Motivation is an essential tool used by management to boost employee performance toward organizational priorities and targets. For simple, straightforward tasks, Pink concedes that traditional financial rewards or a carrot & stick approach to motivation DO work. These can be considered as 'external' methods of motivation. They are simple and they still work.
He accepts that money is a motivator at work, but once people perceive that they are paid fairly, then they become much more motivated by intrinsic elements. Once people are paid fairly, they look for more from their work.
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Most companies favor external reward over internal encouragement. The reason for this is that supervisors also want staff to perform tasks on a personal or professional basis. Employees can just agree to the mission because it is the only assurance that the employee will earn an extra paycheck or benefit.
When staff isn't paid enough, they aren't motivated. What motivates staff is:
Autonomy: According to Pink, autonomy is the desire to direct our own lives. Pink argues that allowing employees autonomy runs counter to the traditional view of management which wants employees to 'comply' with what is required of them. However, if managers want employees to be more engaged in what they are doing (and they should - as tasks become more complicated) then allowing employees autonomy (self-direction is better)
For example, some firms allow employees to have time at the workplace to do whatever they want. This freedom to spend time doing their own thing leads to many more innovative ideas and solutions. A good example is Google which has benefited from numerous product ideas as a result of allowing developers to pursue individual projects during work time.
The growth of flexible working practices is another good example of allowing staff more autonomy. For example, providing the technology and freedom to work from home.
Pink is an advocate of greater use of teamwork as a means of facilitating autonomy, particularly where the team members themselves pick the team!
Mastery: Pink describes mastery as the desire to continually improve at something that matters.
Pink argues that humans love to 'get better at stuff' - they enjoy the satisfaction from personal achievement and progress. Allowing employees to enjoy a sense of progress at work contributes to their inner drive.
By contrast, a lack of opportunity at work for self-improvement or personal and professional development is liable to make employees more bored and demotivated
A key implication for managers is to set tasks for employees that are neither too easy nor excessively challenging. Pink calls such tasks 'Goldilocks tasks) - ie. tasks that are not 'too hot or too cold'.
Goldilocks tasks push employees out of their comfort zones, and allow them to stretch themselves and develop their skills and experience further.
Purpose making progress: Pink describes purpose as the desire to do things in service of something larger than ourselves. Pink argues that people intrinsically want to do things that matter.
For example, entrepreneurs are often intrinsically motivated to 'make a difference' rather than simply aiming for profit maximization.
Most of us spend more than half our working hours at work. We want that time to matter.
So a key part of adding purpose to work is to ensure that the mission and goals of the organization are properly communicated to employees. Employees need to know and understand these and appreciate how their work and role fit into what the organization is about. Freedom to do things (think outside the box)
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