Motivation is a subtle category, especially if it is related to work. There are many scientific works on this topic, and all of them are aimed at increasing the level of efficiency of employees. Both psychological methods and economic methods of influence are taken into account, both in a positive and in a negative, i.e., punitive, sense. The human factor is crucial, which means that the focus of attention in this context will be the emotional reactions of the subject.
Impact tool
Let's start with the definition of motivation: these are specific methods used in the production of any orientation in order to increase its efficiency and related to human resources. In other words, this is the motivation of the subject to action.
What methods will be used to ensure that employees work with maximum efficiency is determined by the management of the company and implemented by a special department (if the staff is large) or supervised by the heads of departments (if the staff is small).
Good management is to use all available factors that can have a stimulating effect on the attitude to the work of staff. An important point of the issue is the cost of motivational measures.
One thing is clear: let it slip by its side this production operation is at least frivolous.
Target direction
Pouring into the staff of the enterprise, the specialist signs an employment contract, which stipulates his rights and obligations, as well as the results of his activities. Their effectiveness depends on how the personal goals of the employee and the company match. This is due to the involvement of the employee in the intricacies of the production process and his attitude to work.
And on the inclusion of the emotional side, an approach to activity is based. It can be right when work is a means of achieving certain, including personal goals, and wrong, in which work is the meaning of life.
There are several relationships of work and attitude to work. There are only four species. Among them:
- Poor work done with the right attitude formed.
- Qualitatively performed work with the right attitude.
- Poor quality work with the wrong attitude.
- High quality work with the wrong attitude.
The employer, by all possible means, tries to influence the person in order to maximize the strengths of his personality and direct them to the implementation of ongoing projects. And here one cannot do without a systematic approach to the formation of an employee’s interested attitude to work.
The nature of motivation: introvert
Each person in one way or another has either introverted or extraverted personality traits. Pure types of these categories are very rare: more often one of the parties is emphasized. It is she who is that active point, when exposed to which the maximum effect of motivating manipulations is achieved.
All the other things being equal, the more important for the introvert will be the internal form of motivation, that is, not related to extraneous influence. For example, for such an employee, a free work schedule, a limited amount of reporting, a minimum of administrative control, the ability to make independent decisions for which he is ready to bear responsibility will be a significant incentive. In addition, for these people, personal space and its boundaries are not empty words, and therefore, if a specialist is valuable to the company, then taking care of a separate office would be a psychologically competent decision for him.
In addition, for this type of people it is important to observe the proportion: the ratio of work to the time spent on its implementation. This is due to the fact that these employees, as a rule, have many hobbies besides work, and they have the right to count on the fact that their personal time belongs only to them.
Thus, an individual approach to introvert can affect its attitude to the work performed.
External motivation
Extroverts are full of ambition and, merging into the team, can vividly manifest themselves from all sides. These people are focused on communication, they are surrounded by many friends and acquaintances, and their vision of their role in society is directly related to external achievements: career, material wealth, influence on the world around (as far as possible).
Needless to say, how important is the external motivation for the extrovert coming from the leadership: encouragement, punishment, promotion, etc., - the attitude to the work performed under the influence of such incentives can change dramatically.
The manager, who manages a large number of the most diverse subordinates, requires not only the ability to set goals, but also knowledge of the psychological intricacies of personnel management.
Mutual benefit
Any production is formed for material gain. Exceptions are enterprises in the social sphere. But one way or another, any activity is aimed at achieving a certain result, as a result of which production can be considered effective. To this end, there is a combination of external and internal motivation of staff.
In addition, the attitude of employees to work is affected by material interest, but is not decisive. Many managers consider this type of motivation of subordinates to be the main one, overestimating its influence. Studies have shown that such an incentive system only works in the initial stages, but does not affect the future. However, everyone knows that it is very difficult to refuse forms of work used for a long time.
According to the worked out scheme, material incentives for lower-level employees are directly proportional to the employee’s attitude to work: the better the result, the higher the salary and bonus bonuses.
