Changing Your Ideas about Employee Motivation

Posted on | January 11, 2010 |

Most managers believe that the best way to motivate employees is with external rewards—money, perks, and other dangling carrots to get people enthusiastic about their job. But according to Daniel Pink in his new book “Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates US” motivation is created internally not externally and depends on peoples ability to make decisions about their own lives, to learn and create new things, and to better themselves.

His book draws on more than forty years of research on motivation and claims that, while the carrot and stick approach may have worked successfully in the 20th century, this approach will work far less effectively in addressing today’s challenges of motivating employees. Pink examines three elements of “true motivation,” which he calls autonomy, mastery, and purpose, and offers some surprising techniques for putting these into action.
If you want to challenge your assumptions about motivating employees then this book is a must read.