The Top 9 Things That Ultimately Motivate Employees to Achieve

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When you wake up in the morning, what is the passion that fuels you to start your day? Are you living this in your work? If others asked you what drives you to achieve, would the answer be obvious? The triggers that motivate people to achieve are unique for everyone. Many would say its money; more people are starting to claim that they are driven to make a difference. Regardless of what motivates you and drives you toreach peak performance it must be managed and balanced. Too much motivation in one area will weaken other parts of your game. Motivation has been studied for decades and leaders in the workplace have used assessments like DISC and Myers-Briggs to determine their employees personality types to better anticipate behaviors and tendencies. Additionally, motivational books are used as tools to get employees to increase their performance and / or get them back on track. While assessments, books and

other tools can help project and inspire short and long performance, the factors that motivate employees to achieve evolve as they mature and begin to truly understand what matters most to them. Therefore, as leaders we must hold ourselves accountable to build meaningful and purposeful relationships that matter with our employees. This allows us to better understand those we are serving, just as much as ourselves. As a leader, dont just read the assessment scores, get to know those whom you are leading and be specific about how you help each of them achieve their goals, desires and aspirations. The objective should be to help one another and to accomplish this each of you must identify those things that motivate you both to work together.

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To help you get the most from your employee relationships, here are the nine (9) things that ultimately motivate employees to achieve. As you read this, think of how you associate with each of them. Share your story and perspectives and comment about it. This is a hot topic and the more we can discuss it, we can help one another become better leaders. 1. Trustworthy Leadership Leaders that have your back and that are looking out for your best interests will win the trust of their employees who in turn will be more motivated to achieve. I once had a department manager that always looked out for me. He was upfront in communicating his performance expectations and his feedback was direct. He never treated me like a subordinate and looked for ways to include me in senior management meetings. This opened my eyes to what lied ahead in my career and thus motivated me to reach the next level and in the process exceed the expectations of my boss. Trust is a powerful motivational tool and those leaders that are more transparent with their employees will find surprising results and new types of opportunities to develop talent. 2. Being Relevant In todays world where everyone wants to be noticed and recognized for their work employees are motivated to achieve to remain relevant. As such, employees are in search of new ways to learn, improve their skills and invest in themselves. This is an opportunity for leaders to get involved and understand how to build the depth and breadth of their employees skill sets

and aptitudes. For example, find ways to elevate your employees highpotential status. Helping employees increase their relevancy is important and those leaders that participate in this process will help cultivate increased performance levels and loyalty. Helping your employees get discovered will elevate their motivation to achieve. 3. Proving Others Wrong This particular motivation to achieve has been heighten as of late from younger professionals that seek to prove themselves faster amongst older generations in the workplace. Employees never want to be stereotyped or marginalized, but for many younger professionals this serves as the trigger to awaken them from within. This certainly is not a generational issue as many of us have been questioned about our ability to achieve at a high-level. I learned this the hard way throughout my career. For example, as a former Clevel executive (in my early 30s) and later as a successful entrepreneur people begin to envy and / or doubt me thus igniting my hunger and driv As a leader, encourage your employees to exceed expectations by taking responsible risks. Embrace diverse thinking and measure ones ability to innovate. Never underestimate an employees ability to perform until you have properly evaluated and tested their abilities and potential. 4. Career Advancement

Perhaps the most important factor on this list is the ability to advance. Employees are extremely motivated to achieve if this means that advancement awaits them. This requires employees to be mindful of opportunities that lie around, beneath and beyond what they seek. As leaders, you will sustain high levels of motivation from your employees if you can open doors of opportunity and accelerate their chances for advancement. Remember, just because your employees may be relevant, it doesnt guarantee advancement. So make it a point to help them get there.

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5.

