Unit 4: Staffing, motivation & control
Business Organization and Management notes · PTU syllabus (BCOM 101-18)
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Unit summary
People make plans work and control keeps them on track. This unit covers staffing — recruitment and selection; motivation and the theories of Maslow, Herzberg and Vroom; and the meaning, function and process of control, along with span of control.
After this unit you can
- Explain the staffing process, sources of recruitment and selection steps
- Explain Maslow's, Herzberg's and Vroom's theories of motivation
- Explain the nature, importance and process of control
- Explain span of control and its determinants
PTU syllabus topics
- Recruitment and selection
- motivation theories (Maslow, Herzberg, Vroom)
- function and process of control
- span of control
- Self-actualisation
Reaching full potential
- Esteem
Recognition and respect
- Social
Belonging and friendship
- Safety
Job security, safe workplace
- Physiological
Food, shelter, basic pay
Topic 1
Staffing: recruitment and selection
Staffing is filling and keeping filled the positions in the organisation structure (Koontz).
- 1
Manpower planning
- 2
Recruitment
- 3
Selection
- 4
Placement and orientation
- 5
Training and development
- 6
Performance appraisal
- 7
Promotion, transfer and compensation
Recruitment
Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply.
Examples
Promotion, transfer, employee referrals, former employees
Advertisements, campus placement, employment exchanges, job portals, placement agencies
Cost and time
Low
High
Motivation
Boosts employee morale
Brings fresh talent
Limitation
Limited choice, inbreeding
May demotivate existing staff
Selection process
- 1
Preliminary screening
- 2
Selection tests
Intelligence, aptitude, personality, trade tests
- 3
Employment interview
- 4
Reference and background checks
- 5
Selection decision
- 6
Medical examination
- 7
Job offer
- 8
Contract of employment
- Recruitment is positive (attracts many applicants); selection is negative (rejects unsuitable ones).
Topic 2
Motivation and its theories
Motivation is the process of stimulating people to act to achieve desired goals. It arises from needs → drives → goals.
Maslow's need hierarchy theory (1943)
- Self-actualisation
Achieving one's full potential
- Esteem
Recognition, status, respect
- Social (belongingness)
Friendship, acceptance
- Safety
Job security, pension, safe conditions
- Physiological
Food, shelter, basic salary
- A need, once satisfied, no longer motivates; people move up the hierarchy.
- Criticism: needs do not always follow a strict order; culture affects priority.
Herzberg's two-factor theory (1959)
Nature
Extrinsic — job context
Intrinsic — job content
Examples
Salary, policies, supervision, working conditions, job security
Achievement, recognition, responsibility, work itself, growth
Absence causes
Dissatisfaction
No satisfaction (but not dissatisfaction)
Presence causes
No dissatisfaction
Satisfaction and motivation
Vroom's expectancy theory (1964)
Motivation (Force) = Expectancy × Instrumentality × Valence
- Expectancy: belief that effort will lead to performance.
- Instrumentality: belief that performance will lead to reward.
- Valence: value the person places on the reward.
- If any factor is zero, motivation is zero.
Example
A salesperson will work hard for a foreign trip only if they believe extra calls will raise sales (expectancy), higher sales will earn the trip (instrumentality), and they actually want the trip (valence).
Exam tip
Compare the three theories in one table in the exam: content theories (Maslow, Herzberg) explain what motivates; process theories (Vroom) explain how.
Topic 3
Function and process of control
Controlling is measuring and correcting the performance of subordinates to make sure that enterprise objectives and plans are accomplished (Koontz).
Nature and importance
- Goal-oriented, continuous, pervasive, forward-looking and backward-looking.
- Accomplishes goals, judges accuracy of standards, makes efficient use of resources, improves motivation, ensures order and discipline, facilitates coordination.
- 1Setting performance standards
- 2Measuring actual performance
- 3Comparing actual with standards
- 4Analysing deviations
Critical point control, management by exception
- 5Taking corrective action
- Critical point control: focus on key result areas.
- Management by exception: only significant deviations are reported to top management.
- Types: feed-forward (preventive), concurrent, feedback (post-action).
- Techniques: budgetary control, standard costing, ratio analysis, break-even analysis, PERT/CPM, management audit, MIS.
- Relationship between planning and controlling: planning sets standards; controlling checks performance against them — "planning without control is meaningless and control without planning is blind".
Topic 4
Span of control
Span of control is the number of subordinates who report directly to a manager.
Structure
Tall, many levels
Flat, few levels
Supervision
Close
General
Communication
Slow, distorted through levels
Fast
Cost
High (more managers)
Low
Subordinate autonomy
Low
High
Factors determining span
- Ability of the manager and subordinates.
- Nature of work — routine work allows a wide span.
- Degree of delegation and planning.
- Communication techniques and staff assistance.
- Geographical dispersion.
- V.A. Graicunas' formula: relationships = n (2^(n−1) + n − 1), where n is the number of subordinates — with 5 subordinates there are 100 relationships.
Key terms
- Staffing
- Filling and keeping filled positions in the organisation structure
- Recruitment
- Searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply
- Hygiene factors
- Factors that prevent dissatisfaction but do not motivate
- Valence
- Value a person attaches to a reward
- Management by exception
- Only significant deviations are reported to higher levels
Quick revision
- Staffing: planning → recruitment → selection → placement → training → appraisal.
- Maslow: physiological → safety → social → esteem → self-actualisation.
- Herzberg: hygiene vs motivators.
- Vroom: M = E × I × V.
- Control: standards → measure → compare → correct; span narrow = tall, wide = flat.
Important exam questions
Practice questions written to the PTU exam pattern for this unit's syllabus: short answers (Section A style) and long answers (Sections B and C style).
Short-answer questions
- Q1.What is staffing?
- Q2.Distinguish recruitment and selection.
- Q3.What are hygiene factors?
- Q4.State Vroom's expectancy equation.
- Q5.What is management by exception?
- Q6.What is span of control?
Long-answer questions
- Q1.Explain the process of recruitment and selection.
- Q2.Explain Maslow's, Herzberg's and Vroom's theories of motivation.
- Q3.Explain the meaning, importance and process of control.
- Q4.Discuss span of control and the factors determining it.
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