Anthony Bagshawe

How to Improve Motivation

How to get everyone in your business motivated

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How to Improve Motivation
© 2011 Anthony Bagshawe & Ventus Publishing ApS
ISBN 978-87-7681-778-7

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 How to Improve Motivation Contents

Contents
Preface 9

Introduction 11

How to use this Book 12

PART 1
Understanding Motivation 13

What is Motivation? 14

The Essence of Motivation 15

Myths about Motivation 16

You can motivate your staff 16
Money is the main motivator 16
Fear is one of the best motivators 16
I know what motivates me, so I understand what motivates them 16

Motivators 17

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 How to Improve Motivation Contents

A. Positive Motivators 18
‘Pleasure Containers’ 18
1. Connection and Belonging 18
2. Independence 18
3. Constancy 19
4. Change 19
5. Power and Control 19
6. Progress 19
7. Achievement 19
8. Recognition 20
9. Stimulation 20
10. Possession 20
11. Self Expression 20
12. Contribution 20
13. Meaning, Purpose and Values 21
14. Physical Conditions 21
To Sum Up 21
Priorities 22

Supplying Basic Needs Is Not Enough 23

Money – a special case 24

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 How to Improve Motivation Contents

A. Negative Motivators 25
Passive Negative Motivators 25
1. Connection and Belonging 25
2. Independence 25
3. Constancy 25
4. Change 26
5. Power and Control 26
6. Progress 26
7. Achievement 26
8. Recognition 27
9. Stimulation 27
10. Possession 27
11. Self Expression 27
12. Contribution 27
13. Meaning and Purpose 27
14. Physical Conditions 27
Active Negative Motivators - ‘Pain Container’ 28
Causes of Pain 28
Fear 28

De-Motivation 29

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 How to Improve Motivation Contents

Time – its affects 31

Diminution of Pleasure 31
Delayed Gratification 31
Sequence of Events 31

PART 2
Motivation in Practice 33

What you can do as a Leader 34

1. Deal with de-Motivation: 34
2. Enhance Motivation: 34
A. Remove Barriers 35
B. Identify Key Motivators 37
D. Introduce or Improve Processes and Procedures 39

Performance Management System

360° 40

.
Clarity 40

thinking
Expectations 40
Goals 40
Alignment 40
Monitoring 41
Achievement 41

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 How to Improve Motivation Contents

Recognition and Reward System 42

Reward 42

Critical Feedback 45
Assume the Best 45
Be Specific and Consistent 45
E. Inject an Element of Fun 46
F. Coaching 46

Summary 47

Appendix 1 48
Using the Motivation Cards 48

Appendix 2 54
Using the Motivational Profile Sheets 54
Requirement 54
Contents 54
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How to Improve Motivation Preface

Preface
Understanding what motivates you is a vital first step towards gaining an insight into what motivates others. Getting this
right for the people in your business will make a critical difference to the success of the whole enterprise. This book will
give you all the information you need to make a significant impact for increasing the motivation within your team, as
well as some useful practical tools.

Anthony Bagshawe, a specialist Business Coach and Managing Director of Newton Bagshawe Associates (NBA), is the
author of this publication. Anthony is an Accredited Coach and a top level trainer. He is the author of a number of
management papers, including ‘Motivation’ and ‘Communication Skills’.

Drawing on over 30 years of experience in business, psychology, management, training and education, Anthony has
developed a style of business coaching and leadership development that enables those in the most senior positions to
streamline their organisations and build a cohesive motivated team. His coaching captures the key fundamentals of what
a successful leader must do in order to develop a clear vision for the future, align the whole organisation behind that
vision and motivate the staff towards achieving the common goal. He is also an Accredited Mediator, and has developed
a distinctive approach that is particularly successful in resolving conflict and disputes within and between organisations.

Newton Bagshawe Associates specialises in providing:

• Individual Coaching at MD & CEO level & senior management

• Corporate and Business Alignment and Strategic Development
• Small Business Success
• Team Facilitation (at Board / Partnership Level)
• Leadership Development
• Training at Senior Level in Corporate Alignment, in Communication Skills and Motivation
• Change Management
• Working with ‘difficult’ people
• Problem Solving and Decision Making

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 How to Improve Motivation Preface

Clients of NBA include Chief Executives, Managing Directors, Senior Executives and Business Owners from a wide
range of commerce and industry as well as the public and voluntary sectors. NBA is engaged principally in coaching
Chief Executives and MDs of smaller and medium sized businesses, but also executives involved at board level and
senior management positions in larger organisations. NBA has worked with a wide variety of clients of all sizes from the
private, public and voluntary sectors which have included a number of household names from the fields of manufacturing,
construction, financial services, retail, business services, leisure, publishing, design, IT, as well as the Fire Service, NHS,
and Local Education Authorities.

