English with Jo

This is the preparation material for a Business English conversation lesson about motivation.  Motivation in business is about the ways a company can encourage staff to give their best.  Motivated staff care about the success of the business and work better.  Understanding what motivates individuals is important in the workplace. Research suggests that motivated employees are happier at work. They get more satisfaction from their work, are absent less often, tend to be more loyal and work with more enthusiasm. 

Audio about Motivation

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• What do you think about Tesco’s strategies for improving staff motivation?
• Which do you think is the best incentive?

Vocabulary

Conversation Questions

• Are you motivated in your job? What about your colleagues?
• What motivates you to do a good job?
• What motivates your colleagues?
• What’s more important to you - salary or job satisfaction?
• Describe a situation when you were very motivated to do a good job.
• Are you ambitious?
• If you were looking for a new job, what would be the most important factor you would look for?
• If you were being underpaid in your job, what would be the best strategy to resolve this problem?
• Do you believe you can do a better job than you are currently doing?
• Do you think you would get more pay and benefits or better grades if you did a better job?
• Do you care about the rewards in your organization?
• Does your company offer any incentives or bonuses to its staff? Is this effective?
• Have you ever lost interest or motivation in a job?
• What obstacles stop employees performing to best effect?
• What changes in a company affect motivation?
• What is the relationship between motivation and job performance?
• What do you think are the most important motivational needs for the majority of people?
• What are the best incentives for getting someone to work hard?
• How can a good leader motivate other people?
• Have you ever been a leadership position?
• If so, how did you motivate the people in your team?
• Can you think of any unique ways to motivate staff e.g. promotions, competitions, activities?
• What qualities does a motivated employee have?
• Do you think programs like employee of the month or employee of the year are effective?
• What staff benefits would increase motivation?