MOTIVATION
What makes people work hard?
Understanding the roots of employees motivation has been hailed as the big missing link in the approach to reward management of many companies. But many of us may be daunted by — or not too familiar with — the latest motivational techniques. What's absolutely clear is that we now have a pretty clear understanding of some of the factors that really motivate employees. But as professor Adrian Furnham told delegates to a recent e-reward.co.uk seminar, these motivational techniques are so well known, but so little done .
How best to motivate staff poses a continuing challenge for managers. Improving morale, encouraging better performance and generating a culture of innovation are all sacred managerial pursuits. But in the relentless chase after this Holy Grail, it is possible to overlook some obvious issues. Indeed, organisations seldom think about what really motivates their employees.
All too often employers seem to rely simply on financial rewards (the extrinsic factors), hoping that they will coincide with whatever it is that motivates their staff. This means that many organisations are neglecting the intrinsic factors, the powerful levers for motivating and retaining employees.
Moving beyond cash
The stark reality is that cash is only one way of motivating employees. After hearing it from so many voices, sceptics should start to acknowledge that higher levels of motivation and commitment among employees cannot be achieved through pay alone. There are a host of other motivators — take, for example, security, job satisfaction, intellectual stimulation and career development.
The e-reward.co.uk seminar held in central London earlier this month looked at the latest research on the best ways for modern employers to get the most from their staff. Organised in association with the conference company Hawksmere, the keynote presentation was given by the distinguished academic Adrian Furnham, a professor of psychology at University College London.
A dozen motivational recommendations
Finding the best ways to motivate staff can be a frustrating and bewildering experience for managers, supervisors and company owners. But the fact is we know some of the key factors in motivation, said Furnham. Ideas in motivation get repackaged, renamed, rebranded, but there is nothing startlingly new.
For Furnham there are 12 essential motivational techniques. These basic principles might seem like obvious common sense, but managers do not always follow them, he said.
1 Give employees the information they need to do the job.
2 Give all employees as much meaningful work as possible.
3 Pay people what they are worth in the marketplace.
4 Offer employees a share of the profits.
5 Demonstrate, where possible, long-term employment commitment, development and promotion from within.
6 Provide regular specific feedback to staff on their performance.
7 Publicly recognise and personally congratulate employees after good work occurs.
8 Foster a sense of community and teamwork.
9 Be accessible to employees.
10 Ask employees for their feedback and ideas and involve them in the decision making as much as possible.
11 Pay attention to individual differences and personal needs.
12 Use performance appraisals/behaviour measures as criteria to make decisions about promotion, performance-related pay, training etc.
Does money motivate?
The role of money has been a reward battleground for many years. Furnham's central thesis is that money is not a good motivator , except in the short term, and it is more likely to act as a demotivator if salary is not marketplace competitive. If you get it wrong, there are powerful negative consequences , he warned.
So, why are any feelings of satisfaction resulting from money likely to be short-lived? The answers, according to Furnham, can be grouped under four broad headings:
Adaptation: the motivational impact of money will not necessarily last long and disappears rapidly, so the only option is to keep adding more money.
Social comparison: people attach great importance to how much they earn relative to others. A pay hike will simply mean that comparisons are now likely to be made with those in a different group.
Alternatives: there are a host of other motivators that are more highly valued by some employees.
Increased worry: in terms of taxation and burglary.
Whilst money may have no intrinsic meaning, it can acquire significant motivating power because it represents not just power, but also security and can be used to buy love and freedom .
Furnham urged the audience of human resource and reward professionals to recognise that some employees are more motivated by money than others. If handled properly, an incentive scheme can encourage certain personality types to perform more effectively, he said. But other employees will respond more to the threat of punishment .
All you can be certain about is that the sensitivity to reward and punishment therefore varies depending on the different needs of individuals , Furnham said. This requires that reward management is fine-tuned to reflect individual differences and personal needs.
Motivation theories
The underlying thinking behind Furnham's views on motivation is based on two theories: equity and expectancy. For Furnham, these motivation theories tell us something very interesting about how organisations can seek to maximise satisfaction and minimise dissatisfaction with their pay polices.
Equity theory
In essence, employees will be better motivated if they are treated equitably, and demotivated if they are treated inequitably. This concept is concerned with people's perceptions of how they are treated in relation to others: to be dealt with equitably is to be treated fairly in comparison with another group of people or a relevant other person. Equity involves feeling and perceptions and it revolves around social comparisons. It is not synonymous with equality, which means treating everyone alike.
Expectancy theory
Put simply, the degree to which people are motivated will depend not only upon the perceived value of the outcome of their actions — the goal or reward — but also upon their perception of the likelihood of obtaining a worthwhile reward, that is their expectations.
Thus, this concept suggests that motivation is a function of three factors:
expectation that effort will result in the achievement of goals or the desired performance
likelihood that this performance will be rewarded
perceived value of reward for participants — the value of the reward is worth the effort.
Furnham concluded by offering his golden rules for motivating employees. In a nutshell, you need to set employees clear goals, give them feedback and reward them appropriately .