In the 1980’s Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, psychologists
from the University of Rochester, distinguished the six main reasons why people work:
play, purpose, potential, emotional pressure, economic pressure, and inertia.
In a recent book authors Lindsay
McGregor and Neel Doshi, after surveying thousands of employees around the
world, have built on this research with some interesting conclusions, the most
interesting being that...
“Why we work
determines how well we
work, and only a few “whys” drive great performance.”
Of the six
reasons for working, many researchers have found that the first three motives
tend to increase performance, while the latter three hurt it. And further that the companies that have a
high performing culture in the first three reasons excel in their
industries.
The Three Reasons
That Increase Performance:
1. Play…employees are motivated by the
work itself because they enjoy it.
2. Purpose…when the direct outcome of
the work fits your identity, you work because you value the impact
3. Potential…when the outcome benefits
your identity, and enhances your potential for advancement.
In researching for the, “Primed to Perform: How to Build the Highest
Performing Cultures through the Science of Total Motivation,” they found that
a high-performing
culture maximizes the play, purpose, and potential felt by its people, and
minimizes the emotional pressure, economic pressure, and inertia. They termed
this as creating total motivation (ToMo).
The book shows formulas for how
to measure total motivation, how total motivation drives customer satisfaction,
what organizational processes affect culture and how employee motivation is
effected by these processes. In summary,
they point out that cultures
that inspired more play, purpose, and potential, and less emotional pressure,
economic pressure, and inertia, produced better customer outcomes.
There is no “silver bullet” when building a culture that
effects employee motivation, and they are not easy to build. But it is why high performing cultures are
such a powerful competitive advantage. Considering the success of these
companies that ranked the highest in their industries based on ToMo, it would
be hard to argue against the premise and we might want to focus more on
the “why” we work instead of the
processes that drive it.
For
more information on Ultimate Choice Inc.’s products or services or other white
papers please contact us at Ultimatechoiceinfo@cox.net
