Motivation Factors: Do you have a winning combination?

We recently posted a poll asking our wonderful followers to select a standout motivating factor from a list of four. Yes, a dreaded Linked In poll. You know you secretly like them!!

The following four factors were randomly selected:

• Greater Responsibility

• Recognition

• Personal Growth

• Sense of Achievement

And exhaustive list? Absolutely not. A helpful exercise to highlight a point: Dang straight!

We run a similar poll with many of our training groups and, unsurprisingly, there is never a consensus. What pushes our buttons and encourages us to jump enthusiastically out of bed in the morning may have zero relevance to the next person. A bad example? Perhaps it's a stretch to consider anything other than strong coffee or the threat of being late could motivate us to jump out of bed but you get the point.

So, what does this mean when we’re striving to lead and inspire those around us?

It's essential we take an evidence-based approach to the subject and avoid making assumptions. The key is recognising our own motivators as just that, our own. Whilst our experiences and drivers provide a rich source of information they mustn’t be used as a blueprint for how we seek to foster motivation in others.

So, what can we do to better understand the needs of those we lead, and promote an environment where motivation can flourish? After all, we cannot motivate others, we can only strive to create the conditions where they feel inspired to motivate themselves.

Measure: Unleash an engagement survey. Love them or hate them, they can be a useful litmus test of the status quo and a valuable benchmark against which to measure the effectiveness of future interventions.

Listen: Ensure development reviews focus on less tangible, and perhaps hard to articulate, intrinsic factors like job satisfaction, advancement aspirations, personal growth, and feelings of relatedness to colleagues and the organisation. It’s key to ensure extrinsic factors like salary and working conditions are hitting the mark but once right, the real sizzle comes when staff feel heard.

Action: As we’ve established, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to staff engagement and motivation. What your team needs to perform at their very best might look distinctly different from the next so avoid implementing generic interventions. If you’re taking the time to give employees a voice, make sure the culture being cultivated reflects this. There are powerful and profound implications for the organisation attuned to the unique ideas, values, and needs of their talented and diverse workforce.

WE'D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS:

What are your go-to tips and tools? Share how you nurture a culture where individuals feel inspired to motivate themselves and perform at their very best. E-mail us at hello@numonde.co.uk

Want to know how Numonde could support your People Development strategy? Get in touch. Zero obligation, endless potential. Our Passion for People coupled with your Vision

and Drive could be a powerful combination indeed.