Methods, principles and factors of motivation for work activity

External and internal motivation of personnel

The article answers the questions:

What is intrinsic motivation and what is extrinsic motivation?
What are the differences and what are the similarities?
In what cases should a manager use external or internal motivation?

A motivated employee works more efficiently. But the motivation is different: some are attracted by large salaries or bonuses, others are passionate about their assigned work, and for many, what is important is not money, but recognition from management and colleagues. It is difficult to understand the intricacies of human motives - but a clear and understandable classification will come to our aid. Thanks to it, it will become much clearer what measures to apply to the employee and how to motivate him.

Main factors influencing motivation

Motivation is a fickle quantity. It can change depending on many personal characteristics, even on the momentary emotional state.

However, psychologists identify several factors whose influence produces a stable effect:

Surprise. Unexpected encouragement is a very strong incentive to increase returns in the future.
Objectivity. If a person truly does something better than others, it is worth highlighting.
Working in a team of like-minded people.
Adequacy. It's about assessing achievements.
Element of creativity. If the task at hand involves the opportunity to be creative, many performers become highly motivated.

There are factors that reduce motivation, such as lack of reward and recognition. Even a favorite job can become hard labor if the employee does not receive any positive reinforcement for a long time.

Types of motivation: internal and external

In personnel affairs and management, the method of dividing motives into internal and external is successfully used. Accordingly, a distinction is made between internal and external motivation, which governs human activity.

Internal motivation is a complex of motives and aspirations generated by the individual himself. In relation to work: an internally motivated employee finds pleasure in the very performance of the task in front of him, in getting a result or enjoying the process of solving it.

External motivation refers to factors that influence an employee from the outside: bonuses and salary, management incentives and the desire not to be reprimanded.

A specialist leaves: how to keep him?

However, from time to time there comes a time when the specialist you need leaves. Let's try to figure out the reasons. As an example, let’s take the results of a study conducted among American government employees, published in 2020.

The percentage is the proportion of specialists who indicated the corresponding reason as the main reason for leaving.

Desire for greater opportunities for career advancement – 35.7%.
Restrictions on the implementation of professional skills – 20.2%.
Change of place of residence – 17.4%.
The need for higher wages is 8.9%.
Lack of wages – 7.9%.
Desire to change profession – 5.9%.
Transfer of wife (husband) – 4%.

What are companies doing to retain great specialists?

They offer training through courses and cross-training – 45%.
Implement succession planning practices – 38%.
They offer positions as consultants or temporary employees – 30%.
Motivated by a free or flexible schedule – 27%.

It is clear that people stay where conditions are better. To inspire valuable employees who are "bored", companies use some tricks.

Transfer to another department.
New tasks in areas unfamiliar to a person.
Business trips and internships abroad.
Leave for scientific work.
Financial incentives.

The list can be continued for a long time, the main thing to take away from it is that each technique is based, first of all, on the interests of the employee the company needs.

The right choice of employee motivation

It is important for a manager and HR officer to understand in a timely manner what motives motivate an employee or applicant for a vacant position in the company. An employee who sincerely loves his job will not perceive a salary increase - even one that is completely justified from the point of view of management - as an incentive to work harder and better. But setting him more and more complex tasks will become a challenge for the employee, which will definitely be accepted.

A person focused on external motivation (for example, increasing income), on the contrary, will work the more and the better, the higher his salary. Those who strive for recognition by others will not allow themselves to be put on the “board of disgrace”, will diligently avoid fines or penalties - and will also work, albeit under threat, much better. But by complicating the work process it will not be possible to stimulate it.

How to motivate valuable employees

A top specialist on staff needs a high level of motivation, and it is very important that this process is balanced. The manager must understand that such an employee expects not only financial incentives. An equally important factor for him is the opportunity for self-realization, personal and career growth.

It is very good if the company has a practice of personnel reserve, a system in which a specialist receives enough opportunities for development within the organization. For example, for many enterprises today, socially oriented projects are relevant when the company’s interests go beyond the boundaries of the city, region, or state. By participating in the implementation of such schemes, the employee gains new experience and acquires business and personal connections.

