Understanding What Motivates Employees In The Workplace
“I love my job!”
“I trust in the leadership”
“I’m ready to give it my all today.”
How do we get our employees to say and feel these things? They need to be consistently motivated. Achieving this will make the difference between success and failure. Why?
Highly-motivated employees (1) are better problem-solvers; can handle uncertainty more easily; have higher levels of innovation, creativity, and customer centricity; are more profitable; improve customer satisfaction; and increase employee retention rates – they are engaged.
But motivating employees isn’t a simple task. In this article, we deep dive into the tactics businesses can use to get the best out of their people.
What motivates people to work?
Leaders often lean towards the carrot approach. An example of this is the use of gamification in e-learning that encourages people to complete modules in return for points.
But there are problems with extrinsic motivation (when someone does something for an external reward, such as money, feedback, discounts, holidays).
For one, making extrinsic rewards commonplace can lead to a decrease in intrinsic motivation (when someone does something because they find it enjoyable or interesting).
This is known as the overjustification effect (Deci, Koestner & Ryan, 1999; Lepper, Greene & Nisbett, 1973). In The Science of Motivation (2), Kou Murayama, associate professor at the University of Reading, conducted an experiment to highlight how the overjustification effect can impact motivation:
“Participants in the reward group received performance-based monetary rewards, whereas participants in the control condition [...] played the game just for fun.
“Participants in the reward group showed less voluntary engagement in the task than those in the control group, indicating that their intrinsic motivation for the task was undermined by the introduction of extrinsic rewards.”
Widening the gap between leaders and employees
Extrinsic rewards can also put a focus on compliance. This may taint the reward by bolstering an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality, which can be detrimental to employee engagement. The concept of Theory X and Theory Y developed by social psychologist Douglas McGregor supports this.
It describes two contrasting sets of assumptions that leaders make about their people:
Theory X – “employees dislike work, have little ambition, and are unwilling to take responsibility”. Leaders with this assumption motivate using a rigid "carrot and stick" approach, which rewards good performance and punishes poor performance.
Theory Y – “employees are self-motivated and enjoy the challenge of work”. Managers with this assumption have a more collaborative relationship with their people, and motivate them by allowing them to work on their own initiative, giving them responsibility, and empowering them to make decisions.
By swapping carrots in favour of intrinsic rewards (in other words, becoming a Theory Y leader), McGregor highlights how you can bridge the gap, form better relationships with your teams and, ultimately, motivate them more effectively.
Basic needs vs. self-fulfilment needs
It could also be argued that material rewards, such as money and holidays only fulfil the most basic of human needs. Take a look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs [right], which comprises a five-tier model of human needs.
As you can see, intrinsic rewards, such as creative achievements, feeling accomplished and reaching one’s potential are at the top of the pyramid.
In Maslow’s theory, he suggests that people must work their way up the pyramid to achieve each stage of fulfilment.
This highlights that extrinsic rewards should be replaced with intrinsic rewards, once basic human needs are met, so that people can continue to satisfy their needs to achieve higher motivation levels.
Looking at these theories, it becomes clear that intrinsic rewards have the potential to motivate employees better than extrinsic rewards. But you still need to understand what drives your teams on an individual level to hit their motivational sweet spot.
What motivates your employees to work?
No matter how many people you employ, there are strategies you can use to effectively uncover what motivates them on an individual level. Here are some ideas to help:
1. Identify who your employees are
Just as you would with your customers, understanding your employees’ demographics, personality types, experiences and behaviours gives you an insight into what motivates them.
To illustrate, studies have found that Millennials (people born between 1981 to 1996) tend to want different things than Generation Z (people born between 1995 and 2015). For example, evidence suggests they would rather work for a purpose than a paycheque and like to pursue their own personal development and job satisfaction over financial reward. Meanwhile, Gen Z is motivated by money and job security. They also have a more competitive mentality compared to Millennials who generally like to be collaborative.
Other ways you can identify your employees and their values are through Myers Briggs profiling (3), Career Anchors (4) and one-to-one conversations with your team members to discover their:
personal values
life and work experiences
what’s worked for them and what hasn’t
what they want from work
where they want to go next
You could also set up an anonymous survey with questions surrounding what motivates people. Then you can identify the common areas of motivation, discuss them as a team and talk about what needs changing to help them feel more motivated.
2. Learn employee’s feedback preferences
Only 2 in 10 employees (5) strongly agree that their performance is managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work.
That’s why tailoring your feedback process to your employee’s preferences is how you make criticism helpful and motivate them to act on it. Questions to ask could be:
Do you prefer an in-person discussion over an email?
Would you rather have weekly or monthly feedback sessions?
Would you benefit from peer-to-peer feedback sessions?
How do you like to receive feedback?
It’s worth noting that positive feedback has been directly linked to intrinsic motivation (6). Moreover, a Gallup survey (7) found that 67% of employees whose managers focused on their strengths were fully engaged in their work, as compared to only 31% of employees whose managers focused on their weaknesses. Keep this in mind when considering how you and your managers frame feedback to boost motivation.
3. Level up your communication games
The better your relationship with employees, the more you will understand what motivates them. Effective communication is key to a good relationship. It builds trust and engagement, encouraging employees to voice their opinions because they know they’ll be heard and acted upon.
To communicate more effectively as a leader, ask your team how they prefer to get and share information. Individual preferences will differ, and while it’s critical to take these into account, you also need to agree, as a team, on more widespread communication methods on topics such as:
company news
company performance against annual targets for the team and organisation
the teams’ everyday work such as workloads and delegation
reviewing past quarter/half year/full year performance
planning for the future and continuous development
individual one-to-one work conversations
feedback
decision-making and approval
input of information
This shouldn’t just be a tick box exercise. As their leader, you need to give your people attention on a regular basis, asking them what they need from you to perform at their best.
In the end, it’s about recognising that your employees are people with individual values and motivations. Taking the time to work on your communications and understand these factors is how you cultivate happier teams that can seamlessly adapt to change and overcome future challenges. If you need some help with your internal communications process then get in touch with us on 07812 343310 or email us at hello@enthuse-comms.co.uk.
As Google’s Vice President of People Development puts it: “We want our employees to love it here, because that’s what’s going to make us successful.”
References:
(1) “Beyond the Clock: The Benefits of Highly Motivated Employees,” Alison Napolitano, business.com., July 2016.
(2) “The science of motivation,” Kou Murayama, American Psychological Association, June 2018.
(3) “MBTI Basics,” The Myers and Briggs Foundation, [accessed on 10 August 2020].
(4) “What are Schein's Career Anchors?” Seán Lea, Business Balls, September 2017.
(5) “Why Leaders Need To Embrace Employee Motivation,” Christine Comaford, Forbes, January 2018.
(6) “Positive feedback increases intrinsic motivation,” Alexander, The Chief Happiness Officer Blog, August 2014.
(7) “Employees Want a Lot More From Their Managers,” Jim Harter and Amy Adkins, Gallup, April 2015.