Motivation is something that should move a person forward, a kind of stimulus that pushes them to perform better. It is common for people to leave their jobs because they feel undervalued. In worse cases, they come to feel that they are a burden to the company. Motivation guides our whole life. Even when you apply for a new job, you write what is called a cover letter.
Motivation as such is a textbook psychological process, which experts explain as follows:
It is an inner drive that prompts a person to do a particular activity, and it is closely linked with individual performance. A well-motivated person performs better and focuses far more on reaching a particular goal.
At the very start of the motivation process is the word “reluctance”. Reluctance to work is one of the basic impulses of every person. I simply don’t want to, I don’t feel like it. Only the right motivation can push a person to step out of their comfort zone and get on with that particular task. A motivated person also enjoys what they do more. The opposite is demotivation, when a person sees no point in what they do and receives no reward or recognition for it.
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What should you focus on if you want to motivate others well?
Motivation, meaning the determination and desire to do something, is influenced by various factors. As a rule, we divide them into external (motivation from an employer, parents, a partner and so on) and internal (self-motivation). What are its basic principles? In practice, we come across two types of motivation:
- Positive motivation
- Negative motivation
Positive motivation
This is naturally music to our ears, full of superlatives and grand praise of your abilities. Positive motivation is based on rewards, meaning that if you work hard in your job, you will receive a reward, either material (the material interest factor) or in the form of self-fulfilment (the self-fulfilment factor) and moral recognition (the moral appreciation factor). Positive motivation is of course very easy to accept, but if you hear it all the time and from all sides, you will stand still and never move forward.
Negative motivation
Two key words are linked with this term above all: “existence” and “fear”. Fear very quickly drives a person to action, to tasks they have so far tried to avoid or put off. This may be existential fear (fear for survival) or general fear (worry about losing anything we care about, including a job). Negative motivation is treacherous in many ways, because not everyone can take it well, and often a person you criticise will withdraw into themselves rather than work on improving.
💡 Tip: Learn the rules of Employee rewards and appraisal in this article.
How to motivate employees
Are you asking how to motivate others well and effectively? From a psychological point of view, motivation is the conscious act of encouraging another person in order to improve their performance. Motivation therefore has two main goals → better performance or work done on the one hand, and enthusiasm, joy and self-fulfilment from the activity on the other. There are many quotes about motivation, but one seems to speak for them all:
Motivation is like love and happiness. It’s a by-product. If you get started on something, the motivation to keep going will come by itself and appear when you least expect it.
John Bruner
This motivational quote suggests that it is often enough simply to get started, even if we don’t want to at first, and if we keep going, the motivation to finish will come by itself. That is why both internal and external motivation matter.
If, for example, you are a regular employee at a huge company, the enormous demands can sometimes drain a lot of your energy, and you need to recharge it with effective motivation, which is usually the job of either an HR officer or even the head of the whole company. It is generally said that encouragement should be given to people gradually, lightly and gently. Truly sensitive use of workplace motivation can work wonders.
Czech psychologists list these well-received tools of good motivation:
- Spoken or written praise and thanks for a job well done
- Constructive feedback
- Team-building events
- Updates on company results and the ability to meet plans
- Listening to employees’ views, or individual consultations in case of need
- Questionnaires with a section for “employee ideas and opinions”, where staff can share their observations and motives for work
The points above are the responsibility of either company management or experts in HR (Human Resources). So-called PR specialists, who focus on relations with the public, are a great asset to any company.
Foreign media add their experience to the shared knowledge of how to motivate employees well and effectively. They offer a list of important insights, summarised in the following paragraphs. What is the right work psychology?
Spend more time on one-to-one meetings
American marketing experts agree with our experts that individual consultations are the key to positive staff motivation. In English, this is called a “one-on-one conversation”. The team leader invites each employee in turn (one at a time, of course), discusses their work results with them, asks for their views and suggests shared, individual solutions to any problems.
Each regular employee then feels truly needed, and not just a small part in a huge machine. Here we can also see a general difference between a large corporation and a smaller company. A corporation will try to motivate its employees mainly with money, while a smaller company will be more interested in finding work for an employee that they really enjoy and find fulfilling.
💡 Tip: If you need to improve your communication skills, focus on your Soft Skills.
Think in real detail about what motivates your staff
Do you know what gets the members of your team out of bed in the morning? Do you know their goals, aspirations and interests? In other words, do you really know the members of your team? Great leaders take an interest in the work and career ambitions of their people, and this helps them motivate them. They look far into the future and create opportunities for their employees’ learning and development.
This is called emotional engagement. Thanks to it, staff will not do their tasks because someone told them to, but will get on with the work of their own accord, simply because they want to. This is a desirable state in any company. Most people need to feel that their work makes sense, and that someone notices and values it. Some people, on the other hand, are motivated mainly by money, and for them it is good to have a reward system as well. Their satisfaction depends largely on how much they earn.
Another group of people enjoys personal development and progress. If they can learn new things at work and apply them straight away, this motivation through learning helps them a great deal to achieve better performance and feel better about their work.
