Describe the theory of Taylor. Explain how it would be implemented in Waitrose.

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2A – Alternative Motivational Theory

  • Describe the theory of Taylor
  • Explain how it would be implemented in Waitrose

The Theory of Taylor

Taylor stated in his theory, that an employee’s key motivator to perform at high standards is increased wages. He thought that peoples main ambition to work is for what they will receive; money. He found this out by conducting experiment at a business environment – the findings were that when tasks that each employee are paid do are divided into smaller areas, employees became more efficient and effective at the single task they perform, therefore Taylor assumed that jobs must be split into small tasks, so that the employees will repeat the same process of the task and this will mean that the employees will work quickly and mistakes will be eliminated, as due to the employees constantly doing the same task it will lead to them becoming an expert in the area, resulting to excellent performance at the workplace.  

How piece rate is used in Waitrose? (Taylor at Waitrose)

Piece rate could be used in Waitrose by shelf stacking, due to there being more shelves therefore packages/boxes must be unloaded and stacked by employees in order to ensure they receive higher pay. Another way is through tills, as if the employees have more customers to serve, the higher the wage they will receive as they will be paid for the number of customers served. The employees on the customer service desk could also be used to pay workers by piece rate, as the number of customers they deal with will determine whether they receive a higher or lower pay. There are employees in the bakery section and Waitrose use piece rate in this section, due to having the number of loaves of bread produced to determine their wage.  

How to break tasks in Waitrose? (Taylor at Waitrose)

Waitrose could break tasks by having specific employees working in the deliveries stage, in which they have to unload the stock and store them in the suitable areas in the supermarket, by stacking them on the shelves. Another section is the bakery which the specific employees gather the ingredients and mix them together then put the mix into tins which creates a specific shape for different pastry’s/ bread. After the ingredients are put together, the employees put the pastry/bread in the oven and then take the bread/pastry out of the oven for the employees to then stack the product on the shelves and serve it to the customers.

  • 6 areas that could benefit from this method
  • Need to look at how it might have a benefit and negative impact on Waitrose

Staff morale:


Breaking down on tasks

  • Advantages

The Breaking down of tasks will make employees happier, as they will get very good at completing that task and therefore may feel a sense of achievement and that they are an “expert” in that area which will result to the business having a better chance at creating a better atmosphere at Waitrose, which leads to the employees giving excellent customer service increasing a good reputation for Waitrose.

  • Disadvantages

The Breaking down of tasks will mean that employees will start to become bored of their day-to-day tasks at work, due to it being repetitive and not allowing the employees to develop and learn different areas of Waitrose apart from that specific area. This means that the employees may not be enthusiastic about their job, which decreases staff morale and this makes the business as a whole perform ineffectively, as the employees are demotivated to work productively or efficiently, which will be a weakness for Waitrose as the employee’s customer service and production will be weak giving a bad name to Waitrose.

Piece rate

  • Advantage

Piece rate is an advantage as it gives the employees the opportunity to earn more money and get financially rewarded for doing well and this will make them feel positive, as they know that their efforts are directly rewarded with their wages, which will allow the employees to acknowledge that they are being noticed in doing their hard work, therefore they will continue keeping the Waitrose team happy with their performance.

  • Disadvantage

The disadvantage of piece rate, is that If the employees are not as fast as other workers, piece rate may make them feel they are underachieving which will create a bad atmosphere at work, due to other workers becoming jealous of those that completed the tasks before, which will make employees become less enthusiastic and start to produce less and feel that they are lacking in their own personal challenge, which leads to their self-esteem as the employee may start to believe that they cannot perform at high standards to be better or the same level as the other employees.

Quality of product 


Breaking down on tasks

  • Advantages

The breaking down of tasks will allow the employees to work on a specific area for a long period of time, which involves repetitively doing the job at work again and again, to eventually become familiar with the machinery they may have to use in Waitrose, or techniques they need to learn in that area which will enable the workers to become experts in working in that part of the company, which will ensure that the products they produce are at high quality to meet the customers standards.

  • Disadvantages

However, the breaking down of tasks can have negatives, as the employees may become de-motivated as they feel that they are doing the same job constantly and feel that they are not being able to grow and learn new skills other than the specific skills needed for that specific area in Waitrose e.g. making sandwiches. This means that employees may not produce the high quality product due to boredom e.g. sandwiches that Waitrose promise their loyal customers may not be consistently of high quality as employees are not paying enough attention to the product that they have responsibility in making.

Piece rate

  • Advantages


By Using piece rate in Waitrose, this will allow the employees to be enthusiastic in producing more products e.g. in the bakery section the employees will be driven to produce as many breads as they can, to then allow more customers to buy the bread, this means the higher the output the higher sales Waitrose will encounter and this will motivate employees as they are driven into completing the task as quickly, at high quality as staff must be careful to ensure that products e.g. bread are of good quality as the manager may reject poor quality items which means that they may not get paid for it.

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  • Disadvantages

If the employees feel that their pay is based on how many products they produce or how many customers they serve, they may rush the speed in which they perform these tasks which will mean that the quality of the product will not be at Waitrose high standards and the quality of the service they provide to the customers will be poor. All in which will lead to the customers not being satisfied at Waitrose, giving a high chance that they may not return back.

 Productivity

Breaking down on tasks

  • Advantage

The productivity of the employees will ...

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