What Motivates Workers? A Behavioral Scientist Explains

Transcript

Charlotte Blank: [00:05] Science has a lot to offer business leaders. I encourage anyone in an organization to start thinking like a scientist when it comes to motivating their employees.

[00:24] Scientists know that first of all, humans are not computers and we are so much more than rational economic utility-maximizing machines. As a leader, the first lesson you can learn from behavioral economics is that cash is not always king, and more is not always better.

[00:40] There's a whole toolbox to pull from that also motivates people, things like giving simple recognition, giving people rewards to spend on others, creating team experiences as a reward, the list goes on. I encourage leaders to not only pull from these existing principles but to test them out in their own organizations to really see what works best for their people.

[01:01] The key to employee well being is really building a culture and environment that fosters the pillars of intrinsic motivation.

[01:09] In our world of incentive and recognition reward programs, we talk a lot about extrinsic motivators and extrinsic rewards like cash, bonuses, trips, merchandise, ways that you can externally provide people with tokens of gratitude or an extra carrot to work hard.

[01:24] Those are important pieces, but they don't really move the needle if you don't have a strong foundation and a culture that fosters intrinsic motivation, which is the sense that I just want to do my best at this because it's important to be inside.

[01:37] Key pillars to building a culture of intrinsic motivation include elements of autonomy, mastery, purpose and social connection. I'll elaborate just on one that is interesting, this notion of autonomy, giving people a sense of control over their own destiny.

[01:53] Even in the most straightforward seeming jobs, even in entry level jobs or a place where it might seem like you're just producing something out of line, there are ways to give people a sense of autonomy, perhaps in setting their own goals or giving them a choice between extrinsic rewards that they might be able to take home.

[02:10] It could be that any little way of making them feel like they have a choice in something, or a say in their own destiny can really have a positive impact on their well being and performance.

Filmed September 2019 at AACSB's Global Accreditation Conference in San Antonio, Texas, USA.