Well, my last post mentioned an organization’s processes, and how they act as one part of the Triangle making up a performance management foundation.
The next part of that Triangle is Motivation.
Or, aptly subtitled, “Sure I can… but why should I?”
Motivation is just that… Why does an employee do something?
What causes one employee or manager to work so much harder, more efficiently, or just “better” than another?
All things equal, it’s motivation. Motivation answers the “what’s in it for me?” question. It gives employees and managers the reason they need to do more.
Motivation can include:
Recognition – formal and informal
Work challenges
Career opportunities
Incentive (variable) pay
The organization’s performance
Just More… (ala Samuel Gompers, the union guy)
All of these can create an environment where a manager or employee will, given the proper circumstances, take their knowledge, skills and abilities and apply them in ways far beyond normal expectations.
An employee — regardless of level — will ask him or herself the following questions before doing something:
1. Can I do this?
2. Why should I want to?
Now, these dialogs are sometimes played out in a nanosecond. Other times, there’s real thought. Either way, it’s in the employee‘s court, not yours, to make this happen now. If the motivation is present, prepare to be impressed.
If not, well, sometimes you’re the pigeon, sometimes you’re the statue. Today would be a “statue” kind of day…
