How can I motivate my team?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions during the initial discussion in a mentoring or coaching programme with a manager. I try to find honest answer by listening to the psychologists and to my management experience:
You can’t.
Firstly, because it is not teams that are motivated, but individuals. Teams can create environments that foster collaboration and creativity. That is something you can and should encourage. But motivation, defined as the energy that drives us to act, is personal and individual.
Second, and more importantly: because your team members are already motivated when they come to work.
Motivation is the energy that drives us to act, and you don’t need to create that energy. We managers aren’t that important. Our job is humbler. It is about understanding, nurturing and protecting the energy. Ensuring that motivation is sustainable, does not fade, and gives fruits.
Think of it as the work of a gardener.
No gardener has the power to give plants a reason to flourish.
What a gardener does is discover, through observation and study, what each plant needs to grow, and then create the microenvironment where those conditions exist. Removing harmful weeds, channelling rainwater so the right amount of eat reaches the plant, preparing drainage, adding fertiliser, correcting acidity, cutting off infected leaves, creating or removing shade, creating suitable combinations of species…
But it is the plant that grows and blooms, and its reasons for doing so are not in the gardener’s hands.
Now that we have cleared up the first mistake, we have probably alleviated the heavy burden we had unnecessarily placed on our shoulders. Let us now review other common mistakes. Because ther are many errors around the word ‘motivation’.
Mistake: the motivational high
A sales team was apparently demotivated. There was little participation in sales initiatives. People limited themselves to serving their loyal customers but didn’t take risks by going out to seek new ones. All new proposals were met with scepticism… And, as is often the case in such situations, sales were poor. The boss thought something had to be done. For the quarterly sales meeting, he hired a motivational speaker. A spectacular speaker who told them a moving story of attitude, perseverance and triumph, ending with military-style questions (are we ready to make it?) to which the audience replied enthusiastically (Yes!). Back at the office, things had changed. Everyone gave their all, targets were met, and the salespeople earned substantial bonuses and celebrated.
Do you believe it? Neither do I.
It’s more likely that by the time they were queuing to board their flight home, the effect of the talk had already worn off. Peak experiences generate short-lived stimulation. More dopamine than sustained behavioural change. A good talk to liven up the meeting, but little else.
And that’s in the best-case scenario. In the worst-case, people might have already tuned out by the time the talk ended. There might have been an inner dialogue along the lines of: ok, this athlete won five gold despite facing many handicaps but in which way does that mean that I have to sell 10% more without even having a CRM that works?
Mistake: focusing entirely on hygiene factors
A CRM that doesn’t work, an open-plan office with unbearable noise, compulsory unnecessary BTO, a low salary… are factors that can destroy motivation. Resolving these problems, by giving people the working conditions they demand and deserve, is essential to protect motivation. However, once this has been done, continuing to improve these factors does not guarantee a more motivated attitude. Working conditions are not motivating factors.
This distinction, often controversial, stems from Hertzberg’s study (Two-factor theory, 1954).
Hertzberg distinguishes between hygiene factors and motivational factors. Hygiene factors are material factors. Their absence destroys motivation. But if we want to understand and foster people’s motivation, once the hygiene factor issues have been resolved, we must look for something else. And there is more.
Hertzberg proposes four factors that would influence each individual to a greater or lesser extent: recognition, achievement, responsibility and development.
The team leader needs to understand which of these incentives people seek, and ensure they encounter them regularly in their work.
Mistake: when everything is running well, we do nothing
It is very easy to kill motivation through inaction. This is a typical mistake made by very busy managers who are overly focused on tasks, data and customers.
Assuming that when everything is going well there is no need to say anything denies employees recognition.
By setting impossible targets, we deny the opportunity to achieve things.
Responsibility is denied through micromanagement – that is, assigning tasks without handing over the responsibility and trust needed to decide how to carry them out.
Development becomes impossible when there is an overload of routine tasks leaving no time or energy to learn anything new. That blocks the growth. It is one of the mistakes that younger generations are least willing to forgive.
Mistake: dictating purpose
In recent decades, the idea of meaningful work as the true source of motivation has got increasly popular in business, specially since Amy Wrzevsniesky’s thoughts.
Associating work motivation with higher purpose is a powerful idea but carries certain risks.
On the one hand, it would be arrogant or naive to think that the company has the capacity to give meaning to employees’ efforts. Yes, there are companies with a clear purpose, be it social, scientific or ethical. But other companies have no other objective than to make money. All these companies have rushed to draft mission statements of little credibility and display them on posters on the walls of meeting rooms. Purpose is something else. It is personal. It comes from deep convictions, not from a marketing campaign.
Ideally, the company would provide a framework compatible with people’s values and life purpose. But it does not need to define those values or that purpose.
On the other hand, can everyone afford to seek purpose at work? Or is it a privilege of those who have already covered all the basic needs? In the context of Maslow’s hierarchy, is the search for purpose a privilege of those at the top of the pyramid?
Maslow who art in heaven
In 1943, Abraham Maslow established a model which, due to its simplicity, remains a useful reference eight decades later. He proposed that human beings seek to satisfy a series of needs:
- Physiological needs
- Social, safety and belonging needs
- Esteem and stimulation needs
- Self-realisation
We like to think we don’t follow this pattern, but in practice we all need to eat, have a roof over our heads, be accepted, be respected… and seek our own fulfilment.
When we are at the base of the pyramid, hygiene factors are the most important.
Hertzberg’s motivational factors become more relevant s one moves up through social and recognition needs.
One might think that purpose is a motivator only for those at the top of the pyramid, seeking fulfilment. But recent reviews of the pyramid read it in a non-hierarchical way. That means it is not necessary to satisfy one level to move on to the next; rather, we can be at several levels at once. Like Victor Frankl, it is possible to find meaning in life whilst struggling with a harsh reality.
Practical Gardening
Experts in psychology and our own observation of day-to-day lives allow us to understand the basic principles of how motivation works. But as team leaders, we need to take action. What must we do to help motivation grow and give fruits?
Start with the hygiene factors: create a fair working environment, with decent conditions, a competitive salary and psychological safety. This is about ensuring the basics, just as a gardener builds a fence to ward off threats.
Next, observe and listen to people to understand their individual motivation profiles. Ferns need shade and water, olive trees need plenty of sun, and blue hydrangeas won’t be blue if the soil isn’t acidic enough. Also people are all different.
For those who need recognition, don’t forget to show that you’ve seen their success and value it. You can vary the intensity of your gestures: verbal, written, with a copy to managers…
For achievers, set reasonable milestones with them to allow them to tick things off along the way.
Dare to delegate to those asking for responsibility. You’ll find it’s a good investment, because they’ll be accountable for their results.
Encourage the development of those interested in growing. And, very importantly, do not impose development on those who do not want it. That employee who does an excellent job does not necessarily want to take on a bigger role tomorrow.
You can create two personal documents for your own use: a motivation profile per person, noting down what you know about their motivational preferences, and a motivation plan, where you plan and register your actions to enable them to find those incentives. How often will you seek out opportunities for recognition, and in what format? What achievements can you offer them this year?
In the new environment of hybrid and digital work, create virtual spaces that allow for social connection. Some of the motivational factors (recognition, development) are built around the relationship.
Seek compatibility of purpose while respecting diversity. One person may strive to support a family, another to improve the society in which they live, and a third may be focused on developing a technological invention. If you find an overlap between the purpose of the organization and that of the people, you are a privileged group, with a great capacity for impact and job satisfaction. If not, do not fake a shared purpose.
Don’t overcomplicate things. Plants already know why they grow. We simply tend the garden.