Business Strategy And 3 Key Things That Motivate Employees

By Author: Strategic Leadership
Total Articles: 7
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One of the biggest misconceptions about motivation is that money is the key to turning unmotivated employees into productive and highly motivated people. Studies have shown that, not only does it not lead to more productivity; in some cases it can reduce motivation and productivity.

Some studies conducted by MIT, showed that while an increase in the amount of wages can increase performance for repetitive and mechanical tasks, it hardly increases performance and can reduce productivity for cognitive tasks. It is therefore not the best solution for organizational development, particularly when managing employees at higher levels of the organization.

Mastery and Skills Development

One of the top motivators is mastery. The concept comes form the observation tat people are naturally interested in developing their skill. Humans are naturally competitive and it gives an individual the sense of pride and meaning when they feel they have mastered or are on their way to mastering a new skill.

Mastery means that employs need to be adequately trained so that they feel confident ...
... in tackling the various tasks given to them. It also means that employees need to be equipped with the right tools to handle the tasks at hand. Because mastery also involves self pride, it is also important to ensure that employees are recognized for their efforts.

Self Drive and Autonomy

If you are planning to do leadership team development, you need to allow employees to be self driven. Employees are also motivated by autonomy. This means that they want to be given some space to work on solutions and discover their skills and be creative on their own.

The management must therefore review how they delegate work and give tasks. Looking over the shoulders of your employees will de-motivate them and prevent them from becoming the motivated and productive employees that they really are. They must therefore be allowed to express their individuality.

Meaning and Purpose

Meaning and purpose are important in Leadership Team Development. Employees are more motivated when there is clarity about what the company stands for. People want to know that the hard work they put into the organization is worth it. For example, if the company claims to stand for the highest level of ethics, then the behavior of the top management should reflect that.

All these things have been proven to be better motivators than money. However, the amount of money employees earn must be reasonable to retain employees and attract skilled personnel in future. These motivators can be combined with money to ensure that the people are motivated enough to be part of organizational development.