Motivation at the Workplace - Maybe We Missed Something?

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The word 'motivation' has always given me a bit of discomfort.  I can't say why exactly.  Maybe it was the idea of motivating other people that made me think of people who have a high need for control (who I don't really like).

"The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things in life like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people in life recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation. For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you."

Neil deGrasse Tyson

I came across this quote on #motivation, and it reminded me that in the corporate world, it seems we are not on course when it comes to "motivation practices" particularly since the incentives and bonuses that are used to generate (motivate?) an increase in #performance are short-lived and ineffective.  For eg. Sales Incentives tend to be revised  / increased every quarter, particularly in sales-driven organizations, which, along with the time spent in redesigning and cascading these incentives, adds to the organization's costs with not much corresponding increase in performance. I realized that the top performers will continue to be at the top of the game, because of how they apply their natural talents and adapt to situations.  But even they need time to adjust to the culture and start delivering performance when they move to competitor organizations.  "Hit the ground running" seems to be a meaningless term that indicates more of "wishful thinking" rather than anything realistic.

Source: Pixels

Performance Improvement Plans (PIP) rarely improve the employee's performance, though it mostly has the effect of demoralizing said employee and prompting them to move out of the organization because PIP is considered as the need for fixing and therefore a stigma of sorts - leading to another loss that in turn leads to more costs.  I'm not referring to wrong hires here, but if you think about it, this increases the organization's costs as well.

What managers and leaders (all functions) refuse to accept is that the carrot gets digested and the stick withers over a short time. - Ryan Barretto (That's me)

My own exploration to understand this topic took me to many theories, starting with Abraham Maslow's work, Herzberg's two-factor theory, and others.  I then came across the work by Richard Ryan and Edward Deci, which, given my background in strengths, really made me stop and think if we're getting motivation wrong in the corporate world.

Self-determination theory (by Richard Ryan and Edward Deci) emphasizes instead the importance of fostering intrinsic motivation through satisfying these specific core needs. It suggests that all humans have three basic psychological needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—that underlie growth and development. 

• Autonomy means that the employee has some freedom of choice in his work (not the "take it or leave it" sort that exists in many organizations). 
• Competence is about whether the employee can do the work required and deliver adequate results
• Relatedness is about the feeling of connectedness and sense of belonging that the employee has with others.

In my experience, the main key is to help the employees uncover the #alignment of their #strengths to the #goals of the organization, which has the benefit of positively impacting the #employeeengagement and #employerbrand. This transcends working for more than just a paycheck. - (Also me.)

For each of the above three areas, it is the Reporting Manager that bears the major amount of responsibility, because of the frequency of contact they have with their team members.  Let's keep in mind:

1. When a manager or leader micromanages a competent employee, that creates uneasiness and over time, frustration, because the employee feels shackled while doing his work. The only thing worse than this is to be micromanaged by someone who knows far less about the job than you. In some cases, a totally hands-off approach would not be effective especially if the employee is new to the role, which would also lead to frustration again.  So a balance is required in getting work done from others.  The #situationalleadership model provides great insight on this.
2. The Manager / HR / Leader has to clearly articulate and define the level of competence required for the role, and hire accordingly. If this is missing, it can create additional ambiguity for everyone concerned, and it might result in everyone trying to do everything and do everything.
3. Additionally, if the manager doesn't spend much time conveying the importance and relevance of the employee's role to the organization's goals and vision, it creates apathy and casualness in behaviour from the employee.  This again negatively impacts performance.

HR also bears a joint responsibility and should support the manager / HOD by being flexible about job descriptions and jointly defining KRAs and KPIs.

Here are some practical ways to Increase Intrinsic Motivation (IIM)-

This is most effective when jointly addressed by HR and the Function Heads.  Firstly, all employees at all levels should have a deep awareness of their strengths.  Next, based on what we now know from applied neuroscience, leaders can intrinsically motivate themselves or their teams—and coaches can help their clients increase their sense of intrinsic motivation—by exploring these three tactics:

1) Increase a sense of autonomy

Explore any perspectives where they see their work, project or task as being forced upon them. Then, help them to choose a more motivating perspective. Based on the leader's / manager's / HR understanding of their strengths, reflect on:

• What do they have control over? What could they be given control of over a period of time?
• What should they never be given control of? 
• How could they approach the work in their own way?

2) Include Mastery Goals that stimulate their sense of being positively challenged

A Mastery Goal is a goal that challenges the employee to think about making a positive attempt to achieve a goal, even when they know it is something newer and/or larger for them to achieve than they normally would. Of course, it's the manager's job to ensure that it doesn't #burnout their people.  This would enable them to deliver performance that would be more than what they otherwise might have done. Stimulate their sense of intrinsic motivation by asking:

• What interests them?
• What skills or knowledge could they improve upon or attain that's aligned with their strengths?
• How do they wish to grow in their work and capabilities?
• What would make the task at hand feel like less of a chore and more of a positive challenge or chance to explore and accomplish something new?
• What organizational support would they need to achieve those new stretch goals?

3) Bring meaning into their work

Ask questions that connect leaders to a deeper personal purpose:

• What values come into play here? For example, how does their work or task align with their core values? What values could they draw on to help feel more aligned with their work or with a team or project? What values-based goals could they set?
• Also, what makes their work feel purposeful? What is important in it? What might the work result in? Whom might it help in a broader societal sense?
• What makes their work or a project feel fulfilling? How is it a part of their bigger vision?
• What will enhance their sense of connection—to the team, to a higher purpose, to the people they serve?

Now you may think, this is all fine, but what about an employee's motivations? What motivates an employee in the first place? For that you could use the framework of David Maclelland which speaks of the a person's need for Affiliation, Power and Achievement.

Of course, the culture of the organization also plays a huge role in influencing the motivation of the employees at all levels. Check out the Three Factor Theory of Sirota that highlights the importance of Fairness / Equity, Achievement and camaraderie in motivating employees.

As you can see, there are many paths to motivation, and a blend seems most appropriate.  However - 

The manner in which the leaders motivate their people or enable their people's motivation plays a huge part in the perception of the culture of the organization, the engagement levels of people and whether it would be a #greatplacetowork.

Want to have a discussion around motivating your team?  Write to me at ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com or call on +919820155778 and we'll fix a mutually convenient time.