Motivation comes from many places. In fact, both internal and external factors can cause people to want to achieve goals and do their best. Motivation is a choice. A person makes a decision – consciously or subconsciously – to put the effort into accomplishing something.
Before learning what you can do to support your employees’ motivation, it’s important to first clear up some common misconceptions
- your motivators are similar to my employees’ motivators
- compensation is a great motivator
- fear is a great motivator, and
- leaders can motivate people
It’s very common, and accepted, to speak of motivating people, but the truth is, no individual can actually motivate another. That’s because motivation comes from within. People are motivated by their own unique desires and goals. Even so, as a leader, you still have the most critical role in the motivation process. Your actions set the tone and create the environment that motivates – or fails to motivate – employees.
Common motivators can include career development, work/life balance, recognition, and knowledge. Keep in mind this isn’t a comprehensive list. There are as many different motivators as there are individuals.
Extrinsic or intrinsic
Motivators are generally categorized as being extrinsic or intrinsic. Extrinsic motivators are enticements external to the individual. They represent the value the organization places on the employee’s work and the outcome of that work. Extrinsic motivators only work if employees want them. Intrinsic motivators are based on internal feelings employees find personally rewarding, such as a sense of accomplishment, and can be harder to identify. These are things like the opportunity to take on greater responsibility, or interesting and challenging work.
Extrinsic motivators, like compensation, aren’t strong motivators by themselves – although inadequate compensation can definitely demotivate people. Salary, benefits, and other compensation measures are a matter of organizational policy, and they’re unlikely to be under your direct control as a leader. The things that tend to motivate people most are intrinsic motivators that tap into their unmet needs.
According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, people’s needs fall into five categories arranged in a hierarchy, with physiological needs at the bottom, then safety needs, belonging needs, self-esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. The lower needs in the pyramid are the most basic needs. These must be filled before the higher needs will motivate a person.
