Employee Motivation

What drives motivation? How can we get our employees to be more motivated? Is motivation entirely driven from within or can people be trained or coached to gain more motivation?

There are at least three issues driving employee motivation:

1) The employee’s intrinsic desire to perform
2) Length of time spent with an organization in the same job
3) Understanding or buy-in of organizational goals and objectives

Intrinsic desire to perform is arguably the hardest issue to deal with. However examining the circumstances of each individual may unveil sources of motivation. Often employees claim that their number one motivator is pay. Typically with a deeper investigation we find that pay may rank in the top three, but is not the number one motivator. After all, we can always find a job that pays more if we are willing to endure a change in commute, work hours, or risk.

Length of time spent within the same job at the same organization often tells a story about motivation. Many employees will be very motivated during the first one or two years, then years three through eight they experience a drop in motivation. Many start to regain lost motivation around year nine or ten as they have more vested interests in the organization. They may be in a position where they do not wish to change jobs at this point in their career or they may simply feel a deeper sense of belonging and genuine interest in the success of the operation. How can these values be engrained in employees earlier in their tenure?

This brings us to the third motivation driver. The employees’ understanding of why the organization exists. Why does it produce a certain product or provide certain services? Often the organization founders are entrepreneurs who were deeply motivated and genuinely believed in the product or services. Sharing that belief, desire, and motivation to succeed often yields employees gaining similar interests. Driving these organizational values downward and outward throughout the organization spreads motivation. Remember that employee attitudes are contagious and employees with a positive outlook on organizational success will drive the motivation.

Ask your employees if they know the organization mission, vision, or values statements. Incorporate employee orientation programs that spread knowledge early and revisit values frequently throughout employee tenure. Model positive belief in goals and objectives, and make enthusiasm for job performance a cultural value.

How do you rate your level of motivation? Is motivation a problem with employees in your organization?