Solving the Motivation Puzzle |
Take our Ambition Test
Find a therapist near me
I recently came across a study that reminded me of the importance of thoughtful motivation in effective management. The study examined the role meaningful work plays in engaging and motivating employees. The study's conclusion: Meaningful work is a key motivational factor, especially when combined with attributes such as varied tasks, autonomy, and opportunities for personal development. From the study: "Overall, the results show that meaningful work plays an important role in enhancing employee engagement, and that providing employees with skill and task variety is important to achieving that goal."
I liked the study; I felt it had a good, insightful main point. But when I thought back to my own decades in management, and the many individuals I got to know over those years, it also felt to me that the study was providing one medium-sized piece of a large, complicated puzzle.
Meaningful work matters, to be sure; regardless of the job, it's always helpful for employees to feel their work has a solid, constructive purpose. But motivations can be highly individualistic. I knew employees who were motivated by nothing so much as having a flexible schedule that enabled them to attend their children's sports events. Or a flexible schedule that allowed them to check on and help take care of aging parents. I knew employees who despised micromanagement (and there are plenty of those) and wanted nothing so much as the autonomy to work on projects independently. I also knew employees who wanted relatively close management, who liked to check in regularly, and preferred working in a more structured environment.
At times, I thought of management almost as detective work; we try to "crack the code" to figure out how to get the best out of employees. For some employees, truth be told, I never did crack the code and figure it out.
Motivations can definitely change over time, too; I understood this firsthand from my own experience.
When I was young and starting as a journalist (back in the Pleistocene Era), I had only myself to think about; I was highly motivated by the nature of the work. When I moved into my 30s, had a young family and more responsibilities and expenses, my motivations shifted: I changed fields into life insurance, got an MBA, and became considerably more motivated by money.
Meaningful work still mattered; I wouldn't have wanted to do something I didn't believe in. However, the nature of the work itself made less difference than it had just a few years earlier. I came to think of understanding motivation in business as something more fluid than static, more an art than a science. But as a manager, when it comes to your own employees, it's definitely a puzzle worth spending time on.
Take our Ambition Test
Find a therapist near me
Albrecht, S., Green, C., & Marty, A. (2021.) Meaningful Work, Job Resources, and Employee Engagement. Sustainability, Volume 13, Issue 7. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/7/4045