Three Things That Actually Motivate Employees

At the core of Talent Management is the understanding about what motivates employees and how to attract and retain a positive, motivated workforce.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter writes in the Harvard Business review that motivation comes down to "three Ms — mastery, membership, and meaning. Money is a distant fourth. Money can even be an irritant if compensation is not adequate or fair, and compensation runs out of steam quickly as a source of sustained performance. Instead, people happy in their work are often found in mission-driven organizations where people feel they have positive impact on social needs."

Mastery: Help people develop deep skills. Stretch goals show faith that people can shape the future rather than being victimized by it, and find pride in constant learning. Even in the most seemingly routine areas, when people are given difficult problems to tackle, with appropriate and tools and support, they can do things faster, smarter, and better.

Membership: Create community by honoring individuality. Community solidarity comes from allowing the whole person to surface, which means going beyond superficial conformity to know what else people care about. Encourage employees to bring outside interests to work. Given them frequent opportunities to meet people across the organization to help them get to know one another more deeply.

Meaning: Repeat and reinforce a larger purpose. Emphasize the positive impact of the work they do. Clarity about how your products or services can improve the world provides guideposts for employees’ priorities and decisions. As part of the daily conversation, mission and purpose can make even mundane tasks a means to a larger end.

Read more in, 
Three Things that Actually Motivate Employees   Harvard Business School |  Rosabeth Moss Kanter, professor and author

Hire Quality provides Executive Coaching, Talent Management consulting, and Executive Recruiting services. Call us to discuss your organizations needs, 705.734.2698