Why do people do things? For example, what makes an employee get out of a comfortable bed to brave the problems and ordeals of a job? What makes an executive apply himself to a task, work over-time to complete a particularly challenging project? In general, people are moved to act by three types of motives:
1. External motivation.
Many people do what they do because they’re told to do it. A parent tells a child he must get high marks in school. A teenager mows a lawn because his father orders him to do so. Or, a young man goes to college because his parents believe it’s essential for his future. On the job, an employee “obeys the boss.”
2. Social pressure.
Many people are motivated by social or group pressures. For example, 90 out of 100 people work because our society expects them to. Similarly, many people get married when they do because society expects them to. Or, on the job, individuals seek advancement because it’s expected by their employers or colleagues.
3. Self-motivation.
Occasionally, we find people who take action on their own. They do something because they want to do it. The self-motivated individual in many cases lives where he wants to, in the manner he prefers, and works toward objectives that he has decided are desirable for him. For the executive, it’s important to understand these three basic types of motivation.
The executive who is most effective in motivating his subordinates is the one most able to get them to act not because they are commanded to by a superior, not because they are pressured by the expectations of those around them, but because they are aware of the desirability of attaining the objectives of their efforts defined by their superiors. What self-motivation comes down to, finally, is the individual’s conviction that he desires the fruits of success, that he wants them so badly that he’s willing to strive for them with all his heart and mind.
Telling them what’s in it for them
You’re explaining a new policy to your group, and you want to get their full support. Or you give an individual an assignment, and he very properly seems to hesitate, because he’s not clear on his stake in the success of the effort. In cases like these, the key to effective motivation may be in explaining to the individual, or group, the benefits they stand to gain. Perhaps the most crucial specific application of this approach lies in the cost-cutting area. You, as a representative of management, know the importance of holding the cost line.
Some of your people may be reluctant to “knock themselves out” to save the company “a few bucks.” A considerable amount of insight into this problem is gained when you hear the answers given to a probing question: “If your company announced a cost-cutting drive, what would it take to get you to cooperate?” The answers given here provide the key to effective motivation, not only in cost cutting, but in any other job project where the employee may be unclear as to what he stands to gain:
■ Personal payoff.
“I’d want to feel,” said a New York City insurance office clerk, “that my boss would notice me if I did a good job. And I’d expect him to remember my cooperation when it came time for a promotion or a raise.”
■ Dollars and cents.
A Connecticut bakery employee said he’d want to know the dollars and cents of the matter. “Let my boss show me figures. If I saw figures showing, say, that $1,200 went down the drain every month on unnecessary electricity, wow! I’d sure turn off lights. But if my boss just talks about ‘waste’ or ‘high costs,’ that’s too abstract for me.”
■ Necessity.
Says a California aircraft worker: “I’d want the company to tell me they’re in financial trouble. Or if they told me my job depended on it, yes sir, I’d try to cut costs. And I’d want to be kept informed of the progress made: how we improve each week after the drive goes into effect.”
■ We’re all in the same boat.
Said a Chattanooga factory worker: “Why me? That’s what I’d ask my boss. I’ve got a sense of responsibility like everyone else, but I’d want it appealed to honestly. If I thought that somebody higher up was just passing the buck down to me, I wouldn’t do anything. But if I felt that everyone above me was getting into the act, sure I’d help out.” Should this hardheaded attitude be discouraging? Not at all. Notice that each employee indicated that he would be perfectly willing to participate in cost-cutting efforts if—the reasons behind the activity were made clear, his position were given some consideration and justification, and so on.
If your company and your department plan to do any belt-tightening, try to think what each man in your department would react to—then spur that interest. For some employees it will be involvement—just asking for help, getting them into the act. For others it will be the carrot—or the stick. Chances are, you’ll have to use all of the techniques at your disposal. Your flexibility with these techniques—the aptness with which you satisfy each employee’s “What’s in it for me?”—will determine how your staff cooperates.
