Motivating Individual Employees at Work

Over the years, research has contributed a number of evidence-based approaches to identify individual motivational strategies, and to provide outcomes that are valued by individuals. For example, some people like to be congratulated in private – some in public. Some staff need lots of attention and reassurance – others seem to just enjoy seeing successful outcomes from the effort that they put in. Stimulus-response behavioural theory proposes that people are motivated by the prospect of rewards when certain actions are performed. This ‘carrot and stick’ approach is not really motivational and can at times become punitive. However, it is still the basis on which a lot of managers operate today.   

If managers choose to use this approach to motivating staff they need to pair the extrinsic reward with an intrinsic (internal) reward so that the behaviour will be repeated even after the external reward has been withdrawn. Thereafter, the behaviour is repeated purely because of the reinforcement of the intrinsic reward. When employees starts to associate changes in their behaviour with rewards that they have given themselves, you know that they have finally ‘Got it’! Such rewards can be minor e.g. a break from work for half an hour; going for a cup of coffee etc. Major rewards, which may be saved for end-of-week, are things like having a drink with staff members. If a social occasion is valued, pairing the reward with a social event reinforces the behaviour in terms of social acceptance and belonging. 

Everybody wants to feel useful at work. They want to find the work meaningful and feel that they are contributing to achieving the goals of their team, division and/or organisation. People come to work with varying levels of enthusiasm to perform. They generally want to do a good job. They want to use their skills and talents, and contribute to the team effort. It’s up to the manager to recognise the best in each of their team members, harness their strengths and talents in the right direction, and make sure there are opportunities to perform. 

AMO model 

When considering ways to motivate an employee, the manager may consider the Performance Equation: P = f(A,M,O).  AMO theory states that individual performance is a function of the individual’s abilities, motivation and their opportunity to succeed in the specific context (which covers factors like the quality of resources available and channels for influencing management decisions).  

• Ability includes both declarative knowledge (what we know about things i.e. facts, principles, goals and self-knowledge, as well as procedural knowledge and skill (how we actually go about things i.e. cognitive, psychomotor, physical, self-management and interpersonal skills).  
• Motivation is a combination of choice to perform, level of effort and persistence of effort. 
• Opportunity is related to organisational environment i.e. the context must be characterised by appropriate resourcing, favourable team mates and good upward communication for optimum performance to occur. 

Primary and secondary work drives  

David McClelland proposed three types of drives or motivations which are most applicable to the work environment:  

• achievement motivation (n-ach) – the need to be in control of your life; 
• affiliation motivation (n-affil) – the need to have friends and ‘belong’ to a group - to socialise with others; and 
• power motivation (n-pow) – the need to be in charge of others, to exert power and influence over them, either through legitimate or illegitimate means. 

These motivations fuel people’s behaviour on a daily basis and are often driven by how comfortable they are with themselves and their level of self-esteem. If they have a healthy self-esteem, people are less in need than someone with a low self-esteem. These three motivational needs (for achievement, affiliation or power) are found to varying degrees in all people, including employees and managers at work, and this mix of motivational needs shapes a person's or manager's style and behaviour both in terms of being motivated, and conversely, in their management and motivation of others. 

Work / organisational factors 

If an employee is unmotivated at work, job dissatisfaction can set in and cause considerable problems to the organisation. A coach can work with an employee in relation to four key areas relating to the work itself, the relationship with their manager and colleagues, the team environment, and any perceived organisational constraints.  

Factors relating to the work itself: The work should be meaningful in that the employee knows that if they don’t do it, it will affect the rest of the team and/or the achievement of the end goal. There must be clear and achievable objectives aligned with the goals of the organisation which impact the team, division and organisation. Any vagueness or ambiguity can lead to confusion. What am I supposed to do? To what standard? There must interfere with task achievement: too much time and laziness or disinterest may set in; too little time and stress may become too great and hinder performance. The employee must have the authority to make decisions (within agreed limits) in relation to the task. If they can’t, they will always be running back to the manager. This creates a dependent situation where the employee becomes demoralised and stressed, and questions why they have been given the job in the first place? All the resources sufficient to complete the task to the required standard must be made available to the employee. If not, the employee is being set up to fail. 

The Job Characteristics Model (Hackman & Oldham, 1980) is based on how jobs are designed. It helps clients identify the elements with which they are satisfied, and those elements about which they need to speak with their manager in an attempt to bring about changes in their role. The model proposes five characteristics that can be adjusted to bring greater satisfaction at work: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback. 

Factors relating to the manager:  It’s the manager’s role to convey the divisional goal to their team and either work with the team to divide up the load, or allocate tasks according to people’s skills and expertise. In doing so, they must be careful to spread the workload evenly and fairly, so that it’s possible for everyone to feel and be involved, and contribute in a very important way. The manager should value the diversity within their team and make allowances if necessary (but not to the detriment of other employees). In doing so, the manager should treat each employee equally and fairly, without prejudice or discrimination, playing no favourites.  Once the tasks have been set and the manager is confident that everyone has the information and resources that they need to do the job, they should step back and monitor the overall situation, not micro-manage.  

Factors relating to the team and how it works together: The team should be as well-informed of the situation and goals to be achieved as possible. Working towards a common goal is a highly motivating factor which keeps everyone on track and engenders a feeling of ‘comradery’ within the team.  If there are hidden agendas, cliques or groups, these may have a disruptive influence on the overall harmony of the team. The manager’s role is to ensure that these cliques / groups support each other so that everyone feels part of the bigger team. Otherwise a sense of isolation and separation from the team may result in some individuals leaving the team because of these factors. The manager must ensure that the team shares its information and resources collectively and specifically to those who need them. Managing the communication flow is essential so that some team members don’t feel ‘left in the dark’ which can cause resentment and bad feelings. 

Factors relating to the organisation: The organisation should have policies and procedures relating to who has access to what level of information and resources. Are they followed? What is the consequence of breaking them? The leadership team should convey the organisational goals to their divisions, so that the goals get translated into divisional and team goals which are within the capability of each team to achieve. How are they communicated and reported on? Is there a system to let employees know of any changes? The organisation should have generic communication systems in place to keep employees and other stakeholders informed of developments. Who monitors / manages them?  Do these systems work? 

As a coach, your role is to help the client remove any of these ‘roadblocks’ to their progress and performance. If the problem reoccurs, or if a number of team members experience the same problem, it may be time for the coach to have a confidential discussion with the manager about how they can improve their leadership and management skills.  

This modified excerpt is taken from the book “Positive Psychology Coaching” by Dr Susanne Knowles which is available from www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com. 

Book Reviews and a Book Trainer are available on www.susanne.knowles.com.