Motivation done right: motivation science provides alternatives to outdated
approaches to workplace motivation
Susan Fowler
69.12 (Dec. 2015): p76.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 Association for Talent Development (ATD)
https://www.td.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/About-TD
Managers are being held accountable for something they cannot do: motivate
people. Despite elaborate attempts to engage, entice, cheer, praise, bribe,
challenge, shame, pressure, or game people into sustained high-quality
performance, organizations are still faced with an underused, under-performing,
and disengaged workforce-and employees who might leave if they had a place to
go.
Even if, based on your experience, you think this is an overstatement, you still
can probably agree that most leaders have not cracked the code for optimizing
people's potential. Traditional motivation approaches are failing. It is time to put
the science of motivation to work and embrace alternative approaches to
workplace motivation.
What it is
According to Merriam-Webster, motivation is "the condition of being eager to act
or work." Motivation is at the heart of everything employees do-or don't do, as the
case may be-yet it is one of the most misunderstood concepts in leadership.
Without an understanding of the true nature of human motivation, organizations
are wasting millions on employee engagement initiatives, reward and recognition
schemes, retention programs, customer service programs, and performance
management systems. Worse still, organizations are losing opportunities for
generating creativity, innovation, and a thriving workplace. It doesn't have to be
this way.
How it works
People with optimal motivational outlooks are significantly more likely to have five
intentions characteristic of employee work passion: to stay, endorse the
organization, use discretionary effort on behalf of the organization, use
citizenship behaviors, and perform at above-expected standards.
Guidelines
Building on the wealth of evidence from motivation science, we can implement
pragmatic training and development solutions-if HR and senior-level executives
have the expertise, patience, and courage to take advantage of them.
Don't get trapped in the intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation duality. Knowing
about motivation science is different from applying it. As often happens, early
attempts to explain science reduce it to easily digestible nuggets as a way to call
attention to a new paradigm-for example, intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation.
This compelling research resonates with many HR professionals. Leaders
gravitate to the idea of an intrinsically motivated workforce. But this seemingly
simple concept proves to be impossible to put into daily practice.
Realistically, how often during the day are people intrinsically motivated at work?
How frequently are they experiencing pure enjoyment for what they are doing?
(Probably not often.) An intrinsically motivating job is an elusive reality and unfair
expectation. It remains a philosophical ideal rather than an institutionalized best
practice. Eventually executives discount the "new stuff' and revert to the devil
they know-traditional motivation, rejecting the promises of a new paradigm.
We need to encourage executives to go beyond simplistic explanations of
complex science, recognize the rich and profound nature of human motivation,
and invest the time to explore and develop best practices that promise realistic
alternatives to traditional motivation.
There is a spectrum of motivation possibilities, not just two. Science reveals six
motivational outlooks that people might experience at work every day. Three are
optimal motivational outlooks-aligned, integrated, and inherent-resulting in the
positive implications of intrinsic motivation and, in two cases, delivering
potentially greater benefits. Three are suboptimal motivational outlooksdisinterested, external, and imposed-resulting in the negative implications of
extrinsic motivation.
Even researchers who put intrinsic motivation on the map argue that selfidentifying with an activity, deriving a deep sense of purpose, and satisfying three
psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence, can result in
the same benefits of pure intrinsic motivation. In fact, aligned or integrated
motivational outlooks based on values and purpose often result in healthier and
more sustainable experiences than pure, intrinsic enjoyment. Stop beating your
people with carrots. The quality of energy unleashed when employees are
optimally motivated through mindfulness, values, purpose, and joy is different
from the energy generated through rewards, incentives, power, status, image,
shame, guilt, or fear of disappointing others (or oneself).
Beating people with sticks and bribing them with carrots undermine the
autonomy, relatedness, and competence needed for optimal motivation.
Ironically, the often well-intentioned carrots become sticks when people feel
pressured to perform for the carrot ("I have to make my numbers so I can go on
the sales reward trip").
Motivation is a skill. People can experience high-quality motivation anytime and
anywhere they choose. After 15 years of applying the science of motivation
globally, we have demonstrated that motivation is a skill that can be taught,
learned, nurtured, and sustained. People can learn to identify their motivational
outlook, shift to a more optimal motivational outlook, and reflect on their feelings
that sustain the positive energy, vitality, and sense of well-being that comes from
high-quality motivation.
Motivating people doesn't work because people already are motivated. People
are always motivated, but not always in optimal ways. The question is not if a
person is motivated, the question is why. When leaders focus on the quality of
people's motivation and identify the type of motivation they have, they can help
facilitate the person's shift to a more optimal motivational outlook. Leaders
cannot motivate anyone, but through best practices, they can help people shift to
an optimal motivational outlook.
Results
Primary research conducted by The Ken Blanchard Companies found that
people experiencing suboptimal motivational outlooks have significantly high
negative correlations with the five intentions mentioned earlier: to stay, endorse
the organization, use discretionary effort on behalf of the organization, use
citizenship behaviors, and perform at above-expected standards.
Optimal motivation fuels employee work passion. Suboptimal motivation fuels
disengagement.
With expertise, patience, and courage we can get to the other side of complexity
and reap the rewards of optimal motivation. Motivating people doesn't work, but
teaching motivation as a skill and applying best practices to create workplaces
where people are more likely to experience optimal motivation, yields the results
executives seek while helping people flourish.
CHECKLIST
Applying Motivation
Leaders and individuals who apply the skill of motivation:
[] satisfy personal concerns during major change initiatives
[] reframe goals to relieve the pressure generated through metrics and
competition
[] demonstrate enhanced creativity and innovation
[] willingly observe safety precautions and standards
[] discuss feelings in a relevant, safe, and productive way
[] don't depend on tangible or intangible rewards for their motivation
[] achieve high-quality and sustainable results while flourishing
RESOURCES
Fowler, S. 2014. Why Motivating People Doesn't Work ... and What Does. San
Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Gagne, M. 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Work Engagement, Motivation, and
Self-Determination Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
Self-Determination Theory, www.selfdeterminationtheory.org.
Susan Fowler is a consultant, trainer, and coach. She also is author of Why
Motivating Employees Doesn't Work ... And What Does;
susan@susanfowler.com.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Fowler, Susan. "Motivation done right: motivation science provides alternatives to
outdated approaches to workplace motivation." TD Magazine, Dec. 2015, p.
76. Academic OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=oran95108&v=2.1&id=GALE%7C
A444137529&it=r&asid=0045346b9cac5a9e50dce60f2f649250. Accessed 14
May 2017.
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