Please visit our website www.newtonbagshawe.co.uk for further details about the services that we offer.

Contact NBA:

Website: www.newtonbagshawe.co.uk
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 01969 667896 (Int: ++44 1969 667896)

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 How to Improve Motivation Introduction

Introduction
The most valuable, yet complex, resources for any business are the people who work within it. A successful leader needs
to become an expert in managing people. There have been numerous books written all about managing people, but still
it remains one of the most demanding areas of running a business.

It is essential that the people that work for you are not only highly motivated to do so, but that their efforts are also
aligned with the goals of the business.

Understanding your people is central to this, and discovering what motivates and what de-motivates them is crucial.
Drawing up a profile for each member of staff will enable you to know how best to provide the optimum conditions for
loyalty, productivity and motivation.

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How to Improve Motivation How to use this Book

How to use this Book

Because of the complexity of people, motivation is not just a matter of applying a few simple techniques. To become
an expert at motivation it is first necessary to have some understanding of what motivation is and how it works, before
considering what you can do practically. This book has therefore been written in two sections:

Part 1 Understanding Motivation

This section provides the essential background behind motivation. It is important because it lays down the principles of
how motivation works, and it describes the primary motivators that apply for us all. If you appreciate the core reasons
why people are either motivated or de-motivated, you will have gained a powerful tool which will enable you to master
the practical application with your own style.

Part 2 Motivation in Practice

Building on Part 1, this section describes the practical steps that you can take to increase motivation within your staff
that will have directly measurable results. I have avoided laying down any specific course of action, because you will be
most effective when you use the principles from Part 1 with your own unique blend of creativity and flair, rather than
following a set of external instructions.

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How to Improve Motivation PART 1

PART 1
Understanding Motivation

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 How to Improve Motivation What is Motivation?

What is Motivation?
Motivation can be defined in a number of ways. At a fairly straightforward level it could be described as: ‘what makes us
do what we do’. However, a fuller definition might be:

‘Drives within a person that account for the degree, direction, and persistence of effort expended at work’.

This definition probably best encapsulates the meaning of motivation for business purposes.

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How to Improve Motivation The Essence of Motivation

The Essence of Motivation

Although we are extremely complex individuals, through the core of each one of us runs a single universal motivator. We
are all striving for one thing, and that is to:

‘Feel Good’

It sounds far too simple, and of course in one sense it is. However, if we understand that this is at the heart of every
human then we can start to get some perspective on what it is that drives not only ourselves but also those we work with
and employ.

What makes us so complex is the fact that there are hundreds (if not thousands) of factors that enter into making us feel
good, and they are not the same for everyone, neither are they necessarily simple. Many of the factors support and work
well together, others conflict and cause contradictions within us.

There is also a flip side to this. There are many things that get in the way of us feeling good, and even a multitude of things
that actually make us feel bad in one way or another. So really we are trying to do two things:

1. Feel Good
2. Avoid feeling Bad

This is sometimes referred to as the Pleasure / Pain principle. We continually aim to feel pleasure (in whatever form) and
avoid pain (or discomfort or unpleasantness, etc.) It is what we link pleasure to, and with what we associate pain, which
shapes our whole lives.

Everything that we do is driven by these two deep-seated drives. Understanding this will help you to create the best
possible environment for your staff.

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How to Improve Motivation Myths about Motivation

Myths about Motivation

There are some common misconceptions about motivation which are worth dispelling at the outset.

You can motivate your staff

One of the misconceptions about motivation is that you can motivate other people. Motivation is essentially an
internal process, and people have to motivate themselves. What you can do however, is to provide the conditions
and the environment which is most conducive to people doing this. This is where business leaders can make
the greatest difference. Understanding the factors which go into making such an environment is at the core of
business success.

Money is the main motivator

This is not generally true.

Research has shown repeatedly that, although money is important, it is not usually at the top of people’s list of
motivators – in fact it is normally some way down their priorities. It is true that poor pay tends to de-motivate
people, but the opposite does not always follow. There are generally more important factors that are worth
considering.

Fear is one of the best motivators

This may be true in the short-term, but fear is a poor long-term stimulus to motivation. Over a longer period
fear tends to act as a strong de-motivator, such that employees will often aim to leave as soon as they can.

I know what motivates me, so I understand what motivates them

This is unlikely to be true, since different things tend to motivate different people. Although there are some fairly
universal motivators, we are drawn by them at different levels, so what may be important to you may be less
important to somebody else.

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