Motivate employees in new ways

The rules for motivating employees in organizations are changing. In, fact, they already have, and today’s leaders need to wake up quickly or risk having unproductive and disengaged employees. Several factors are contributing to this radical departure from motivation by incentive.

First, demographics: the GenY workforce of people born since 1980 is the most technologically proficient and autonomous group to enter the workforce in history. In addition, the baby boom generation, which is the largest segment of our workforce population, is quickly moving to a stage of life where the priority of income generation is becoming second to engaging in "work that matters..

Second, economics: the strained economy of the last 18 months has pressured organizations on their bottom lines. In lieu of higher wages, employees are seeking more personal satisfaction in their professional responsibilities. The global economy has shifted as well; we have evolved beyond the information economy into an economy that is based on knowledge and creativity.

Third, psychographics: work activities in a knowledge- and creativity-based economy require employees to conduct more cognitively and emotionally oriented tasks, rather than routine ones. As we shift to an ever more services-based economy, employees are being paid to think and to relate to others - co-workers, strategic partners, clients - both of which require higher levels of social and emotional intelligence.

Traditional management has taught us that if you give people tasks to do, and provide incentives for them to complete tasks in the prescribed manner, you motivate and focus them. Social science research has clearly demonstrated that this type of motivation practice works only when tasks are clear, there is a defined practice that leads to completion and the outcome is measurable.

Most work tasks in today’s organizations, however, don’t hold with these requirements. Are the types of activities like building a new piece of software, solving a client’s tax planning issue, building an endowment for a nonprofit, or creating a marketing strategy easily prescribed or routine tasks? No, creativity and knowledge are required to conduct such work and I suspect the work you and your team conduct requires similar skills.

Social science research shows that the real problem with traditional management by incentive is not that it works for only a fraction of work tasks, but that trying to utilize this motivation tactic in a knowledge/creative environment actually de-motivates and decreases productivity.

Are compensation and bonus structures still relevant today? Absolutely - but not for motivation. As Dan Pink writes in his new book "Drive," compensation is a threshold factor: employee pay and bonus structures need to be fair and equitable to your marketplace. This is the cost of getting someone to work with you; and bonuses are more about a way to share the risk of financial expense and returns than motivation.

Let’s go back to demographics: A recent Gallup poll said that 78 percent of workers aged 50 to 65 said their job was "ideal"; comparatively only 52 percent of workers aged 18 to 29 would say the same thing.

I would argue that this is a motivation-related issue: baby boomers are more likely to be in a place in their lives where they can afford to engage in professional work that creates personal satisfaction. At the other end of the spectrum, young GenY workers have been primed with skills in their education and training that value autonomy and creativity, yet are often employees who get placed into close supervision, with little opportunity to use those skills.

The solution: a leadership practice that I call i(X) Motivation. In this new model, supported by social science, leaders need to attend to internal motivations concerning knowledge and creativity (i) and match these with pay and incentive structures that provide a band of compensation potential depending on outcomes (X).

In Pink’s book, he writes that internal motivation comes from the ability to exercise autonomy, mastery and purpose in one’s work. This can’t occur when you are managing an employee to comply with a prescribed work protocol. If you have an organization that requires your team members to think, create and conduct novel solutions, then your management needs to change to the i(X) Motivation model - and the result will be more engaged, motivated and productive employees across your organization.

Stuart G. Danforth is director and senior adviser at Positive Leadership Dynamics in Wayland. He may be reached at www.positiveleadershipdynamics.com.