No Regrets

People only have a few real chances in their careers to reach their ultimate goals. In fact, how many times do you meet people that are more successful than you are and you wonder how they got there. People dont want to live with any regrets in their career/life and thus are motivated to not disappoint themselves. As a leader, dont allow your employees to walk around carrying a load of guilt. Share your journey with them your failures and successes. An employee that doesnt believe will never achieve. Help your employees embrace the unexpected and help them navigate uncertainty and change. Many people are confused in todays workplace about their future. Motivate them by giving them the perspectives they need to achieve. 6. Stable Future People are motivated to have safety and security. Everyone wants a stable future, but you never know when time will pass you by. Thats why we are all in a race against time and thus motivated to achieve faster than ever before. We have all learned from the 2008 economic collapse that we can all quickly become victims of unexpected change without preparation. As a leader, be mindful of providing security and stability in how you lead your employees and watch their motivational levels rise. 7. Self-Indulgence This factor is quite interesting and extremely important to put into proper perspective. People are motivated for selfish reasons to achieve albeit money, attention, fame, etc. Must we be reminded that greed and selfishness contributed greatly to Americas current economic hardship? Motivation that satisfies our self-indulgence is can also be risky. In reminds me of a great quote from Peter Drucker in his book, The Effective Executive when he says that every time you meet a person with great strengths, you are also meeting someone with great weaknesses.

As a leader, be aware that of your employees motivations are balance and well intentioned. Self-indulgence can bring tremendous short term benefits with longer term repercussions. 8. Impact

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As mentioned earlier on, todays employees are motivated to achieve more than ever simply by the opportunity to create impact. As employees reflect on their lives and careers they want to contribute in ways that measure their achievements based upon the long-term benefits that the company they serve bears. As a leader, allow your employees to have sustainable impact in the work they perform. Allow them to make a mark toward significance. Create the opportunity for their achievement to leave a long lasting legacy that rewards the organization they serve and for future generations to learn from. 9. Happiness

In the end, happiness is one of the greatest motivations to achieve. Happiness fuels ones self-esteem and gives people hope for a better tomorrow. We are all victims of taking our work too seriously. Step back and enjoy the journey. Your motivation to achieve is ultimately based on earning a living that brings you tremendous joy and satisfaction. As a leader, be aware of whether your employees are satisfied in their work and that you are deliberate in having this type conversation with them. Never assume. Employees will smile to save their jobs even if they arent content. Assure your employees happiness shines and allow the previous eight motivational factors to influence the process organically.

THE FOUR INTRINSIC REWARDS THAT DRIVE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

by Kenneth Thomas Featured | November / December 2009 Share on emailEmailShare on twitterShare on TwitterShare on facebookPost to FacebookShare on linkedinShare on LinkedInShare on deliciousSave to DeliciousShare on instapaperSave to Instapaper Motivational dynamics have changed dramatically to reflect new work requirements and changed worker expectations. One of the biggest changes has been the rise in importance of psychic, or intrinsic rewards, and the decline of material or extrinsic rewards. This author draws upon recent research to explain the popularity of intrinsic rewards and how these rewards can be used to build a high-engagement culture. I have been researching workplace motivation for about 30 years and Im amazed at how much has changed recently. Automation and off-shoring have eliminated most of the highly repetitive jobs in the U.S., while global competition has produced flatter, more responsive organizations that require employees to use judgment and initiative to a much greater extent. Over this same 30-year period, the proportion of American workers who say that their work is meaningful, allows them discretion, and makes use of their abilities has more than doubledfrom less 1 than one third to about two thirds. In addition, younger workers now come to organizations with different expectations than their parents. Raised during an era of rapid technological change and instant access to data, they respond best to work that is more meaningful, allows them to learn cutting-edge skills, and lets them find their own ways of accomplishing tasks. Most of the motivational models used today were developed in earlier eras, when work and workers were different. That is why my colleagues and I developed models and strategies of motivation that better reflect the changes in 2 todays work dynamics. In doing so, we discovered that intrinsic rewards have become more important and more prevalent in the workplace today. This article will describe the reasons for this increase and why intrinsic rewards are so important today.

EXTRINSIC AND INTRINSIC REWARDS

Extrinsic rewardsusually financialare the tangible rewards given employees by managers, such as pay raises, bonuses, and benefits. They are called extrinsic because they are external to the work itself and other people control their size and whether or not they are granted. In contrast, intrinsic rewards are psychological rewards that employees get from doing meaningful work and performing it well. Extrinsic rewards played a dominant role in earlier eras, when work was generally more routine and bureaucratic, and when complying with rules and procedures was paramount. This work offered workers few intrinsic rewards, so that extrinsic rewards were often the only motivational tools available to organizations. Extrinsic rewards remain significant for workers, of course. Pay is an important consideration for most workers in accepting a job, and unfair pay can be a strong de-motivator. However, after people have taken a job and issues of unfairness have been settled, we find that extrinsic rewards are now less important, as day-to-day motivation is more strongly driven by intrinsic rewards.

