Motivation@WorkInspiring Passion in the Workplace

Greg Gifford, Ph.D.Faculty, Federal Executive Institute

Workshop AgendaComplete Motivation Self-Assessment

A Brief History of Motivation

Overview of Sources of Work Motivation

Develop a Self Motivation Profile

Motivation Case Studies

Inspiring Passion

What gets you through the door to work everyday?

Inspiring PassionLeadership is…

1. Purpose Driven

2. Incites Change based on values & vision

3. A process of influence based on mutual respect and understanding

Inspiring Passion

Motivation is…

The general desire of a human being (obtained by internal and external sources) to engage in an activity or behavior.

Work Motivation: The desire and willingness to engage in work related activities.

Engagement Among Federal Employees

SomewhatEngaged47.2%

Engaged35.3%

NotEngaged17.5%

Source: MSPB, 2008

Brief History of Motivation

Knowing

Feeling

Willing Volition

Motivation:A Social-Cognitive Process

Hierarchy of Needs5 sets of needs

Physiological Safety Love Esteem Self-Actualization

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

McClelland’s Trichotomy of Needs

Motivation can be divided into 3 needs:Need for PowerNeed for AchievementNeed for Affiliation

But What About the Workplace?

Meta-Theory of Work Motivation

5 sources from which motivation is derived:

Intrinsic Process Motivation Instrumental MotivationSelf Concept-External MotivationSelf Concept-Internal MotivationGoal Internalization Motivation

Leonard, Beauvais & Scholl, 1998

Chart Your Course

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Work Motivation

Intrinsic Process MotivationMotivated by the enjoyment of the work

being done

Typical BehaviorsTalks about likes and dislikes of tasksVolunteers for ‘fun’ activities and tasksMay become easily bored or distractedUsually desires variety

Careers for Intrinsic Process Actors

Daycare Workers

Elementary School Teachers

Entertainers

Inspiring Fun Find out which projects or tasks are each

of your employee’s favorites.

Find ways to assign more of the tasks they enjoy and fewer of the ones they don’t like to do.

Many people love to laugh on the job — a happy worker is a good worker — so let there be laughter in the workplace.

Create a quote of the week board for people who have said the funniest things on the job.

Create a social calendar or events board so employees can link up for activities after work.

Make laughter a priority when interacting with your employees.

Organize a ball game (softball, baseball, basketball, volleyball, football).

Organize a golf outing.

Schedule important meetings off-site at out-of-the-ordinary locations.

Always start a meeting with something social or fun before you get down to business.

Make sure that every meeting has some scheduled fun time.

Hold events that are intended to let everyone have fun.

Plan an outing to a local community event

Where Do You Rank?

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Work MotivationInstrumental Motivation

Motivated by extrinsic tangible outcomespay, promotion, bonus

Typical Behaviors “What’s in it for me?”Compensation for extra workDiscusses how much money one makes/doesn’t makeCompares relative wealth and success of others

Careers for InstrumentalSales

Stock Broker

Small Business Owner

Corporate Executives

Inspiring with Rewards Create clear work objectives and goals for

employees to pursue in order to earn salary increments (no performance = no raise).

Remind employees of what they will get for their efforts.

Avoid across-the-board raises (this sends the message that it doesn’t matter whether you work hard or not).

Create incentives attached to predetermined objectives and tasks.

Give special awards to top performers on a regular basis.

Make clear expectations of what you expect from your employees and hold them to it when it comes time to putting your “money where your mouth is.”

Offer extra holiday time for outstanding performers (make sure that employees know about the incentive well in advance).

Develop perks or prizes for individuals who can perform the best in a functional area for a given week (make sure you give the prize to the worker who performed best).

Don’t pass out rewards evenly to all employees in an effort to include everyone. This demotivates the instrumentally motivated person.

Follow through on all of your promises.

Make sure that employees do not receive perks if they haven’t earned them.

Remind employees which tasks will be most important for their performance evaluations.

Its Not Just About the Money

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Where Do You Rank?

Work Motivation

Self Concept-External MotivationMotivated by the affirmation of traits, competencies and

values others associate with the personDesire to gain acceptance into a group, the obtain status

within that group

Typical BehaviorsFrequently asks for feedbackStrives for praise and recognitionTalks (brags) about accomplishments

Careers for Self Concept-External

Elected Officials

Public Speakers

Authors

Journalists

Professors

Inspiring Belongingness Give employees lots of feedback about the way they

are performing.

Give praise in front of other people (the more people that know they did well the better!).

Criticize these individuals only in private (never in front of others).

Give unsolicited compliments and positive reinforcement to employees for jobs with which you are satisfied.

Tell your employees that you appreciate the work they do.

Start a suggestion box and publish the best suggestion made each week on the company bulletin board (make sure everyone knows that the best suggestions will be published).

Ask employees if anything interesting happened to them this weekend (they love to share their stories).

Give out certificates of appreciation to anyone who does extraordinarily well for the agency.

Recognize the outstanding performers in the group at every staff meeting.

Create plaques and awards for top performances.

Put up an achievement board to highlight some of the great things that have happened in the agency and who was responsible!

Put up pictures and biographies of all your employees in a central place.