In this regard, the experience of foreign companies, in particular Japanese ones, is indicative. There it is considered normal for a person to work in one company all his life, but with periodic changes of positions. Having achieved some results in one position, such a specialist is sent to another department or receives a new post.

How to put it into practice

It is clear that the choice of a motivation system for an employee depends not only on whether he is focused on internal or external motivation.

There are other factors such as:

— employee engagement in work (read about factors influencing engagement in our article)

— presence and absence of a social component in motivation

— employee position (managers have one motivation, and drivers or salespeople have another)

In addition, when building a motivation system, it is worth familiarizing yourself, at least briefly, with the main theories of motivation (a brief description of all theories of motivation in our special section)

How to attract the right specialist

Based on this, let’s try to determine what methods are relevant today for attracting valuable personnel. There are several such methods and they bring the greatest effect when combined.

Headhunting

The main one is headhunting - a standard process of thoughtful, direct search for great specialists, by “luring” the necessary employees from other companies. This method is expensive, since the person you want on your team needs to be offered better conditions than in the previous place: a higher salary, bonuses, new guarantees and benefits.

In addition, if you delegate the search process to external professionals, such a service itself will cost a lot.

Labor market

The next way is to search for effective specialists in the labor market. Quite often, professionals look for a place through open vacancies. The main problem with this method is the dependence of the results on the qualifications and experience of your HR service employees. There is a possibility that with a large amount of work they will make a mistake by incorrectly assessing the effectiveness of a potential candidate.

If there is an opinion that you cannot solve the problem on your own, it is reasonable to contact independent specialized agencies.

Personal/Internal Communications

Often, a manager joining a new company brings with him people with whom he worked before. And business owners themselves willingly appoint to key positions those they know personally, whose responsibility and professionalism have been personally verified by them.

It also happens that an employee who has worked in a certain position, understanding the specifics of the company’s work and wanting to develop in it, independently proposes his candidacy for a responsible position.

As a rule, these are the people who turn out to be the most effective and loyal to the company.

Non-standard ways of motivation

Among all the methods of motivating staff, the most effective are non-standard ones. Such methods do not require large financial costs and are based on management’s creative approach to organizing work. Many managers encourage HR employees who offer non-standard approaches to motivating staff.

An example of such non-standard solutions is:

A comic form of punishment for careless subordinates. It is not necessary to remove a bonus or fine a negligent employee. It is enough to give him the comic title of “Department Sloth” or “Turtle of the Month”. Such “titles” motivate a person to improve the quality of his work.
Game rooms. This method of providing rooms where you can play and take a break from routine work has proven itself in many foreign companies. This unloading increases the productivity of the team and improves the office atmosphere.
Sudden gifts. Unexpected encouragement (even a small one) motivates the worker to continue to work the same way, or even better.
Caring for families. These could be New Year's parties or gifts for children, as well as discounts for vacations for family members of employees.
Additional rest. It is not necessary to pay cash bonuses to employees. An extra day off is a great alternative to a cash reward.
"Repetition", or the technique of analogy. It appeared during the crisis, when many companies did not have the opportunity to financially reward their employees. The technique is based on the psychological characteristics of people, namely unconscious imitation. The boss, by his example, motivates his subordinates to perform their professional duties with high quality.
A nice additional incentive could be rewarding “employees of the month” with a movie ticket or a pool pass.

There is no single rule or best method of motivation. Often, non-material methods of reward help achieve the desired result much faster than monetary payments. The most correct solution is to use a set of measures aimed at stimulating the work of staff.

Self-motivation is the engine of progress

For meaningful movement, it is important to know where to come from and where to go, as well as to have a great desire. That is, self-motivation is necessary. How to achieve it? Follow the techniques and rules listed below:

Set yourself only achievable goals. Only then will there be a desire to achieve them.
Break big goals into small tasks.
Keep a diary of achievements.
Constantly reward yourself with rewards for completed tasks.
Try to use as little criticism as possible.
Look for like-minded people in your business.
Try to compete with others and become the best.
Surround yourself only with positive and goal-oriented people.
Read books and watch movies that motivate you.

