Motivation is a central workplace concern. Countless leaders ponder what stimulates it, how can it be sustained, how is it destroyed.
Luckily such questions caught the attention of Frederick Herzberg, an American psychologist who became one of the foremost authorities on business management.
Herzberg explored the issue of motivation through hundreds of in-depth, open-ended interviews. In them, he asked employees to describe times when they had been truly satisfied by their work, times they had been personally committed to the task before them, eager to get to the job, and willing to go the extra mile, not because it was expected of them, but because they wanted to.
In compiling and analyzing these accounts, Herzberg found that, out of the numerous factors that could motivate a person in the workplace, a relatively small number were identified again and again.
Among these were:
1. Achievement. More than any other factor, employees indicated that the chance to achieve something personally meaningful was a source of significant motivation to them.
2. Recognition. Because human beings are social creatures, the opinions of others exert a strong influence on our outlook and disposition. Having our work recognized by supervisors, coworkers, and customers therefore provides a strong source of motivation.
3. Work itself. Herzberg’s findings were published at a time when it was widely believed that employees needed to be coerced or bribed into doing work. His research, however, found that work itself—the creativity of designing advertisements, the thrill of committing high-stakes financial transactions, the personal connection of caring for patients—is a powerful source of motivation in its own right.
4. Responsibility. Increased organizational responsibility typically involves duties that are more strategic, substantive, and challenging. But its also sends a powerful signal that we are respected and valued enough to be given tasks of importance. Responsibility therefore provides motivation through multiple channels.
5. Growth and development. Few experiences provide more satisfaction than exercising and developing one’s natural talents. (Think, for example, of the diligence with which hobbyists hone their voluntary craft). Opportunities for the expansion and development capacities, then, offer a natural source of motivation.
Such findings are enlightening in themselves. They challenge notions, many persisting even today, of what is and is not meaningful to employees. They also provide leaders with a valuable “menu” of sources of potential motivation.
But Herzberg’s research did not stop there. It also explored those factors that leave us drained and distracted. The second part of this series will explore this topic – what the research said about what demotivates people in the workplace.