The Industrial Revolution gave the world a new found efficiency in production and distribution in business. This revolution had a profound impact on employees and how they were motivated to produce an ever increasing supply of goods. Our current business operating system, in many ways, remains unchanged from over a hundred years ago.
The primary approach to employee engagement over the years has been built around external, carrot-and-stick motivators. Science has long recognized that humans respond to rewards and punishments in our environment. However history suggests that this approach in business doesn’t usually work long-term and in many cases can actually do harm and become counter-productive.
Daniel Pink expands on the research of behavioral scientists of the last few decades that have discovered a different human drive. Motivation in the past has been fueled more by extrinsic desires than intrinsic ones. Motivational behavior was concerned more about external rewards to which an activity leads rather than the inherent satisfaction of the activity itself.
Daniel Pink suggests that business today needs to take a different approach. This new approach has three essential elements: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose.
1. Give Employees Autonomy
By nature, humans want to be “autonomous and self-directed.” Pink suggests empowering employees to explore new ideas, allowing them to work flexible schedules, giving them a say in hiring new talent, and letting them decide how they want to tackle a problem.
2. Give Employees Mastery Opportunities.
Pink says “making progress in one’s work turns out to be the single most motivating aspect of many jobs.” You can help employees achieve a sense of progress by working closely with them to assign tasks that match their skill levels, so employees are neither anxious nor bored.
3. Give Employees a Sense of Purpose.
“Humans, by their nature, seek purpose—to make a contribution and be a part of a cause greater and more enduring than themselves,” says Pink. You can fulfill your employees’ sense of purpose by making community service part of your corporate culture. Try organizing in-office food drives, or inviting the team to spend a day volunteering.
This new motivational drive, if business owners understand and can tap into, will strengthen our companies, elevate our lives, and improve the world.