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In 1999, a friend of mine was working full-time as a Software Engineer and earning $80,000/year. One morning, he walked into his office and found that someone had stolen his computer. He immediately told his manager about the theft. My friend had to muster all his self-control to hide his intense joy and relief of having the day off from work while a new computer was brought in.
A year later, the Stock Market Crash of 2000 occurred, and the company he worked for went bankrupt. Again, my friend was very pleased, and he happily went on Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, receiving only a fraction of his normal salary.
If you are unsatisfied with your job situation, you may be able to understand my friend’s point of view.
As a new year begins, many of us re-examine certain aspects of our lives. Since most full-time employees spend at least 40 hours a week (plus commute time) at their jobs, it is very important to find fulfillment in our careers. Job dissatisfaction is very common, but not normal or healthy.
The job market in Canada is gradually improving. However, in 2009, the unemployment rate was 8.3% – the highest rate in the last decade. During the same period, many companies had to cut jobs to stay afloat, and in September 2009, consumer bankruptcy rose by 47.4%. During that year, most employees were happy just to have a job.
Retaining employees because of a dismal job market prospects does not make businesses flourish. Businesses understand that because of globalization, they need to stay competitive by retaining skilled and motivated workers. As most of us know, motivation is directly linked to job satisfaction. Yet, a recent survey by Salary.com revealed that only 15% of employees are extremely satisfied with their current position and that 65% of employees are regularly looking for better employment opportunities.
The American Psychologist J.C. Smith defines job satisfaction as “the feelings that a worker has for his job”. This definition takes into account that objective (i.e., specific tasks) and subjective (i.e., beliefs) dimensions contribute to total job satisfaction.
What motivates any employee is often linked to his/her most pressing human need. American Psychologist Abraham Maslow’s Theory of Motivation and Hierarchy of Needs links satisfaction with getting our needs met. This hierarchy ranges from physical survival to self-actualization needs. Most jobs satisfy physical survival needs by providing stable paycheque, but very few help employees become self-actualized.
In an attempt to motivate their employees, employers often use rewards systems which can be financial and non-financial. Financial rewards include wages, salaries, and bonuses while indirect rewards can be insurance plans (i.e., life & health), retirement plans, sick leave, etc. Non-financial rewards consist of satisfaction from the job, which is the psychological and physical work environment.
According to best-selling American author Daniel Pink, what motivates employees to excel at their jobs is rarely linked to their salary. In his book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, he points out three elements of true motivation: autonomy, mastery, and purpose.
Autonomy is “our desire to be self-directed”; mastery is “the urge to get better at stuff”; and purpose is “making a contribution to society”. In other words, employees are very motivated if they can choose how/when to do their jobs, are very competent at it, and are helping make the world a better place.
Also, Pink comes to a surprising conclusion regarding motivation: for simple, straightforward tasks, higher monetary rewards lead to greater productivity; however, if the tasks require even rudimentary cognitive or creative skills, money incentives lead to poorer performance.
Pink’s observations can be explained by the fact that brilliant ideas are often generated when the mind is relaxed, and one is engaged in a totally different activity. A stress-inducing environment (i.e., losing a substantial money incentive) tends to promote tunnel vision, while a relaxed setting allows for greater use of brain capacity. Consequently, businesses need to understand that in a global economy where repetitive tasks can be outsourced, employee creativity is their most precious commodity.
Most of us will be employees for a significant part of our lives. Unfortunately, there is an assumption that it is normal to dislike our jobs. Our occupation should provide more than a paycheck – it should be fulfilling. The pressure to become more competitive may lead employers to re-examine what truly motivates employees because the money often can’t do the job.
Literary Truths
Here are some strategies that businesses can use to increase employee motivation:
- Fair internal rewards: employees with equal skills who are exerting the same effort should be equally rewarded.
- Skilled Supervisors: only trained individuals should hold this leadership position. This job is crucial because this person is in direct contact with front line workers. All leaders should have highly developed people/negotiation skills. Consequently, being a very good employee does NOT automatically translate into leadership skills.
- Reasonable workload: multi-tasking can only go so far. At some point, more people need to be hired. When employees are over-worked, they tend to call in sick more often and do poor quality work.
- Employee input: if employees do not feel heard, they will not listen to their employers as well.
- Logical rules: rules are important for the proper functioning of any organization, but they have to make sense. If management is unsure of the validity of a rule, they shouldn’t try to explain it to educated and experienced employees.
- Purpose/Integrity: the supervisory/management team’s behaviour should be aligned with the company’s mission statement and purpose. Employees are NOT motivated by the idea of making the CEO richer.
- Understand different thinking styles: some employees are mostly left-brained (linear thinking) and other right-brained (artistic). Right-brained individuals need a meaningful occupation more so than their left-brained counterparts, or they will quit if the job becomes meaningless.
- Continuing education: employees welcome the opportunity to upgrade their knowledge and skills. Many companies that invest in continuing education retain skilled and high performing employees.
Truth in Motion
References
Canadian Business & Consumer Bankruptcy Data
Canadian Unemployment Rate
Daniel H. Pink – Drive: https://www.danpink.com/books/drive/
Dot-Com Bubble: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble
Dwight Picture
Galanou, Ekaterini, et al. “The effect of reward system on job satisfaction in an organizational chart of four hierarchical levels: a qualitative study/L’effet du système de recompense sur la satisfaction au travail dans un organigramme des quatre niveaux hiérarchiques: une étude qualitative.” Canadian Social Science 6.5 (2010): 102.
Motivation Picture: http://www.lessonsoffailure.com/developers/autonomy-mastery-purpose/
Salary.com 4th Annual Survey of Employee Job Satisfaction