There is a different approach to managerial personnel: the higher the profit of an enterprise or organization, the greater the bonus and other surcharges of a motivating nature.
The subtleties of material incentives
Let’s try to figure out: why, under equal conditions of payment, the characteristic of attitude to work differs for different people. For example, management, desiring to increase labor productivity and stimulate the involvement of employees in the production process, issues an order to increase wages. You can, of course, talk about universal jubilation, but not for long.
After some time, a difference will appear in the attitude of the staff towards work: some will improve, while others will remain at the same level. Although in general the effectiveness of this measure throughout the company will be quite high, but not with a 100% result.
There may be several reasons why a certain category of specialists will not have a characteristic of their attitude to work. For example, a person feels that he has "outgrown" a given position for a long time, but does not see any prospects for changing anything for himself within this enterprise. And it is possible that the daily routine made labor hard and the employee thinks about a job change. So the point is not in the negligent attitude to work, but, firstly, in the psychological factor and, secondly, in personality traits.
The moral climate in the team also matters.
Preliminary estimate
Today, a person does not just want to go to work and get an advance and a salary. This is clearly not enough in view of the increased level of self-awareness and the desire to realize oneself in the chosen field. Therefore, getting a job at the enterprise, the specialist expects at least an individual approach: nobody is interested in being a “cog”.
Therefore, at a preliminary interview it is necessary to find out by testing or interviewing the quality and orientation of the person, as well as its nature and potential. This should be done either by a psychologist or a specialist in the personnel department with the appropriate education.
During the diagnosis of the applicant for the position, it is important to determine: the type of his personality (introvert / extrovert), emotional stability; reaction speed necessary for making non-standard decisions; type of behavior in conflict, resistance to group pressure.
After completing the research and drawing conclusions, you can understand what are the prospects for long-term cooperation with a potential employee. In addition, this will greatly facilitate the solution of the problem of attitude to the work of the subject and the selection of the type of motivation.
Bonuses and bonuses
Everyone loves gifts, and every leader knows about the great motivating power of an award. This factor is especially exploited in the field of sales. Two options are possible here:
- The fixed main part, or salary, to which the bonus is added as a percentage of sales, which may vary.
- There is no salary, and the salary consists only of percent of successful sales.
Both of these options suggest the development of initiative and enterprise among employees, but the first option is preferable for both the employee and the employer. The reason is simple: the presence of a fixed salary contributes to the emotional stability of the subject, as a result of which his actions will be more clear and deliberate, and this will allow to be more effective.
In addition, all sellers are aware of the existence of the so-called dead seasons, when no activity can increase the number of transactions. This occurs, as a rule, during the periods of summer vacations and New Year's bustle. And at this time, the stability of the nervous system is greatly facilitated by the confidence in the presence of an “economic pillow”.
Conclusion: you should not save on employees, since this can lead to their mass “exodus”, and training new ones is an expensive pleasure, and the time costs must be taken into account. And since a stop in business is tantamount to economic losses, then in this case the avaricious pays twice.
Carrot and stick
The system of fines by some enterprises has been elevated to the status of a panacea for everything: lateness, violation of the terms of product sales, all kinds of violations of corporate ethics. The flight of fantasy leadership is sometimes unlimited. But are fines so effective and are they able to correct neglect of work?
In fact, the employee is liable for failure to comply with the clauses of the contract that he signed when he was hired. These requirements make sense if the enterprise produces products that require scrupulousness and attention. In this case, the delay of one employee affects the work of the entire shift, since reallocation of duties will be required.
However, in some companies, especially network companies, it is becoming the norm to practice when an employee is attracted by high salaries, up to 50% of which in fact goes to pay all kinds of fines. This so-called economic policy leads to staff turnover, which affects the quality of the services provided and the company's reputation.
Practicing penalties, management punishes its subordinates for what has already happened some time ago.
