Margus: Yeah, it is a little confusing. I explained the model more in depth here:
http://positivesharing.com/2006/12/why-motivation-by-pizza-doesnt-work/

Does that help?

Sarah D: I love your assertion that “Of all the incentive programmes I’ve been part of during my career, NONE of them has ever done anything for me, to the point where I felt myself mentally withdraw from any employer even hinting at relying on these kind of tactics.”

Can I quote you on that?

And self-control is definitely a large part of why I’m self-employed :o)

Arnoud & Squish: Great point. The best leaders are not only motivated by getting results – but motivated by helping others get results!

Terrence: There’s definitely a follow-up post on the way, but first I’d love to hear your ideas!

mage: It may be a step to something else – but then it’s still positive, ie. something you want.

Claus: “Have to” is a powerful motivator but only in the short term. While it takes more work to get to the “want to”, once you do you have created sustainable long-term motivation.

PDR: Exactly!

Elaine: That is it. That is how you take it from external motivation to internal – by connecting those dots.

Scot: Immeasurement certainly ought to be a word :o) Let’s make it one!

Kevin: Your comment shows precisely why rewards don’t work. The recognition itself is nice, but tying it to 1/10 of a mug just demeans it.

Tony: Great point. If you consistently can’t find motivation in what you do, maybe there’s something more fundamental you need to think about.

Gal: That’s it – you can’t motivate others.

Mage: I honestly think you can’t motivate others. This doesn’t mean that you “give up” – it means that you work harder at helping them find their own motivation.

When all else fails, you CAN motivate others, but only in the short term. Sometimes short-term motivation is just the ticket!

* please don’t tell school teachers that they should just “give up” if the kid does not initially show self motivation!

* please do tell the army that they should stop torture, as that can “motivate” people into confessions (in most cases, confessions to stuff they have not even done!!!)

the question might be… are *we* motivated enough to try to motivate someone else about the same thing…? i’m not saying its always possible… but the tone of most of the comments is of people “giving up” even before trying!

please lets not go so far down the sensitive new age happy goodie feelie path that we forgot that much is achieved through hard work and discipline… surely people can see that the dalai lama is a happy man… surely his discipline has quite a bit to do with it… the new age happy feelie thing is great and has a really important place in life… but that’s not all life is about… get off your back sides and work at it man! (and woman!).

One manager I know asks all his candidates what their personal mission statement is. If they don’t have one, he asks them to come up with one. If it’s not in line with the mission of the company, he suggests that perhaps this is not the best fit.

Once you’ve hired someone, you can tap into what motivates them (money, bonuses, responsibilities, challenge, education, promotion, flexibility……) to keep them motivated and focused on the goals of the organization as it applies to their job.

If managers approach hiring and leading in a “business as usual” way, then that’s what they’ll continue to get – “business as usual.” Do things differently and you’ll get different results.

Once again, great post!

Also, one possible way to explore the source of intrinsic motivation might be to sit quietly and explore what is the best part of yourself that you can
contribute to the work/task/project/business at hand.

A possible outcome of from doing this is that your creative juices get stirred up and you become inspired with new ideas that boost your creativity and productivity further.

http://www.SuccessArticle.info

The reference to “cheap corporate tchotchkies” especially rings a bell with me. My employer, dismayed by the dismal response on the employee satisfaction survey (the main causes were dangerous understaffing and horrible work loads), came up with the bright idea of 1) revising the mission statement and 2) PRIDE Rewards.

The latter was a system of bonus points to reward “extraordinary” job performance, with reward stickers redeemable for cheap, shitty trinkets. The stickers are only good toward prizes offered through HR. The cheapest prize is a shitty coffee mug for 10 stickers. We were all issued a card with one sticker on it when the policy was announced. Mine immediately went in the trash with the contempt it deserved; I was sorely tempted to wipe my ass on it and mail it to HR. A couple of people on my floor earned stickers at the outset of the program: one of them went to a guy who saved a patient’s life with the Heimlich maneuver. We all remarked at the time what an insult it was to “reward” him with 1/10 of a mug. Everyone was constantly joking about the stickers: “Everything’s still shitty, but those stickers make it all worthwhile. Just think–all I have to do is save ten lives, and I can have a crappy little coffee mug of my very own!” The reward sticker program passed into well-deserved oblivion not long after. The HR types and senior administrators who came up with it never got a clue, but the ward supervisors have a better feel for just how insulting and politically tone-deaf such bullshit is, and I think they quietly let it die on their own.

These three points are very good, very do-able:

- notice what people are doing

- connect what people are doing to what the company is doing/where the company is going

- develop and use good measures

Any others?

Terry

Anonymity — if you feel as though no one knows you at work, you will not be motivated to do the work. A manager can help here by taking an interest in their employee as a person and not as a widget producing goods.

Irrelevance — if you cannot connect your work to a larger goal, then you will not be motivated to do the work. A manager can help here by relating how the work being done makes a difference to a company, a department, or even just the manager.

Immeasurement (author of the book says it’s not a word yet…) — if you cannot independently measure your work you will not know whether or not you are doing well in your position. Having a manager tell you that you are doing well or not is not it. Think of it as having independent measures of how well you are doing so you can judge your work yourself. Managers here can help by developing good measurements that will help an employee know how they are doing today on the job.

Personally, I think, at best, a manager can provide the framework for good work, but managers can’t motivate another person per se. But, the framework is important, because without it, a person can be self-motivated and not do the work well because of the three categories above.