Try to implement, if not all, then at least a few points, and you will definitely have a desire to get down to business! Remember that it is important to use positive and negative factors, internal and external motivation in balance in order to achieve a good result.

Innovative methods of motivation

Methods of motivating staff are developed for a specific purpose: to stimulate improvement in the quality of work of subordinates. There are many innovative methods to improve performance. All of them can be divided into three main categories:

Individual motivation is aimed at working with individual subordinates.
Moral and psychological motivation is used to satisfy the basic internal needs of employees.
Organizational motivation helps create a system of incentives for employees within an institution.

Individual

The implementation of individual methods of personnel motivation is possible in the following forms:

Joint celebrations of significant events in the lives of colleagues: birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, assignment of a qualification rank, presentation of a certificate of commendation.
Rotating appointment of a person responsible for organizing non-work events.
Design of rooms for psychological relief and rest of personnel.
Informing the team about the personal achievements of each employee. This can be done at general planning meetings, using honor boards or publishing a corporate newspaper.
Conducting competitions with the presentation of symbolic awards. The spirit of competition is a great way to motivate subordinates.

Moral and psychological

Such motivation techniques contribute to the professional development of the employee and increase his performance. These include:

Social diagnostics of company personnel. Diagnostics helps to identify the basic social problems of workers, solving which can be influenced by personnel.
Conducting trainings and competitions aimed at identifying people with leadership qualities.
Creating a special atmosphere. This includes the color scheme of office decoration, music in relaxation rooms and the opportunity to express creativity in everyday work.

The following is used as moral encouragement:

praising an employee in the presence of colleagues;
personal gratitude from the manager, expressed orally or in the form of a letter.

Organizational

The use of such motivation techniques allows us to systematize the work of the institution. The group of organizational incentives includes:

Organizing meetings and planning sessions for the entire team. Informing subordinates about the company's objectives and the opportunity to hear everyone's opinions contribute to the involvement of all employees in the process of achieving a common goal.
Administration. Includes:

drawing up a list of functional responsibilities of subordinates;

studying the regulatory framework related to the functioning of the institution;

creation of a code of ethics for company employees;

culture of communication with clients and colleagues;

the formation of a system of rewards and punishments that applies to all personnel of the company.

Such techniques are popular in institutions where most employees have to be forced to work, and management is inclined to use “carrots and sticks.” On the other hand, a clear knowledge of one’s responsibilities, as well as the consequences of failure to fulfill them, is an important component of the work of every enterprise.

Grading is one of the modern methods of increasing staff performance. This method of motivating staff makes it possible to form a hierarchical “ladder” of employees regarding their value to the company, on the basis of which the remuneration system for the work of each employee is calculated. Evaluation criteria used in grading: qualifications, education, responsibility, diligence, productivity.

Motivation: meaning and goals

Work motivation is understood as organizing the company’s work in such a way that everyone tries to perform their professional duties in the best possible way and “give their best.” In other words, each employee receives an internal incentive that increases productivity and is aimed at achieving a common goal.

Often, the company's administration acts in the old fashioned way: rewards the best, punishes the worst, and holds annual corporate parties for everyone. But this scheme does not always work. It is unlikely that you will want to go to a corporate event if the work environment is depressing every day.

Competently stimulating staff requires the manager to know basic motivation methods. A subordinate whose contribution to the overall achievement was not noticed or appreciated will not want to “prove himself” in the future.

Everyone needs praise: a newcomer who finds it difficult to “fit in” to the team, and a strict careerist who, under the dry mask of responsibility and devotion to the company, hides the desire to hear praise addressed to him or get additional leave.

The head of the organization develops his own individual motivation scheme for subordinate employees.

Motivation is the creation of internal factors that motivate you to do work. Motivation can be controlled from the outside, using stimulation techniques.