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Why do some people go the extra mile while others seem reluctant to get into the starting blocks? What is it that motivates us to work hard and how can we take responsibility for our own motivation? Here we look at the theory of motivation and how to make it work for you right now.
Motivation is the driver behind satisfying needs. We all have certain basic needs to fulfill, e.g. the need for food and water, the need for shelter and protection. This notion is depicted in the diagram below:
However, once these basic needs are satisfied, personal and aspirational needs take over. We start to focus on our emotional well-being and the need for recognition so that we can fulfill our potential and enjoy the feeling of fulfillment. This is when motivation becomes personal.
Effort and Reward
The general premise behind the theory of personal motivation is that people will do the things they are asked to if the outcomes or rewards are of some value to them. It’s human nature to ask, ‘what’s in it for me?’ before you do anything, and it’s important to remember that we all have different perceptions of worth and value. Consider the motivation drivers and outcomes in following scenario:
Simon thrives on responsibility and enjoys solving complex problems. His long-term ambition is to be the Head of the Project Management Department. He has spoken to his line manager about his career prospects and they agree on a set of developmental objectives to improve his skills and experience in order to enhance his profile. Simon knows that his performance will now be key to his promotion prospects and dedicates some of his personal time to developing his knowledge about the company project management process. He also exploits a number of opportunities to demonstrate his skills and potential to others, even though this significantly increases his workload. For example, he offers to create a project management handbook for new team members and volunteers to organize the next team away day. Simon’s endeavors don’t go unnoticed and his manager arranges for him to go on a formal project management course. Simon works hard on the course and passes with flying colors. Following the course, Simon applies for a transfer into the project team. His manager backs his application and Simon is now well on his way to achieving his ambition within the project team.
Effort and Expectation
The key to a productive relationship between effort and reward is performance. It’s important to understand that your efforts need to result in outputs that are valuable and acceptable to others in order to reap any kind of reward. For example, spending hours coming up with a new process or way of doing something is not sensible if it’s not actually needed and the time it has taken you means your primary responsibilities suffer. Neither party in this case benefits from your good intentions and there will certainly be no reward other than you might have enjoyed doing it.
Many organizations are explicit about their performance expectations. They will use a number of tools to communicate and measure performance standards, the foundations of which can usually be traced back to the organization’s vision statement:
- Vision. A statement capturing the aim and desired outcomes of an organization’s service or business, e.g. to be the world leader in automotive engineering. The vision provides the main focus for all organizational activities.
- Values. Designed to promote the image of the organization, both internally and externally, by stating how the organization intends to do business e.g. with integrity, by demonstrating excellence, and by focussing on customer service.
- Competency/Capability Frameworks. A list of the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviors an organization believes its employees need to possess or demonstrate to be successful.
- Objectives. Objectives are intended to give departments, teams and individuals a specific focus for their activities. They tend to be set annually and will alter according to the needs of the organization and the individual. Individual objectives will often incorporate the development of competencies
Are you familiar with any of these tools? Do you know and understand what is expected of you?
Reaping the Rewards
High performance can be rewarded in many ways from a simple thanks to the delegation of additional responsibilities, the opportunity to work with different people to the pressure of running a large disparate team. Remember that we all value things differently. Some people enjoy formal recognition, status and money whilst others glean as much enjoyment from their relationships with colleagues, the stability of their role or being able to pursue outside interests.
What is it that you value or need from your job? What gives you a buzz at work?
Improving Motivation
It’s important to be able to identify the things that really make you engage with your work so that you can play an active part in the development of your career and the maintenance of morale. Use the following three-step process to help you do this:
Analyze
Consider the things that you have done or seen throughout your life (personal and work) that have given you satisfaction. Identify what it was/is about them that you enjoyed. Look for any patterns within your list and group them accordingly. Do the same with the things that you haven’t enjoyed.
Focus
Look at your current role and think about how you might incorporate more of the things from your analysis that you enjoy and reduce the things that you don’t.
Act
Discuss your ideas with your manager remembering to present the benefits to both you and the organization of making any changes to your role and the effort you are prepared to put into achieving your goals.
And Finally…
Think long term. Short-term solutions to poor motivation tend to expire very quickly. Appraise the realities of your situation against your real aims and ambitions – it could be time for a fundamental rethink of the type of work or role you should be performing.
