more time off, refraining from putting in any extra effort, and is openly looking for work elsewhere.
Is it the employee’s rate of pay that is causing the problem? No.
After considering the above example, you’ll probably concede that, at best, money is a good sweetener. While it’s a necessary aspect of any job, it’s not enough to keep performance at a high level in the absence of other things — things like opportunities for advancement, recognition, involvement, and good communication. While a cake has to have sugar to make it taste good, it won’t be a cake unless all the other ingredients are there. In the same way, in any job, money may make a position seem very attractive, but in the absence of other non-monetary aspects of a job, it won’t be enough to keep an employee happy.
“In today’s tight labor market, competitive pay is the price of admission for employers — it is not a key differentiator,” says Rick Beal, a senior compensation consultant at Watson Wyatt and co-author of the firm’s study Strategic Rewards®: The New Employment Deals. The study involved a survey of 551 large employers and over 500 employees. Only 15 percent of those surveyed said that expectation of financial reward had a very significant influence on performance. “Our research consistently shows that intangible factors such as personal satisfaction and recognition of contributions are more effective in driving high performance,” says Beal.
Yes, you need to pay your employees, and pay them fairly, if you want a good job done. After a certain point, though — and this point will vary with each employee — money will no longer serve as an effective motivator. It is at this point that you’ll need to turn to non-monetary incentives.
Fallacy #3: The Golden Rule Applies
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” That’s the golden rule and it’s a rule that many of us have operated under for many years. The problem is, when it comes to motivating employees, it doesn’t work.
Why not? Because the things that motivate you, as a manager, are very different from the things that motivate your employees. Managers are different from employees. They have different needs and drives. So while you may be extremely motivated when asked to lead a new project team, your employees may feel taken advantage of when given the same opportunity.
One manager tells of the insights she obtained after a department meeting in which she encouraged employees to share with her examples of what made them feel motivated. While her staff was motivated by recognition, hand-written notes, feedback on doing a good job, she was motivated by the opportunity to take on a new project or being assigned a new challenge. Guess how she was attempting to motivate her staff. Guess how well that was working!
The “platinum rule” is a better guide for managers: “Do unto others as they would have themselves done unto.” In other words, find out what their needs and desires are and work to meet those needs and desires.
As this manager discovered, assuming that her staff members would be motivated by the same things that motivated her was inappropriate and could have, if gone unchecked, resulted in their alienation and frustration.
Fallacy #4: Motivators are Universal
Motivators are not universal. One employee may be delighted that you care enough to remember his birthday and will improve his output 200 percent, while another employee may sneer when she’s awarded the employee of the year award and may show no improvement in productivity.
Some employees simply want to do their jobs. They work at a fair but even pace. They are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. They are not upwardly mobile.
Some employees need to be constantly prodded. Their managers are always trying to think of creative ways to provide incentives and boost productivity.
Some employees are easily motivated. They respond to almost any change in their environments, positive or negative.
Some employees are powerhouses of productivity. They are self-motivators. Their environments may seem free of any motivators, yet they consistently perform at or beyond their limits.
The point is, every employee is different. And, particularly in a business climate that is becoming increasingly diverse in terms of the age, ethnic background, beliefs, and desires of employees, it is becoming even more important to recognize that there is no such thing as a simple solution to the challenge of motivation. Each employee will respond uniquely to various motivators and incentives. The challenge to management is to identify the right motivators for each staff member — not always an easy task!
Fallacy #5: The Burning Platform Can be a Strong Motivator
If all else fails, light a fire under ‘em, and they’ll get going, right? Not necessarily. While employees may rise to the occasion to help a failing company get over a financial hurdle, or compete against a fierce rival, burning platforms generally only lead to short-term motivation. When your financial problems continue quarter to quarter, or the competitor remains in town, threatening your existence, year after year, employees will lose their initial fire and resolve and resort to their old ways.
Behavioral psychologists have demonstrated for years that negative reinforcement is less effective as a means of changing behavior than positive reinforcement.
“Let’s work hard so we can meet next quarter’s financial goals and benefit from quarterly bonuses,” will, therefore, be more motivating than, “Let’s work hard so we can meet next quarter’s financial goals and avoid pay cuts.”
Certainly there are times when a burning platform truly exists, and you must quickly rally employees around a cause. That can be appropriate. Exercise caution, however, in resorting to this form of motivation too frequently.
Fallacy #6: Motivation Doesn’t Matter As Long As the Job Gets Done
The old Theory X form of management can work. Employees can be prodded, bullied, and intimidated into performing. But for how long? Generally, only until a better job comes along. And the employees who aren’t able to find better jobs are probably not the kind of employees you want on your payroll anyway.
A strong economy has forced many business owners and managers to take a more critical look at the way they recognize and reward their staff. The organizations that have only recently discovered the importance of motivating employees learned the hard way — and often after severe staffing issues — that motivation does matter.
Fallacy #7: In a Poor Economy, Motivation Doesn’t Matter
If our full-employment economy suddenly shifts to an employer’s market, will motivating staff members become less important? Certainly not. Even in times when good employees were easy to find and the employment market was an employer’s market, many companies recognized the importance of motivating their staff.
Motivation isn’t only a recruitment and retention issue. It’s a performance issue. Remember, motivation is a tool to generate high performance that will result in the accomplishment of the organization’s objectives. Regardless of how well the economy is doing, what company doesn’t want to perform at higher levels than expected?
Fallacy #8: Nobody’s Irreplaceable
Have you ever, after a valued employee gives his