Include unique pieces of information about each employee and change these items from week to week (example: favorite ice cream flavor, worst day ever, thing that I’m most proud of, etc.).

At company-wide meetings, create and announce serious and fun “superlatives” (example: hardest worker, cleanest car, spiffiest dressed, most versatile, cleanest shoes, most athletic, most reliable).

The Gallup Organization utilizes a “Drop in the Bucket” peer-to-peer recognition program. Consider implementing a similar peer-to-peer recognition effort.

Send a weekly email highlighting individual, team and organizational accomplishments.

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Where Do You Rank?

Work MotivationSelf Concept-Internal Motivation

Motivated by a self-driven desire to achieve and exceed one’s personal standards

Typical BehaviorsSeeks out difficult tasks/projectsUtilize specific skill set to complete workSeek professional development opportunitiesWork autonomously, with little direction

Careers for Self Concept-Internal

Analysts

Historian

Mid/Senior Level Managers

Psychologist

Farmers

Inspiring Personal Challenge

Avoid assigning tasks that have too much structure.

Find out what they think is their best skill and encourage them to use this with the tasks you assign.

Find out what area this person wants to most improve in and find ways for them to work on this skill.

Encourage employees to develop and build on their strengths, not weaknesses.

Avoid assigning (too many) mundane tasks to these employees.

Assign projects rather than tasks.

Play devil’s advocate with proposals or solutions presented by these employees.

Challenge these employees by saying, “I’m not sure if you are up to this challenge, but...”

Give them a challenging project with no clear solution, then get out of their way.

Give them autonomy to structure and perform their job as they see best.

Don’t insult them by asking them to do something that just about anybody could do (they need to know that they are uniquely qualified to do it).

Ask these employees to find training and development opportunities that will allow them to develop expertise.

Encourage these employees to take on projects that may fail.

Remind these employees that they shouldn’t take “no” for an answer from anyone.

Ask these employees to come up with several plausible solutions to a situation, not just one answer.

Encourage employees to brainstorm innovative or new ideas.

Challenge these employees to find and “be on the cutting edge” of the profession.

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Where Do You Rank?

Work Motivation

Goal InternalizationMotivated by the belief that the work being done is

contributing to a larger cause or collective goals

Typical Behaviors “Why are we doing this?”Discusses strategic focus of the organizationLive professional and personal life guided by a strict set of

principles and values

Careers for Goal Internalization

Government Employees

Non-profit Workers

Middle/High School Teachers

Volunteers

Inspiring with the Mission Communicate the purpose behind tasks or

projects being assigned.

Involve these employees in developing or redeveloping visions, missions and goals.

Find creative ways to display, depict or represent the vision and mission in a visible place.

Refer to the purpose of the organization and “why we exist” when outlining strategies and goals.

Allow employees to “interact” with the purpose by posting the contributions they make or have made to the mission.

Remind employees of who depends on this organization to succeed (families, communities, industry).

Make links between their work and the bigger picture.

As you assign projects, provide a clear linkage between the project and the mission of the agency.

Refer to historical events that have impacted the country or agency to add context to work being done.

Encourage employees to develop a personal leadership vision.

Consistently refer to the purpose(s) of government and government service.

Take time to honor or recognize those who have served in government.

Encourage employees to tell stories about their time public service and why their time is meaningful.

Find meaning in every assignment or project given to employees.

Ask this employee to coordinate a community relations event (e.g.--blood drive, the combined campaign, canned food drive or run/walk for a cause).

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Where Do You Rank?

Your Results

MSI (Motivation Sources Inventory) Scoring Sheet

 

Intrinsic Process: 1____, 6____, 11____, 16____, 21____, 26____ (Sum) ___

Instrumental: 2____, 7____, 12____, 17____, 22____, 27____ (Sum) _______

SC External: 3____, 8____, 13____, 18____, 23____, 28____ (Sum) _______

SC Internal: 4____, 9____, 14____, 19____, 24____, 29____ (Sum) _______

Goal Internal: 5____, 10____, 15____, 20____, 25____, 30____ (Sum) _______

Your ResultsDominant Source & Secondary Source

Important Things to Remember… Everyone has some amount of all 5 sources of motivation

which can be in play at any time Your sources may fluctuate a bit, but tend to be fairly

steady. There is not a good or bad motivation. Only you know how accurately/honestly you answered the

questions and therefore how accurate your results are. This is NOT a developmental tool, but informational.

Motivation MattersTypical Approach

Use one’s own sources of motivation to motivate others

Inspiring Personal ApproachBe aware of your sources of motivationUnderstand motivation differences of employeesDevelop personalized motivation approaches

Motivating Others Case Study

Review Case – 10 mins

Small Group Discussion – 10 mins

Large Group Report Out & Discussion – 20 mins

Case StudyPart 1:

What are the dominant & secondary sources of motivation that are espoused by leaders in the case?

Part 2: If you were leading the organization and wanted to

improve this situation, How would you appeal to the dominant source of

motivation?How could you appeal to the secondary source of

motivation?

Case StudyReport Out

Give a Brief Overview of the Case

Part 1: What is the dominant source of motivation? What is the secondary source of motivation?

Part 2: How would you appeal to the dominant source of

motivation? How could you appeal to the secondary source of

motivation?