Create the Conditions for Authentic Motivation A noted economist recently
summarized the evidence about pay for productivity as follows: “Changing the way work-
ers are treatedmay boost productivity more than changing the way they are paid.”^125 There
is some consensus about what the conditions for creating authentic motivation might
be: helping employees rather than putting them under surveillance; listening to employee
concerns and thinking about problems from their viewpoint; and providing plenty of
feedback so they know what they have done right and what they need to improve.^126Support Collaboration People are more likely to perform better in well-func-
tioning groups where they can get feedback and learn from each other.^127 Therefore, it
is important to provide the necessary supports to create well-functioning teams.Pay Attention to Content People are generally the most motivated when their jobs
give them an opportunity to learn new skills, provide variety in the tasks that are per-
formed, and enable them to demonstrate competence. Some of this can be fostered by
carefully matching people to their jobs and by giving them the opportunity to try new
jobs. It is also possible to increase the meaningfulness of many jobs.
But what about jobs that don’t seem inherently interesting? One psychologist suggests
that in cases where the jobs are fundamentally unappealing, the manager might acknowl-
edge frankly that the task is not fun, give a meaningful rationale for why it must be done,
and then give people as much choice as possible in how the task is completed.^128 One soci-
ologist studying a group of garbage collectors in San Francisco discovered that they were
quite satisfied with their work.^129 Their satisfaction came from the way the work and the
company were organized: Relationships among the crew were important, the tasks and
routes were varied to provide interest, and the company was set up as a cooperative, so that
each employee owned a share of the company, and thus felt “pride of ownership.”Provide Choice “We are most likely to become enthusiastic about what we are
doing—and all else being equal, to do it well—when we are free to make decisions
about the way we carry out a task.”^130 Extrinsic rewards (and punishments too) actually
remove choice, because they focus us on rewards, rather than on tasks or goals. Research
suggests that burnout, dissatisfaction, absenteeism, stress, and coronary heart disease are
related to situations where individuals did not have enough control over their work.^131
By choicewe do not mean lack of management, but rather involving people in the deci-
sions that are to be made. A number of case studies indicate that participative man-
agement, when it includes full participation by everyone, is successful.^132These actions represent an alternative to simply providing more and different kinds of
incentives to try to induce people to work more effectively. They suggest that providing
the proper environment may be more important than the reward structure.Putting It All Together
While it is always dangerous to synthesize a large number of complex ideas into a few
simple guidelines, the following suggestions summarize the essence of what we know
about motivating employees in organizations:- Recognize individual differences.Employees have different needs and should not
be treated alike. Managers should spend the time necessary to understand
what is important to each employee and then align goals, level of involve-
ment, and rewards with individual needs. This chapter’s Working With Others
Exerciseon pages 146–147 gives you an opportunity to understand the differ-
ent needs of a diverse workforce.
138 Part 2Striving for Performance