When employees are driven and committed to their job, they are very motivated and want to succeed. But how does an organisation increase motivation, and why is it so difficult?
To increase motivation, it's first a good idea to understand the two different types of motivation, which are intrinsic and extrinsic.
Intrinsic motivation comes from within employees and is driven by emotions, such as happiness and job satisfaction.
Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is a form of external motivation, meaning motivation is dependent on outside sources.
Company culture has the biggest impact on intrinsic motivation as it influences how an employee feels day-to-day while working.
Recognition, or showing appreciation, promotes both intrinsic and external motivation. However rewards and perks — and even benefits, very much impact on external motivation.
Here, we delve a bit deeper into the two types of employee motivation.
Intrinsic motivation is that good feeling comes from doing the activity itself. It is arguably the strongest type of motivation and often the most difficult to elicit. The three core components of intrinsic motivation are autonomy, purpose, and mastery.
So, if we think about how we can nurture these components in a professional setting, we start with trust, goals, and support. But how do you do this?
First of all, avoid micromanaging to build trust. Next set goals, these could be learning and development-related or project-based. Finally, to promote mastery, you should support your people with the tools they need to do their job, so that they can realise their potential.
Nevertheless, company culture is key to nurturing this type of motivation. If people aren't happy where they work, they can never be truly intrinsically motivated.
Extrinsic motivation depends on outside sources, while someone can be both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated. Intrinsic motivation can exist independently for a very long time, whereas extrinsic motivation is fickle and can fade quickly.
Rewards, bonuses, and perks are great external motivators, but they are very context-dependent. What we mean by this is that for a reward to be truly effective in motivating an employee, they must value it.
Fortunately, though, there are plenty of ways of keeping external motivators fresh and novel. Take Perkbox, for example. It has thousands of rewards, perks, freebies, and discounts. Moreover, because of its points-based reward system, employees get to choose the rewards they want.
Five benefits that contribute to motivation include:
Celebrating your team when they achieve something special shouldn't be difficult, but it often is. Do you send a card, write an email, or thank them in person? These days, recognition programs take the guesswork out of this. Perkbox, for example, allows employees to show their appreciation by sending each other personalised messages of recognition. Each recognition can also be tagged to company values so everyone knows why their behaviour was celebrated. Not only do recognition programs help managers build a healthy team, but they also encourage peer-to-peer recognition. All of which contribute to a healthy company culture.
Every organisation should provide perks, freebies and discounts on some level. Not only are they highly motivating, but they can also ease some pressure of the cost of living. When people are looking for their next role, they pay more attention to the overall package and experience a company offers — instead of just looking at the salary alone. Of course, salary is still a significant attraction to new candidates, but companies must do more to stand out from the competition.
Upskilling benefits everyone. Employees feel more fulfilled when applying their newly learned knowledge, and you benefit from a skilled talent pool. It's no secret that hiring new talent is an expensive process, so the longer you keep your teams working for you, the better your business will be. Perkbox offers discounts and deals on a range of courses, including project management, creativity, and problem-solving. There are also hobby-related courses that cover gardening and more.
In an ideal world, employees would receive personalised rewards 100% of the time. However, while this is not possible, points-based reward systems are the next best option. With Perkbox, there are thousands of rewards covering a range of categories, from health and beauty to days out and DIY, and more. Perkbox also has a global reach because it has developed relationships with international brand partners over many years. So it doesn't matter if you have employees working in Sydney or Singapore — all of them can redeem points for rewards that are meaningful to them. Managers can even attach points to each message of recognition they send, so rewarding is quick and easy.
Employee wellbeing is at the core of intrinsic motivation. When employees feel overwhelmed and stressed, it's practically impossible for them to feel intrinsically motivated. They must love what they do to put up with an enormous workload, or an unsupportive manager. Fortunately, there are many options for employers who want to make employee wellbeing their number one priority. They can offer an Employee Assistance Program, corporate gym membership discounts, on-demand wellbeing resources, and much more.
Whether they like it or not, managers have a huge influence on employee motivation. To be an inspiring leader, though, it's important for managers to:
When employees know their managers are supportive and encouraging, the likelihood of them achieving their goals increases. While that may seem obvious, plenty of managers often let their high achievers work away in the background — which is good to some degree as it shows they trust them, but when this becomes excessive, it may come off as a lack of caring.
There aren't many worse qualities in a manager than micromanaging. Admittedly, while this may read as overly harsh, the consequences of micromanaging on the employee can be disastrous. Over time, they will begin to distrust their manager and lose motivation for their work. After all, if their manager insists on checking and redoing their work — what's the point? Of course, employees need help and support, but micromanaging is not the way to go about it. Good managers understand that they can support their teams without taking over.
A solid communication strategy keeps everyone is on the same page and is at the heart of every healthy company culture. Perkbox includes a culture tool that keeps all of your employees updated. Think of it as a digital noticeboard that holds a range of cards, each with different announcements and updates. Each card supports various attachments, including videos, photos, and PDFS. How you use the culture tool is completely up to you, but some organisations use it to share benefits documentation, social photos, and town halls.
Focussing on core employee experiences, such as recognition, rewards, wellbeing, and perks, is a holistic approach to increasing employee motivation.
When employees are happy and healthy, they are naturally motivated and often do their best work.
Because Perkbox is an all-in-one employee experience solution, it covers all the core elements of employee experience and helps keep motivation and engagement levels high.
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