Money is Not the Best Motivator

There are other things besides money that can get the best from your employees.

The Gallup organization carried out the most in-depth research on productivity and engagement. It looked at over 400 companies and talked to a group of about 80,000 managers and about 2 million surveys. They looked at metrics such as sales, profits, customer satisfaction, employee turnover, and opinions. With these metrics, they were able to classify bad and good workplaces.

A lot of people desire to give their best at work and get recognition for their efforts from their superiors. This gives people a sense of usefulness and importance that is not easily translated into monetary rewards. We all want to be part of a community where everybody cares about the wellbeing of their fellow members. We want to be part of high achieving teams where team members are dedicated to doing the best they can and being proud of it. When you have this kind of environment to work in, people rarely think about changing jobs or resigning.

According to a recent report that studied 300 companies, 94% of millennials hope to utilize their skills to make the world a better place. Over 50% are willing to take a pay cut to get jobs that will align with their values. There is a real need to see beyond the illusion that material rewards are what employees care most about. Fr a lot of people, they seek higher things and are willing to sacrifice other things. There needs to be more emphasis on nonmaterial motivations and less on material ones.

The cornerstones of intrinsic motivation
Organizations that stick to these four cornerstones of intrinsic motivation are already on the path to better success:

1. Purpose: importance, meaning, service, influence, self-transcendence
2. Principle: Honesty, Ethics. Morals, Truth, Dignified behavior
3. People: acceptance. Community, mutual respect, recognition
4. Autonomy: innovation, creativity, freedom. Learning, self-awareness