Motivating Your Team - Art or Science?

During the current economic environment organisations are responding to market conditions by changing structures (often downsizing), priorities and how tasks and workloads are resourced.  Motivating staff at the same time as maintaining or increasing outputs whilst keeping control of overheads is a challenge many managers are facing.

Understanding and applying the usual models such as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs causes a paradox.  On the one hand we want our staff to perform well and be positive organisational citizens focused on the needs of the organisation and the current demands of the task, whilst at the same time if the ‘lower order of needs’ such as job security are in a state of flux it is naturally challenging for staff to focus and feel motivated.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

However as organisations manage their change strategies, whether or not jobs are secure, whether or not social needs are met and teams remain intact, managers need to consider equity.

John Adams

In the early 1960s John Adams, a behavioural psychologist identified a tangible link between how ‘fairly’ people perceived they were treated by their employer and their level of motivation and thus performance.  Conversely employees can become de-motivated both in relation to their job and their employer, if they feel as though their efforts or ‘inputs’ are greater than the ‘outputs’ (the benefits).  http://tinyurl.com/5uezgvt

Employees may respond to this perception of disparity by behaviours that range from acting in a disgruntled manner or reducing their effort right through to being disruptive.  Alternatively, if the theory is accurate, employees who consider that even in a difficult period they are treated ‘fairly’, will help build a strong and productive relationship with their employer, feeling contented and motivated.

           INPUTS                                                                  OUTPUTS

              Effort                                                                                                 Recognition

              Loyalty                                                                                              Reputation

              Hard work                                                                                         Responsibility

              Commitment                                                                                    Sense of achievement

              Skill                                                                                                   Praise

              Ability                                                                                                Stimulus

              Adaptability                                                                                      Sense of advancement/growth

              Flexibility                                                                                          Job security

              Tolerance                                                                                          (as well as salary, benefits etc.)

              Determination

              Enthusiasm

              Trust in superiors

              Support of colleagues

              Personal sacrifice

                                                                                                        

These ideas are not revolutionary, as Hertzberg described years before Adams Equity Theory, motivation is met through either ‘intrinsic’ and/or ‘extrinsic´ factors. 

The big difference is that Adams draws attention to the fact that we are constantly comparing and benchmarking our own experience against those around us.  So organisations and their managers at corporate, departmental and team levels are being benchmarked and compared to the way others are treated, and not just those within the organisation.

Offering staff recognition, responsibility, praise (feedback) and a personal sense of being valued costs little to the organisation and can have a major impact on the culture of the organisation, the ‘outputs’ or results achieved the motivation of individuals.

Motivation theories may have a scientific and comprehensively researched background, but a manager’s response needs to be creative, intelligent and specific to the needs of teams and individuals – thus an art.