, may fail to motivate this member of staff, even if it works well for others, such as the fast worker in question 6
Answer: Maslow and Herzberg both argue that needs beyond pay, such as belonging, esteem or responsibility, also affect motivation, so a staff member whose basic pay needs are already met may be motivated more by recognition or responsibility than by extra money, meaning a purely financial approach, as Taylor proposed, may not motivate everyone equally.

Question 10

B1 identifies Taylor's view, e.g. Taylor believed workers are motivated mainly, or only, by money/financial reward
B1 develops the point, e.g. Taylor's scientific management broke jobs into simple, repetitive tasks and paid workers piece rate for the amount they produced
B1 outlines a criticism, e.g. later theorists such as Herzberg and Maslow argued this ignores workers' social and psychological needs, and Taylor's view is now considered too narrow, not a proven fact
Answer: Taylor believed workers are motivated mainly by money, so his scientific management broke jobs into simple, repetitive tasks and paid workers piece rate for output; later theorists such as Herzberg and Maslow criticised this as ignoring workers' social and psychological needs, and it is now seen as too narrow rather than a proven fact.

Question 11

B1 identifies the risk, e.g. this worker's pay depends entirely on how many loaves they produce
B1 develops the point, e.g. a slower or less experienced worker, or one who is unwell or has an off day, earns significantly less, shown by the £52.50 shortfall in question 7b
B1 links clearly to an outcome, e.g. this makes piece-rate income unpredictable and could demotivate or financially disadvantage workers who are not among the fastest
Answer: This worker's pay depends entirely on output, so a slower or less experienced worker earns significantly less, shown by the £52.50 shortfall in question 7b, making piece-rate income unpredictable and potentially demotivating for workers who are not among the fastest.

Question 12

Level 1 (1-3): Makes simple, undeveloped comments about extending piece-rate pay, with little or no use of the pack's figures or theories, and no clear recommendation.
Level 2 (4-6): Gives a developed argument for or against extending piece-rate pay, using some of the pack's figures or theories, but does not fully weigh both sides or reach a clearly justified recommendation.
Level 3 (7-9): Weighs the evidence for and against extending piece-rate pay, using the pay-comparison figures and Taylor/Herzberg/Maslow's theories from this pack, and reaches a justified recommendation supported by that analysis.
Indicative content:
- For extending piece rate: it rewards Hazelmere's fastest worker with £22.50 a week more than the time rate (question 6c), supporting Taylor's view that financial reward motivates workers to produce more, which could raise the bakery's overall output.
- For extending piece rate: it directly links pay to output, which is simple for Hazelmere to administer and clearly rewards effort, unlike a flat time rate that pays the same regardless of how many loaves are baked.
- Against extending piece rate: question 7b shows a slower worker earns £52.50 less than under the time rate, and questions 4 and 14 argue, via Herzberg and Maslow, that pay is not the only, or even the main, motivator for every member of staff.
- Against extending piece rate: unpredictable or reduced income for slower workers (question 9) could increase staff turnover among exactly the staff Hazelmere can least afford to lose, and non-financial methods (question 12) could motivate some staff more effectively at no extra cost.
- Judgement: given that piece rate clearly benefits faster workers but risks demotivating and financially penalising slower ones, and that Herzberg and Maslow's contested but influential theories suggest non-financial factors also matter, a reasonable recommendation is that Hazelmere Bakery should offer piece rate only as an optional alternative to the time rate, alongside non-financial motivators such as recognition and responsibility (question 12), rather than extending it to all production staff.

Question 13

Level 1 (1-3): Makes simple, undeveloped points about the change, with limited use of Herzberg's theory and little or no application to Hazelmere Bakery.
Level 2 (4-6): Provides a developed and applied analysis of the likely impact on motivation, using Herzberg's theory and referring to Hazelmere Bakery's staff.
Indicative content:
- Herzberg classed pay-related benefits such as a staff discount as a hygiene factor (question 4), which can prevent dissatisfaction but does not itself motivate staff to work harder.
- Job enrichment matches Herzberg's 'responsibility' motivator (question 4), which he argued genuinely increases job satisfaction, so this change could motivate experienced bakers more effectively than the discount did.
- Removing the discount could reduce satisfaction among lower-paid staff who value its direct financial value, especially if Maslow's lower-level physiological needs (question 3) are not fully met by their basic pay.
- Not every member of staff wants greater responsibility; some may find planning production stressful or prefer the certainty of a discount they can rely on, so the change could demotivate a minority even as it motivates others.
- A balanced conclusion might note that job enrichment is likely to be a stronger long-term motivator for experienced staff under Herzberg's theory, but Hazelmere Bakery should judge how much its staff value the discount's direct financial worth before removing it for everyone, consistent with this pack's wider point (question 14) that no single method motivates every member of staff.

Motivation: financial and non-financial methods - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

Next in this strand

Related topics

4.5 Motivation: financial and non-financial methods

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Question 6

Question 7

Question 8

Question 9

Question 10

Question 11

Question 12

Question 13

Mark your answers

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Question 6

Question 7

Question 8

Question 9

Question 10

Question 11

Question 12

Question 13