...... What a silly thing to ask.
As most
of us already know, money is everything. It makes our lives a lot easier. That
fancy diamond ring that you (or your wife / girlfriend / boyfriend) craved for,
the luxurious trip to Cancun, or for us lesser mortals the 2 kg onions that we
purchase at Rs 100 a kilo (- downright ridiculous I say), the money earned
makes our lives a little comfortable.
But then
once basic needs (& then a little
more) are met, we start considering intangible feelings such as work
satisfaction. And as if such hard to meet expectations & complex emotions
weren't enough for us to handle, as leaders / mentors, we have to also take
care of such crucifying mindbenders when our reportees & team members ask
us the same question.
And then
suddenly we are thrown in the roller coaster ride of pitching (believable)
psycho analysis babble & depending on whether we still want them on the
team try to convince them, confuse them or just tell them to explore the
vibrant opportunities available to them - outside the company (of course)!
Now while
all these wily moves are a standard fare to most of us wisened veterans, the
fact is that we know that it really isn't money that eventually drives
motivated individuals & team members - Its actually the pride in what we
do, in what we create & the knowledge that what we are doing makes a
difference in the overall scheme of things. It’s the feeling that we matter
& are, in our minds (subconsciously perhaps), indispensible, that drives us
to be engaged & do better. Even if its something so manual as filing
documents or fixing your nuts - on the car.
It isn't
quite different to the passion some of us exhibit in our hobbies. Something
akin to the high my numismatist (coin collector) friend gets by watching 2000
year old naked ladies on old worn out coins or the stamp licking stamp
collector friend of mine.
But here
is a twist. Nicholas Epley, John T Keller Professor of Behavioural Sciences at
Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, says that People don’t always
work hard for things that make them happy, & you cant always tell how a
person really feels by watching what they do. When we look at colleagues, team
members, reportees or for that matter even family members our perceptions often
influence our inference of that they really feel & want from us & their
life / job. Epley says that the right way is to just go flat out & ask
them. And since most humans get stymied when asked a direct question, to know
what they look forward to / want in the job, we ask them for example what part
of their day brings the most satisfaction for them & also what part the
least satisfaction. As a leader if you want to increase the probability that
your team member enjoys their work, try
increasing & decreasing the relevant activities.
The
tendency to overestimate the importance of extrinsic motivators like money
& to underestimate the importance of intrinsic motivators like doing
something meaningful or worthwhile seems to be a rather reliable bias among
employers & leaders like us. That’s a trap that we rather beware.
(Note:
Yeah ok -so I used double meaning entendres to get the point across - & yes
I admit it isn't only naked ladies on old coins that gets my numismatist friend
turned on! My apologies Dev for generalising ;-)
Also
please note that the quality of my friends doesn’t necessarily attest to the
weirdness of my behaviour)
Reference:
Book review (Mindwise: How we understand what others think believe, feel &
want by Nicholas Epley, Penguin books) article printed in the Strategist,
Business Standard, Monday 21July 2014. Also Interview of Epley by Ankita Rai
Key
words: Motivation, Pride, Self worth, Work satisfaction, Leadership, Mentor,
What employees want