For decades, I taught business management and leadership in a liberal arts college and always covered theories on motivation. I would remind students that the word, “motivation,” is derived from the Latin word, “movere,” which means “to move.” So motivation refers to the forces that guide our actions and behaviors.
One of the theories I enjoyed teaching was Frederick Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory designed in 1959. He defined two sets of factors in deciding employees’ working attitudes and level of performance, which he called motivation and hygiene factors. Motivation factors are intrinsic factors (internal such as growth and development) that will increase employees’ job satisfaction, while hygiene factors are extrinsic factors (external such as pay) to prevent employee dissatisfaction.
Herzberg argued that meeting the lower-level needs (extrinsic or hygiene factors such as money) of individuals would not motivate them but would only prevent them from being dissatisfied. To motivate employees, higher-level needs (intrinsic or motivation factors such as growth and development) must be met.
FOCUSING ON THE WORK VS. THE MONEY
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, in his Harvard Business Review article, “Does Money Really Affect Motivation? A Review of the Research,” suggests that “even if we let people decide how much they should earn, they probably would not enjoy their job more.” In reviewing 120 years of global research, the connection between salary and job satisfaction was very weak regardless of country. “Money does not buy engagement,” he found.
The author reviewed other studies and found “you’re more likely to like your job if you focus on the work itself, and less likely to enjoy it if you’re focused on money.” The research review revealed that “intrinsic motivation is also a stronger predictor of job performance than extrinsic motivation—so it is feasible to expect higher financial rewards to inhibit not only intrinsic motivation but also job performance. The more people focus on their salaries, the less they will focus on satisfying their intellectual curiosity, learning new skills, or having fun, and those are the very things that make people perform best.”
Many companies conduct exit interviews, but I recommend the practice of stay interviews. This is when a leader checks in with an employee about their experience at work and probes for what makes them stay at the organization. These interviews can provide great insights into both the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that are affecting motivation and performance. When leaders have this information, they can make improvements that benefit both employees and organizations.