What do you think makes one job better than another? Across the country, why are some workers motivated and driven while others do the minimum required just to avoid getting fired?
While some of the tangibles matter – salary, hours, benefits, etc. – these are not what motivates you to do your job. They may keep you at your job, but they don’t motivate you. So, think about that – what motivates you to do your job and do it well? This topic is at the heart of tens of thousands of management books and the ideas run the gamut. But, in all that noise, there was one guy who (in my opinion) finally answered the age-old question and I wanted to share with you his answer and ask you to think about it and see if you agree.
According to Daniel Pink (Drive, 2009), the best work environment provides the employee with three critical factors.
- Autonomy – our desire to be self-directed, this increases our engagement over compliance.
- Mastery – our drive to get better at our jobs and that we are given the tools to do so.
- Purpose – our desire to be a part of something meaningful and important.
As an employee, if we have these three factors in our work, we are extremely motivated and will do great things. What do you think? Our company is growing and growing quickly – the only way that we’ll be able to be successful as we grow is to have motivated and energized team members and I think Daniel Pink puts his finger on exactly what each of us needs. Each team leader is dedicated to creating an environment that provides you with each of these. Bring these up in your next conversation with them and let them know what is working well and what areas the company can improve.
Autonomy – Does your work here allow you to own your role? Are you able to make the decisions necessary to get the job done well?
Mastery – Do you have what you need to improve your ability to do your job? Do you spend 10% of your time trying to create ways to do your job better and share that with others?
Purpose – Do you see that we are helping families improve their collective lives? Do you truly believe you are making a difference in the lives of so many here on the gulf coast?
The truth is – you don’t need these to do your job and, unfortunately, some of you may not see these as important and are just here for a paycheck. For the rest of you, begin to see the opportunity here through the lens of these factors and consider how we can each contribute to improving our own, and those of our teammates, abilities to have autonomy, mastery and purpose.