Give them resources that help them work even better
It all starts with a very important question that a good leader should always ask: “What do you need right now to do your job better?” A trivial question, you think? Yet you would be surprised how often people in leadership positions never ask their employees this question. Try it, you may be truly amazed by the answers. They might be: “We want new production materials,” or “We need to find out more about the issue,” or “We long for a new workspace!” If you listen to your people and also grant their wishes, you will give them a huge motivational boost.
Praise your employees boldly and often
“I want to be invisible at work and I don’t want to be heard.” You will never hear this sentence from anyone. Everyone wants to be praised for what they do, let alone rewarded. A good team leader keeps this in mind and therefore praises their staff a lot and often. One American company published the results of a study in which employees at an unnamed factory were praised regularly and often. The results showed that the company’s performance rose sharply, but that was not all. Staff loyalty to company management also increased, and with it the likelihood that employees would stay with the company in future and not hand in their notice. So how often should you give praise? The author of the study recommends at least once a week.
It is also important to distinguish between managers and leaders. Very good leaders don’t just praise people, they also motivate them to perform better through their own work. They can be excellent motivators through their good example and teamwork. A true leader also believes in their people and in their goal. They also think positively and try to make their visions a reality.
Help employees develop their skills
At this point, let’s not talk about the compulsory safety or other training that every worker has to complete. Let’s talk instead about individual workshops or events where employees can try out completely different skills and find out whether they have a talent for some other activity. The idea is to offer them the chance to learn something they will genuinely enjoy, rather than show them a few compulsory tasks that they will very quickly abandon for their usual routine anyway. One of the most common reasons employees hand in their notice is routine and monotony.
“There was nothing new left for me to learn at work, and I couldn’t see any chance of moving further or even developing personally.”
Which theories guide effective motivation?
The psychologist and writer Ralph Smart adds a motivational quote:
Surround yourself with people who push you to be better. No drama or negativity. Just higher goals and higher motivation. Good times and positive energy. No jealousy or hate. Simply bringing out the absolute best in each other.
The quote suggests that group motivation helps people achieve even better goals. Support each other, give each other strength and courage, and you will keep getting better. No human being can do everything. One person can do this, another can do that. But if you put the pieces together, you create a remarkable masterpiece.
Psychologists have always been interested in theories of motivation. They rightly conclude that just as every person is an individual, a different motivating factor works for each person. And this needs to be taken into account in the future. Psychology textbooks most often offer these theories of motivation:
- Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
- Herzberg’s two-factor theory
- Vroom’s expectancy theory
- Adams’ equity theory
- Skinner’s positive reinforcement theory
- McClelland’s acquired needs theory
The most widely discussed is undoubtedly Maslow’s theory of needs, also known as Maslow’s pyramid. This theory was described by the American psychologist Abraham Harold Maslow in 1943. According to this theory, people have five basic needs, ranked by the order in which they evolved and also by whether they are higher or lower in terms of their value. While defining them, Maslow became convinced that lower needs must be satisfied before higher needs can come into play.
Together, the needs form a kind of imaginary pyramid (the needs are ranked from lower to higher):
- Physiological needs
- Need for safety and security
- Need for love, acceptance and belonging
- Need for recognition and esteem
- Need for self-actualisation
According to Maslow, a person must first meet their physiological needs and their desire for safety and security, and only then can they progress to the aspirational level, where their ambitions and desire to achieve something come into play.
Other psychologists describe individual levels of motivation.
Herzberg’s two-factor theory
Frederick Herzberg identified two basic factors that are a source of satisfaction and motivation for employees, namely hygiene factors and motivators. This theory is a useful complement to Maslow’s theory of needs. Hygiene factors are those that cause dissatisfaction in the workplace, for example working conditions or pay, while motivators are, naturally, the factors that lead a person towards satisfaction, such as success, recognition or professional growth.
On the one hand, failing to meet hygiene factors causes dissatisfaction, but on the other hand, meeting them does not directly create a feeling of satisfaction, or even anger, among employees. Workers take them for granted and the effect of meeting them quickly wears off. One example is unpaid wages, which will anger a worker, but are not a direct motivational stimulus if they are paid in the end. By contrast, meeting motivational factors is an essential condition for motivating people to perform better at work, their effect on motivation is long-lasting and failing to meet them does not necessarily mean dissatisfaction. One example is praise.
Vroom’s expectancy theory
Vroom’s theory is based on the idea that a person’s motivation in their future life (job or profession) is influenced by their own inner expectations, in three elements:
- Valence: belief in the attractiveness of the goal
- Instrumentality: belief that the reward is attainable
- Expectancy: belief that the goals can realistically be achieved
In practice, this means a person must trust the goal itself, then also believe that it is realistic to achieve it, and last but not least, believe that they will receive an appropriate reward for reaching the goal.
Adams’ equity theory
In psychology textbooks, you may also come across the terms Theory of Justice or Theory of Fair Reward. It is based on the fact that a person’s motivation increases with the degree of fairness, on two levels:
- By comparable standards, the reward is appropriate in relation to the amount of work done, and therefore fair.
- In addition, the reward is also appropriate compared with other workers, so it is fair.