THE INTRINSIC REWARDS IN TODAYS WORK

To identify these intrinsic rewards, we began by analyzing the nature of todays work. Basically, most of todays workers are asked to self-manage to a significant degreeto use their intelligence and experience to direct their work activities to accomplish important organizational purposes. This is how todays employees add valueinnovating, problem solving and improvising to meet the conditions they encounter to meet customers needs. In turn, we found that the self-management process involves four key steps:
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1. 2. 3. 4.

Committing to a meaningful purpose Choosing the best way of fulfilling that purpose Making sure that one is performing work activities competently, and Making sure that one is making progress to achieving the purpose. Each of these steps requires workers to make a judgmentabout the meaningfulness of their purpose, the degree of choicethey have for doing things the right way, the competence of their performance, and the actual progress being made toward fulfilling the purpose. These four judgments are the key factors in workers assessments of the value and effectiveness of their effortsand the contribution they are making. When positive, each of these judgments is accompanied by a positive emotional charge. These positive charges are the intrinsic rewards that employees get from work, ranging in size from quiet satisfaction to an exuberant Yes! They are the reinforcements that keep employees actively self -managing and engaged in their work. The following are descriptions of the four intrinsic rewards and how workers view them: Sense of meaningfulness. This reward involves the meaningfulness or importance of the purpose you are trying to fulfill. You feel that you have an opportunity to accomplish something of real value something that matters in the larger scheme of things. You feel that you are on a path that is worth your time and energy, giving you a strong sense
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of purpose or direction. Sense of choice. You feel free to choose how to accomplish your work to use your best judgment to select those work activities that make the most sense to you and to perform them in ways that seem appropriate. You feel ownership of your work, believe in the approach you are taking, and feel responsible for making it work. Sense of competence. You feel that you are handling your work activities wellthat your performance of these activities meets or exceeds your personal standards, and that you are doing good, high-quality work. You feel a sense of satisfaction, pride, or even artistry in how well you handle these activities. Sense of progress. You are encouraged that your efforts are really accomplishing something. You feel that your work is on track and moving in the right direction. You see convincing signs that things are working out, giving you confidence in the choices you have made and confidence in the future.

E - MOTIVATION IN ORGANIZATIONS

INTRODUCTION. Knowing how and why to motivate employees is an important managerial skill. THE NATURE OF MOTIVATION IN ORGANISATIONS. Motivation is the set of forces that cause people to choose certain behaviors from among the many alternatives open to them. Motivation And Performance In Organizations. An employee's performance typically is influenced by motivation, ability, and the work environment. Some deficiencies can be addressed by providing training or altering the environment, motivation problems are not as easily addressed.

Motivation is important because of its significance as a determinant of performance and its intangible nature. HISTORICAL VIEWS OF MOTIVATION. Evolution can be traced from scientific management, through the human relations movement, to the human resource approach.
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Scientific management: The assumptions of scientific management were that work is inherently unpleasant for most people and the money they earn is more important to employees than is the nature of the job they are performing.

Human relations movement: This school of thought emphasized the role of social processes in organizations and assumed that the need for belongingness and the need to feel useful are more important than money in motivating employees.

Human resource approach:

This view assumes that people want to contribute to organizational effectiveness and are able to make genuine contributions. The organization's responsibility is to create a work environment that makes full use of available human resources. The human resource approach guides most thinking about motivation today, but three integrative approaches conceptualize motivation more completely: need-based, process-based, and reinforcement-based approaches. NEED-BASED APPROACHES TO MOTIVATION.

Need-based approaches to motivation focus on what motivates employees to choose certain behaviors as shown on the following diagram.