That is, the employee can no longer change the behavior, just as the student can not correct those bad grades for which he was scolded: in his power - to improve academic performance in the future (or not to improve). Then we are dealing with a delayed negative process, after several repetitions of which, according to psychologists, a negative trail (sediment) remains. But the method of punishment does not form a professional attitude to work, rather the opposite.
Today the slogan is declared: "Nobody is holding anyone!" However, the attitude of people to work with this approach to personnel will be negligent, since this production will be considered only as temporary.
The system of fines starts to work efficiently if it is perceived by employees as fair and if it is combined with material compensation.
About Intangible Categories
So how do you get the personality involved to work? The answer to this question lies in the plane of human nature, but not only in it. The founder of the direction of behaviorism in psychology B.F. Skinner has developed a system according to which desired behavior in people can be achieved either by positive or negative reinforcement.
The first way, as you understand, is associated with pleasant impressions associated with taste, smell, emotional state, associated with a certain situation. We give an example of feedback. Suppose a company manager is rarely in a good mood. However, his secretary finds a time when the boss is in the spirit, and only then brings documents for signature. The boss formed a chain of associations: secretary, documents, good mood. So a new sequence of events arises. Positive reinforcement remains for a long time.
The second method is based on the fact that a person associates with a negative: an unpleasant sound, facial expression, various kinds of elaboration and punishment. This type of reinforcement is short-lived: with the weakening of control, learned behavior disappears. And if in the first case a new way of reaction was formed, then in the second this does not happen.
Do not think that with negative reinforcement strong irritants are used, it is often the other way around: a slight expression of displeasure on the face of another person (especially if it’s the boss) is enough for you to change your behavior. But when incentives become transcendental (for example, public distribution received from the boss), then this is already a punishment, and the attitude towards him will be appropriate.
In this case, the polarity "boss - subordinate" is transformed into antitetality "parent - child". And what does the child do to avoid punishment? Of course, he imitates good behavior, as do employees who develop violent activity at the sight of the boss and stop it as soon as the door closes behind him.
Do you seriously think that with such a pattern of behavior, the employee has a desire to get involved in the process and demonstrate miracles of efficiency?
Reinforcement method
The name of this method is borrowed from the direction of zoopsychology, which studies the reactions of animals in response to directed exposure. The similarity of the reaction of our lesser friends and humans was noticed by the American tamer Karen Prior, working with dolphins. These amazing marine mammals responded to the reinforcement of the slightest changes in behavior, approaching the desired. The result is a cascade of the hardest tricks.
The same method is used by talented directors or conductors, noting the tiniest nuances of performance and reinforcing them with approving phrases or even with a simple nod of the head. But in the end, the orchestra sounds amazing, and the acting becomes brilliant.
In short, reinforcement is an action that occurs during the occurrence of a desired (unwanted) event or immediately after it. As we already know, motivation can be both positive and negative.
In the temporary combination of action and reinforcement - the whole essence of the process, which is called a modification of behavior. Can this be considered manipulation? Then another question begs: how should the system of fines and premiums be perceived? In this context, time-prolonged manipulation.
One of the effective methods practiced in companies by the leaders of the new formation can be considered a "joker". Its essence is to organize a surprise for employees, which can happen any day. At a certain point, the head of the enterprise or company announces the stop of all work processes and invites all specialists to an unexpected buffet, which can be supplemented by musical accompaniment and the performance of invited artists. Practice shows that such surprises significantly improve the microclimate in the enterprise, as well as labor productivity.
Be that as it may, when forming a strategy for motivating employees, several components should be taken into account:
- First of all, an objective assessment of the attitude to the work of a specialist.
- Then his individual character traits identified during testing.
- Selection of those motivation options that are suitable for this employee.
- It is important to determine the degree of employee satisfaction with the assessment of his contribution to the common cause.
As for the list of possible incentive options, it includes both standard, used for many years at different types of enterprises, and exclusive ones, the introduction of which has only just begun to be practiced.