Put simply, a sense of fairness when rewards (or wages themselves) are given increases a worker’s motivation, while a sense of unfairness has the opposite effect.
Skinner’s positive reinforcement theory
Skinner’s reinforcement theory explores in detail the phenomenon of worker motivation in relation to types of reward. The theory does not assess personality, but focuses on behaviour and identifies three basic rules of consequences, which the behaviourist Burrhus Skinner describes as follows:
- Rewarding positive behaviour reinforces positive behaviour.
- Punishing negative behaviour weakens negative behaviour.
- If there is no reward or punishment, the behaviour dies out.
In short, we achieve the best results in running a company if we praise a person who has done something good and also reprimand a worker who has done something negative (ideally straight after the mistake).
McClelland’s acquired needs theory
Sometimes also called the Three Needs Theory or Learned Needs Theory, it is based on the idea that people’s motivation is strongly influenced mainly by three types of needs:
- Achievement motivation (n-ach): the need to achieve something, meaning people need to prove something, outdo others and gain recognition.
- Authority/power motivation (n-pow): the need for power, meaning these people need to be in charge, influence others and have power over them.
- Affiliation motivation (n-affil): the need to belong, meaning people need to be part of something and develop relationships, and they long for friendship.
McClelland adds that everyone has all three needs and it only depends on their preferences which of them ultimately prevails.
How to motivate yourself properly?
The American writer Denis Waitley says:
Motivation begins with desire. When you want something, you have a motive to get it.
However, motivation is not only about giving others courage and guiding them somewhere. We also have to convince ourselves in everyday life that doing certain kinds of activities makes sense, and that at the end of a job we hate, for example, there will be a good feeling. Many of us often wonder how to get motivated to lose weight or how to find the motivation to study.
Czech and international behaviourists agree on one thing: we achieve our goals not through perseverance and discipline, but through the right motivation. Only that will keep us on the right track throughout our work, without ever straying from it.
All around us there is countless advice on how to motivate yourself properly and what to do if you lose motivation, but here more than anywhere else it is true that every person is unique, and the motivating factors that work for one person may not help another at all. Even so, renowned psychologists have tried to write down at least a few basic rules for motivating yourself well.
Display a picture of your goal
Paint a picture or print a photo that symbolises your goal and put it somewhere you can see it. Now you have your imaginary target in front of you every day and there is no way you can forget it. For example, often seeing a picture of your favourite athlete can be a good way to motivate yourself to exercise. But buying a new workout outfit can also be good motivation to do sport. A picture of your dream house cut out of a magazine and pinned to your noticeboard is one way to motivate yourself to go to a job you hate.
Get inspired by others
Read the stories of people who have already managed to reach their dream goal. Inspirational books usually also contain interesting motivational quotes that certainly have something to them. Writing down your favourite motivational quote somewhere you will see it often can give you a good boost every time you start burying your head in the sand.
Taking inspiration from successful people can come in handy, for example, when you lack the right motivation to study, everything feels pointless and you feel you will never get anywhere in life anyway. You can also watch motivational films, or motivational music can give you a kick. All these activities will help you focus on what matters most, which is reaching your goal.
💡 Tip: Need help choosing the right film? Read our article The Best Motivational Films of All Time.
Dream about your goal
Picture in your mind that wonderful moment when you reach your goal. Try to recall that moment down to the smallest detail. Can you see it? Suddenly your goal has an almost tangible shape and is no longer something abstract. If you also learn how to visualise your goal properly, you can activate the law of attraction, which is so widely talked about these days. Whether it works or not, you will only find out by trying it. Perhaps this kind of self-motivation really does help, and your goal will be within reach.
Track your progress
Buy a notebook, create a table of daily tasks, also known as a to-do list and every evening mark the ones you managed to complete. There is no better motivation: suddenly you will deeply want as many tasks as possible to be ticked off.
For example, do you need motivation to exercise, or do you lack motivation to lose weight? Create a very simple table where you record your weight loss as well as details about your workouts and types of activity. Once you see with your own eyes that the kilos are coming off, you will not need any more motivation.
💡 Tip: If you are serious about self-motivation, be sure to read about the Vision and Goal Board.
How not to motivate
Finally, it is worth highlighting the difference between genuine motivation and false manipulation. Sooner or later, the other person often sees through manipulation, and it often has devastating consequences for relationships and mutual trust.
Manipulation can mean, for example, promising a reward or some kind of progress that never materialises once the task is done. Keep your word: this sets an example and supports motivation.
What demotivates employees at work?
Effective employee motivation is an ongoing process, as we showed earlier in the article. But what should you definitely avoid?
- Unfair conditions that differ from person to person.
- Unfair distribution of work.
- Unnecessary restrictions, reports and other bureaucratic burdens.
- Overlooking achievements or unfair appraisals.
- Not evaluating goals and constantly changing them.
- Not keeping your word.
- Lack of transparency.
- Unfair sharing of success and profits.
- No opportunity for further growth.
- Fixating on details that have absolutely no effect on the result.
I hope you have learnt everything you need to know about motivation, from theory to practice.
💡 Tip: How can you motivate yourself to work? Try choosing the right work motto!