Two need-based approaches are need hierarchies and the dual-structure approach. Need Hierarchies Two of the most popular need hierarchies are Abraham Maslow's hierarchy and Clayton Alderfer's ERG theory of motivation. Maslow's hierarchy of needs assumes that people are motivated to satisfy five levels of needs:
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physiological, security, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualisation. The hierarchical arrangement suggests that the five levels of needs are arranged in order of increasing importance, starting with physiological needs. According to the theory, when needs at one level are satisfied, they are no longer motivators and the individual "moves up" the hierarchy to satisfy needs at the next level. Maslow's view of motivation provides a logical framework for categorizing needs, but it does not supply a complete picture.

Alderfer developed the ERG theory of motivation in response to criticisms of Maslow's hierarchy.

ERG stands for existence, relatedness, and growth needs ERG theory. Existence needs are satisfied by food and water pay fringe benefits and working conditions. Relatedness needs are satisfied by relationships with co workers, superiors family and friends. Growth needs cover the need to advance and develop. As with Maslow's theory, assumes that motivated behavior follows a hierarchy, but it has two important differences: ERG theory suggests that more than one level of needs can cause motivation at the same time; ERG theory has a frustration-regression element that suggests that if needs remain unsatisfied at some high level, the individual will become frustrated, regress to a lower level, and begin to pursue lower-level needs again.

The Dual-Structure Approach To Motivation. The dual-structure approach was developed by Frederick Herzberg and is often referred to as the two-factor theory. Herzberg's studies of accountants and engineers led him to suggest that entirely different sets of factors are associated with satisfaction and with dissatisfaction. Motivation factors, relating to the job itself, result in feelings ranging from satisfaction to no satisfaction. Hygiene factors, relating to the work environment, result in feelings ranging from dissatisfaction to no dissatisfaction. Acquired Needs. Other need-based perspectives on motivation focus on acquired needs: the needs for achievement, affiliation, and power. This

approach is concerned not about the ordering of needs but rather about the needs themselves. David McCleland first identified the need for achievement, which reflects an individual's desire to do something more effectively than in the past. The need for power is the desire to be influential in a group and to control one's environment. PROCESS-BASED APPROACHES TO MOTIVATION. These approaches to motivation are concerned with how motivation takes place. They focus on why people choose certain behavioral options to fulfil their needs and how they evaluate their satisfaction after they have attained their goals. Two useful process-based approaches are expectancy theory and equity theory. Expectancy Theory. Expectancy theory suggests that motivation is based on how much we want something and how likely we think we are to get it. The formal framework of expectancy theory was developed by Victor Vroom. This framework states basically that motivation plus effort leads to performance, which then leads to outcomes. According to this theory, three conditions must be met for individuals to exhibit motivated behavior:
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effort-to-performance expectancy must be greater than zero; performance-to-outcome expectancy must also be greater than zero; and the sum of the valances for all relevant outcomes must be greater than zero. Effort-to-performance expectancy is the individual's perception of the probability that effort will lead to high performance. This expectancy ranges from 0 to 1, with 1 being a strong belief that effort will lead to high performance. Performance-to-outcome expectancy is the individual's perception that performance will lead to a specific outcome. This expectancy ranges from 0 to 1. A high performance-to-outcome expectancy would be 1 or close to it.

Outcomes are consequences of behavior. An individual may experience a variety of outcomes in an organizational setting. Each outcome has an associated valance, which is an index of how much an individual desires a particular outcome. An outcome that an individual wants has a positive valance. An outcome that the individual does not want has a negative valance. When the individual is indifferent to the outcome, the valance is zero. Porter and Lawler extended the basic expectancy model by suggesting that high performance may cause high satisfaction. When performance results in various extrinsic and intrinsic rewards, the individual evaluates the equity of these various rewards relative to the effort expended and the level of performance attained. The individual is satisfied if the rewards relative to the effort expended and the level of performance attained. The individual is satisfied if the rewards are felt to be fair.

Implications for managers:

Nadler and Lawler suggest how managers can apply the basic ideas of expectancy theory. Managers should first determine the outcomes each employee is likely to want. Then they should decide what kinds and levels of performance are needed to meet organizational goals, making sure that the desired levels of performance are attainable. Managers then need to ensure that desired outcomes and desired performance are linked. Finally, the rewards need to be large enough, and the total system needs to be equitable.

