1. It is not the fault of the company or the person/team alone. Apparently, in the meme, we saw the truth literally going out of the window. Do you know why? Because it is uncomfortable. If it is to stay and be acknowledged, this means that there is no single and simple answer to the question. Thus it becomes complex, huge, hard to swallow, yet act upon it accordingly… and the most frightening thing is – everyone involved has a part to play and no one can escape from it if true results are sought.
Unfortunately, people, teams, and organizations are not huge fans of “complex” (although they often end up in such situations and environments), as to cope with everything going on, both a human and a corporate brain need some things to be simple – to be quick to be ordered, categorized, prioritized, analyzed… and solved. Or delegated to someone else to deal with, so they can continue with the next “task” at hand. This is why it is not uncommon to see organizations or employees insisting that the other side needs to “engage with” or “motivate” them – it is always easier to escape responsibility by dropping it in someone else’s basket and waiting to see what happens. Everyone wants to see “what’s in it for me” and get it (because they feel that they deserve it), but very few ask “What am I, personally, doing about it first?” and are willing to go their part of the way.
Let’s deep dive further by emphasizing that although “motivation” and “engagement” are related, they are not the same and should not be used as interchangeable terms.
2. Motivation – through the years, many psychologists have studied human behavior and how it is influenced by different factors, present or absent, in their surrounding environment. They have formalized different motivation theories, based on their research, but agree that motivation is the driving force behind human action, regardless if we are looking at their personal or professional context. Employee motivation refers to the inner drive and energy that people bring to their workplace and is vital for achieving their goals and performing well.
Motivation can be both intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is different for every individual, as it depends on factors such as personal values, interests, passions, and needs – what it is that sparks their enthusiasm and will make them engage in a certain activity/task/team/project? You can not make someone contribute and collaborate just for the sake of it. If you just put an expert on a team somewhere, yes, he is qualified to do the job, but what’s in it for him? Perhaps that person would like to find the product you are building interesting? Or to have good relations with the people he is building it with? Or maybe he is passionate about being part of a solution that will help many people when using the product?
As for extrinsic motivation – this is where the key drivers for one’s behavior come from “outside” – in the business context they manifest in the form of a higher salary, promotions, recognition, bonus, modern office space or the ability to work from home, special trainings or even the size, country and type of work of the company can be motivating factors for some people.
Naturally, motivation becomes the key to productive employees – the ones that like to be proactive, collaborate, share ideas and complete their tasks with good quality and in due time. And it increases where there is a high level of employee engagement.
3. Engagement – when we say that an employee is engaged, we mean that this person acknowledges and feels passionate about the organization’s vision, mission, purpose, environment, and values and we can directly see the co-relation – how this helps intrinsically motivated people to perform better, which will then lead to better company results and return of investment, of course, but more importantly – to a higher job satisfaction, employee retention, development and fulfillment.
While the motivating factors for one’s behavior are hidden within and are individual, the employee engagement strategy targets everyone in an organization. Engagement is important because it has a direct effect on the performance, productivity, and development of an employee and it can influence their decision not only to stay longer in the company but also to promote it and help make the working environment better for him and everyone else. You can imagine how hard it is for HR or management alone to balance between providing everyone with equal opportunity and conditions (for example all “corporate benefits”, learning and development trainings, office perks, etc…), while still not forgetting the individual factor – the employee’s profile, both professional and personal:
– What does he bring to the table at work (his qualifications, expertise, hours of work, ideas, work ethic…) and
– What does he bring to the table at home (stress, mood, amount of salary, remuneration package, vacation days, work-life quality and balance, special professional trainings that will also enhance his personal development…)
So many stimuli, all aiming to provide nurturing, motivating conditions so that all concerned parties – employees, management, organization, partners, customers – are delivering to the expectations and benefitting from each other’s contributions. In all spheres, there will always be factors that make us do certain things in a certain way, leading to certain results and now you can see why when it comes to business and managing employees, there is no way that companies will turn a blind eye. They want to know what can make their people-driven and enthusiastic, so then they can provide such and environment… and steer it to achieve both the results of the organization and the individual. But it is also the responsibility of each employee to honestly and objectively acknowledge his needs, wants, and abilities and see how to be involved and assist in the process, rather than wait for “the carrot”…As, in the end, it may turn out that carrots or sticks were never in the recipe for your success – be it as a person, or as a company 😉
Author: Ivanina Ivanova
