Understanding Motivation in the Workplace

You have recognised that there are issues within your team that is impacting on your business. After reviewing it, you have come to the conclusion that the motivational levels are at an all time low. Time to get back to it and work at the old motivation strategies again. Dangle the carrot and everything should be back on track as they should. Everyone wants an incentive right? Wrong. Motivation in the Workplace goes deeper than money.

Now take off the managers hat and put on the employees hat for a second and what is it you see?

• You only ‘motivate’ when there is a problem
• Incentives to do a specific job means nobody else wants to do it or it has to be a terrible job
• Motivation will only be done until this job is done
• Nothing that actually causes the issues will be fixed

This style of motivation will not remedy your problems. Motivation is ongoing and it is about your team, not just the immediate issues.

Where do you Start with Motivation in the Workplace?

It requires an understanding of each of your employees. What makes them tick? You are going to come across people with different behaviours when it comes to the workplace. Take a look at two examples:

A is an outgoing person that is always ready to tackle a new task, no matter how complicated it might be. He is enthusiastic and you know that giving him a task means it is going to get done. Absolutely motivated and all about success. He will certainly get ahead in his career.

Now person B

Every time you talk to him about a new project, he is withdrawn and does not jump at it. You are convinced he lacks motivation and has no desire to succeed. You wish he could be like person A as you don’t know how to get him on board.

Understand your Employee

Is this an accurate assumption? Let’s get to know person B a bit.

He prefers to analyse everything first. Finds everything that could possibly go wrong and will then focus on them. Why? He has so much talent, yet he will spend a lot of energy on things that could go wrong? How can you get him to buy into the project?

When you notice this behaviour, it is a treasure that you want to get your hands on! This person will be ideal at looking for risks on any project. What can go wrong, what impact could it have, what can be done to mitigate the risks. Everything you want on a new project! But because you have not harnessed this ability, you simply believe he is not motivated.

Get his buy in by changing your approach. Put the project on the table and ask him to find the risks, discuss them, come up with ways to avoid them. You are asking him to bring that ability to the project and for the first time he feels valued! He will buy into this project because you picked his skill and have given him the room in which to contribute. You have taken the first steps in Motivation in the Workplace.

Don’t be too quick to judge based on behaviour. Sometimes it is us who fail to see the value that is being hidden.