” Motivation at Work " on Positive Psychology News Daily
Motivation at Work
By Eleanor Chin
Positive Psychology News Daily, NY (Eleanor Chin) - April 4, 2009, 9:33 am
Excerpts:
In summary, autonomy-supported leaders create the environment that fosters choice, giving people opportunities for success and for developing feelings of competence. According to science, self-motivation thrives in the medium of choice.
How do we build choice into jobs? Helping employees recraft their jobs around reaching specified goals by exercising their strengths, passions and skills is likely to result in more engagement and a better outcome for everyone. Employees are more energized when their actions emanate from choice rather than external control. The vitality that comes from caring about the work itself and relationships with colleagues can be, as they say, priceless.
The $10,000,000 question that leaders ask most is “How can we motivate people?” Let’s start by reframing the question slightly to reflect what we actually can do for others, “How can we create an environment that enables people to motivate themselves?”
Now let’s focus on intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation, doing work for its own sake is more sustainable, leads to greater job satisfaction, more engagement and even better, greater levels of physical and mental health than extrinsic motivation based on tangible rewards initiated by others. Our natural drive for autonomy leads to intrinsic motivation. The good news is that autonomy develops within us from childhood, like the ability to walk on our own, unless stifled.
What Factors Enhance Motivation?
Choice and experiences of competence are external factors that enhance feelings of autonomy. If Jason wants Sam to go beyond “meets expectations” to reach heights that Jason himself has not imagined, he needs to balance the necessary drudgery and externally controlled aspects, like deadlines and budgets, with some autonomous aspects that give Sam choice.Jason can start with these steps:
- Involve Sam in brainstorming early in the idea stage
- Help Sam discover something that he finds exciting about the project
- Clarify the goals and leave the means of accomplishing them up to Sam
- Create landmarks together so that Sam can feel a sense of accomplishment, success, and competence along the way
What Factors Tend to Demotivate?
Negative feedback can diminish both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation at work, according to motivation researchers Gagne and Deci. This suggests that the perennial stand-by for employee development, the performance evaluation, needs to include healthy doses of positive feedback surrounding any discussion of “challenges.” Talking about challenges is a good opportunity to invite the employee’s input on overcoming them. Peak-end theory also suggests that it’s best to end meetings on a positive note. I often suggest the “sandwich” method to my clients—start and end the conversation with genuinely positive feedback.
Read Full Article: http://pos-psych.com/news/eleanor-chin/200904041761
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This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.
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