There's more to work than money...
25 Oct 2009
It’s an established fact that money is not the major motivating factor for employees (except maybe in the banking world). I recently carried out a survey of the most eight most recent studies on this subject and these were my findings on what were the six greatest motivating factors in order of priority:
1: Achievement was the number one motivator. Achievement was considered more important than financial rewards by 75% of those surveyed. So setting challenging and, at the same time, realistic targets is obviously important.
2: Recognition – more on that in a moment
3: Working with and helping others
4: Varied & interesting work
5: Financial reward
6: Good working atmosphere
So how do you recognise achievement and praise people?
Be careful how you do this because unless you do it in the right way, your efforts could do more harm than good. Here is what you need to be aware of.
Two of the many NLP filters we can operate with is what I call a ‘SELF’ and OTHERS’ Filter. The other terminology that could be used is ‘INTERNAL’ or ‘EXTERNAL.
The simplest explanation of these are that people who operate through a SELF or INTERNAL filter are very self sufficient and self reliant. Those who operate through an OTHERS or EXTERNAL filter tend to be far more dependent upon others for support and are more concerned about what other people think.
So what’s that got to do with praise and recognition? Simply that when I am speaking at a workshop on this subject, I’ll go around the audience and ask them one question which is ‘How do you know you have done a good job?’
Some people will say ‘I just know I have’ or ‘the boss gives me a wink or a thumbs up’ or ‘my manager quietly says well done on XYZ’ and just walks on by. These people operate through the SELF or INTERNAL filter. The worst way to praise them is to make a big fuss about their achievement and especially not in front of others. In fact one of the worst things you could ever5 say to me and especially in front of others would be ‘Bruce – you’re a star’. I simply hate that and switch off!
By contrast those who respond with ‘I get great feedback’ or ‘people give me great feedback and praise me a lot’ operate through an OTHERS or EXTERNAL filter. They need to know how others are feeling about them and their achievements. The more praise they get the better they respond.
So when you’re going to recognise and praise others for their achievements, do it in the right way for best results. How will you know the right way. Just ask them at some time how they know when they’ve done a good job.