Equity Theory. Equity theory, developed by J. Stacy Adams, suggests that once an individual has chosen an action that is expected to satisfy his or her needs, the individual assesses the equity or fairness of the outcome. Equity is an individual's beliefs that he or she is being treated fairly relative to the treatment of others. Three attitudes are possible: an individual may feel equitably rewarded, underrewarded, or overrewarded. When individuals feel underrewarded or overrewarded, they will do something to reduce the inequity. The single most important thing to remember about equity theory is that if rewards are to motivate employees, they must be perceived as being equitable and fair. REINFORCEMENT-BASED APPROACHES TO MOTIVATION. These approaches to motivation explain the role of rewards as they cause behavior to change or remain the same. Behavior that results in rewarding consequences is likely to be repeated. Expectancy theory and reinforcement theory are similar in that both consider the processes by which an individual chooses behaviors in a particular situation. However, expectancy theory focuses more on behavior choices, and reinforcement theory focuses more on the consequences of those choices.

Reinforcement Contingencies.

Reinforcement contingencies are the possible outcomes that an individual may experience as a result of his or her choice of behavior. There are four of these : positive reinforcement, avoidance, punishment, and extinction.
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Positive reinforcement is a reward or a positive outcome after a desired behavior is performed; it serves to strengthen behavior. Avoidance occurs when the individual chooses a behavior to avoid unpleasant consequences; it can strengthen desired behavior. Punishment is unpleasant consequences used to weaken undesired behavior. Extinction is ending undesired behavior by ignoring and not reinforcing it. Providing Reinforcement There are four approaches to providing reinforcement.

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A fixed-interval schedule provides reinforcement at fixed intervals of time, regardless of behavior. A variable-interval schedule provides reinforcement at varying time intervals. A fixed-ration schedule gives reinforcement after a fixed number of behaviors, regardless of the time that has elapsed between behaviors. A variable-ration schedule varies the number of behaviors needed for each reinforcement and is the most powerful schedule for maintaining desired behaviors.

OTHER APPROACHES TO MOTIVATION IN ORGANISATIONS. Goal Setting Theory. This approach suggests that managers and subordinates should set goals for the individual on a regular basis and that rewards should be tied to the accomplishment of goals. Research support for goal-setting theory is more consistently favorable than any other single approach to employee motivation.

The Japanese Approach To Motivation. The Japanese approach is not a theory or model but a philosophy of management. The basic tenet is that managers and workers should come together as partners - as one group. ENHANCING MOTIVATION IN ORGANISATIONS. Managers may influence motivation through the organization's reward systems, or they may adopt specific interventions derived from one or more theories. Organizational Reward Systems. The organization's reward system is the basic structural mechanism that an organization uses to motivate workers. The reward system includes the formal and informal mechanisms by which employee performance is defined, evaluated, and rewarded. An organization's primary purpose in giving rewards is to influence employee behavior. Effects of organizational rewards: Organizational rewards can affect individual attitudes, behaviors, and motivation. Edward Lawler describes four major generalizations about employee attitudes toward rewards.
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Employee satisfaction is affected by comparison of the rewards they receive with those received by others. Employees often misperceive the rewards received by others. The system recognizes that different people have different needs and choose different ways to satisfy those needs. Performance-based systems: Organizational reward systems have traditionally either a fixed salary or hourly rate system or an incentive system. Fixed rewards can be tied directly to performance through merit pay systems, whereby

people get different pay raises at the end of the year, depending on their overall job performance. Many organizations are experimenting with various kinds of incentive systems, which attempt to reward employees in proportion to their accomplishments. Four popular incentive systems include profit sharing, gain sharing, lump-sum bonuses, and pay for knowledge. interventions for enhancing motivation. Three motivational interventions are behavior modification, the modified workweek, and work redesign.
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Behavior modification is a technique for applying the concepts of reinforcement theory in organizational settings. A modified workweek can be any work schedule that does not conform to a traditional eight-hours-a-day, five-days-a-week design. Some alternatives include the compressed workweek, flexible work schedule, working at home and job sharing. Changing the nature of people's jobs in being used as a motivational technique. Any of the alternatives to job specialization - job rotation, job enlargement, job enrichment, the job characteristics approach, autonomous work groups-could be used as part of a motivational program.