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The Biggest Motivating Factor for Employees - Progress

by Brad Jones January 29, 2010

I recently came across an article in the Harvard Business Review that I found to be very interesting. They did a survey among managers to rank the impact on employee motivation among workplace factors which were considered most significant: recognition, incentives, interpersonal support, support for making progress and clear goals. The managers ranked recognition for good work as number one. However, employees actually ranked that factor dead last. Workers ranked "progress" as the number one factor in being motivated.

I have come to realize that people are the happiest when they can solve their own problems. Making progress in one's work, even incremental progress, is more frequently associated with positive emotions and high motivation than any other workday event.

As employers/business owners, what are we doing to allow our employees to make progress in their job? Are we giving them enough space to allow creative freedom to help them solve their problems, or do we hover and involve ourselves inhibiting solutions and progress to be made by themselves?

Part of making progress includes knowing where you are going. If employees don't have clear projects with milestones identified by themselves and the company, it is hard to make progress to the end goal. It is critical as the business owner to make sure everyone knows where the company is going so that progress can easily be identified and employees can continue to be motivated in their jobs.

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Comments
Submitted by Barry Borden (not verified) on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 07:29.

makes perfect sense. Organizational psychologists established decades ago that "Motivation is goal oriented behavior". Thanks for the article!

Submitted by Lois Moncrief (not verified) on Sat, 01/30/2010 - 17:24.

Hi Brad,
Many thanks! I did read the HBR article. Clearly, they zeroed in on supporting the employee to make progress in his work and the resulting employee motivation. I look forward to reading more of your blogs. I found this one very interesting and informative. Best Wishes!

Submitted by Brad Jones (not verified) on Fri, 01/29/2010 - 20:47.

Lois,

I appreciate your comments and I couldn't agree more with them.

Here is the link to the article:

http://issues.hbrforypo.org/hbrypo/20100102/?pg=47&pm=2&u1=friend&sub_id=Jv8bu1ggOcNX#pg47

Brad

Submitted by Lois Moncrief (not verified) on Fri, 01/29/2010 - 20:24.

Hi Brad,
I liked your article and ideas very much and I agree with many of your points. I can also see another possible answer that the employees might have also meant.

I think the most consistent long term motivator is when employees see they can progress in a company - they can continue to learn, to develop, and move into more challenging positions/projects as they grow. "Support for making progress" in the employees answers may have also meant that the employees want to have support for their progress in the company.

Employees can also be happy and motivated when they are empowered to determine the "how" of doing their job. Managers can tell employees the "what" - (what needs to be done) and managers should have set acceptable ranges for parameters of quality, quantity, and timeliness in performance elements.

Allowing the employees to determine the "how" in their task or work can create pride and ownership in their accomplishments which creates a win-win for the employee and the company and can be very motivating for the employee.

I agree it is important to keep employees informed about the direction the company is moving ( by telling them about annual operating plans and goals and periodically updating them) and making sure the employee understands how his work fits in to the "big picture". It is much easier for an employee to "buy in" if he understands these.

I have had over 29 years as a successful manager. I take HBR and will look for that particular article. If you, Brad, or someone else reading this can send me the reference, I would appreciate having that. I would like to read the article for myself. Thanks!

Submitted by Mike Campbell (not verified) on Fri, 01/29/2010 - 15:48.

Great points, Brad. I'd love to read the HBR article. Do you have a link?

Submitted by Ken Kaufman (not verified) on Fri, 01/29/2010 - 14:43.

Brad,

Great insights. Interesting how managers and employees can be so far apart on what really motivates employees. Thanks for sharing!