Employees are the lifeline of businesses – they are the beating heart that pumps success through the company’s veins. At the very core of this, employee motivation makes the difference when it comes to organisational success, and understanding the part that intrinsic motivation plays in productivity is essential.
At one end of the spectrum, we have a super busy and stretched team; a team that ends up as stressed out and overwhelmed group of people who risk burning out. We throw money at the problem (bumping up salaries, throwing in some bonuses) and promise that it won’t always be this way.
At the other end, we have a team doing okay, plodding on, not overachieving, or making any considerable impression. We have plenty of resources; no one is overworked; we could end up with a team that works at a decent leisurely pace.
I recently spoke to a business leader who described his team as “doing okay, but not very proactive”, does this sound familiar?
As a business, your success is determined by capturing the optimal performance from your workforce.
What is intrinsic motivation?
What if, instead of looking at the outputs and inputs of people, we could consider what goes on inside?
Acting intrinsically is when we operate without any specific external factors; this could be simply enjoying an activity.
If we were to all figure out what drove us INTRINSICALLY to be motivated, perhaps we would all be leaping out of bed each day instead of hitting snooze on the alarm clock?
In the workplace, leaders often increase productivity by using extrinsic rewards such as bonus schemes, team days out etc. Despite the initial increase in productivity, the quality of work usually does not follow the rise.
Factors that affect intrinsic motivation
Challenges
When team members are not challenges, the day to day becomes rather mundane. It’s easy to lose motivation when we are not pursuing our goals – when there is no meaning behind our actions.
Authority
When individuals have authority over their work, they can feel in control of their work and environment. By providing team members with autonomy over their work, they can gain power in their working environment.
Recognition
Recognition of accomplishments and being appreciated is a vital way in which to increase internal motivation. Praise not only gives us those much loved, feel-good vibes but makes us feel valued and appreciated.
Collaboration
Most of us naturally feel a sense of fulfilment from helping others – implementing team collaboration allows people to work alongside each other, learn and help others where they can; this can increase intrinsic motivation.
Treating employees as individuals - getting intrinsic motivation right
"Most people aren't anywhere near to realising their creative potential, in part because they're labouring in environments that impede intrinsic motivation."
We could treat the people in our team as individuals with their own needs and drivers rather than a batch of people who inevitably want an income.
Each individual will gravitate towards different intrinsic motivations; if we knew what INTRINSIC factors motivated the people within our teams, we would have so much more at our disposal to really drive their levels of motivation through the roof!
Can you imagine what that would create for YOU and your TEAM and your ORGANISATION?
By taking time to learn what your employees find rewarding, engaging, and challenging, you can define innovative solutions for your team motivation.
Is your team overwhelmed and stressed too thin? Perhaps they at the other end of the spectrum just plodding along and not really thriving? For more support with getting intrinsic motivation right and propelling productivity in your teams contact me today.