“The Suprising Truth About What Motivates Us”
Autonomy, mastery and purpose drive knowledge workers’ performance. Once basic financial needs are met, the traditional carrot and stick are done. In “The Suprising Truth About What Motivates Us” research by the Federal Reserve, Harvard, MIT and more well-established institutions leads to this surprising insight.
Rewarding with a carrot and threatening with a stick works for mechanical tasks but once cognitive processing is involved and basic financial needs are met, knowledge workers are more motivated by autonomy, mastery and purpose than by financial reward. More money may even have a detrimental effect on performance. As long as salary levels are such that basic needs are met, other higher-order needs take over as motivators.
Of course people want to be paid fairly. But this research suggest that money spent on expensive bonus schemes is much better spend by encouraging higher performance by:
Providing more autonomy: Empower employees to decide how to meet the objectives and goals of the organization; give them more autonomy to determine how to deliver results.
Encourage mastery of skills: skilled staff often show an inclination to learn beyond the requirements of their day job; structuring the role of staff to provide for continuous learning and elevation of skill levels acts as a motivator and has been shown to help retention.
Provide a sense of purpose: Ideally your organization/company has a clear sense of purpose that is communicated to all employees. Management can also enhance this by delivering a clear sense of purpose for specific jobs that supports the company's purpose.
Enjoy the videos !
animation video by RSA >> presentation on TED >>
Rewarding with a carrot and threatening with a stick works for mechanical tasks but once cognitive processing is involved and basic financial needs are met, knowledge workers are more motivated by autonomy, mastery and purpose than by financial reward. More money may even have a detrimental effect on performance. As long as salary levels are such that basic needs are met, other higher-order needs take over as motivators.
Of course people want to be paid fairly. But this research suggest that money spent on expensive bonus schemes is much better spend by encouraging higher performance by:
Providing more autonomy: Empower employees to decide how to meet the objectives and goals of the organization; give them more autonomy to determine how to deliver results.
Encourage mastery of skills: skilled staff often show an inclination to learn beyond the requirements of their day job; structuring the role of staff to provide for continuous learning and elevation of skill levels acts as a motivator and has been shown to help retention.
Provide a sense of purpose: Ideally your organization/company has a clear sense of purpose that is communicated to all employees. Management can also enhance this by delivering a clear sense of purpose for specific jobs that supports the company's purpose.
Enjoy the videos !
animation video by RSA >> presentation on TED >>
