The Motivation Toolkit by David Kreps

Author:David Kreps
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 2017-02-23T16:00:00+00:00

Self-Determination Theory

In the theories explored so far, motivation is tied to external stimulus of some sort or other: In expectancy theory, the employee consciously chooses behavior that (she perceives) is desired by the organization, so that she will receive from the organization a reward that she values. In goal-setting theory, while individuals can set their own goals, the sort of employment-context application I have in mind is where management sets goals for employees. In equity theory, the individual employee is reacting to rewards provided by and contributions provided for the organization.

Self-determination theory, in comparison, concerns motivation that is intrinsic to the individual. The individual acts in a particular way because she wants to do so, even absent external rewards or stimuli. The theory holds that an employee is more likely to be self-motivated the greater her

1.autonomy, the ability to control her own actions;

2.opportunities to gain and exhibit competence, to control the outcome and exhibit (if only to herself) her mastery of the situation;

3.ability to be socially related to others, to interact with, be connected to, and help others and be helped in turn; and

4.perceived purpose, the sense that the task achieves something important and valued.

So management, to enhance performance through intrinsic motivation, should increase employee autonomy, give employees greater opportunities to enhance their skills and demonstrate competence with those skills, increase a sense of “belonging” and “helping” others, recognize publicly when someone does well, and connect the individual’s efforts to some larger and culturally legitimate goal.

And, to the extent that it is relevant, the employer should get out of the way of these motivating factors: Don’t reduce autonomy, or opportunities for employees to gain and exhibit competence, and so forth. The most effective way to motivate employees is, in a lot of cases, removing de-motivating factors, so that intrinsic motivation can do its thing.

Given the problems in incentive systems that fit under the rubric of multitasking and other problems in getting externally applied incentives right, intrinsic motivation might seem like a motivational silver bullet when it can be enlisted: The employee does the right thing, all by herself.

Of course, it isn’t that simple. Going back to the formulation of Chapter 1, motivation involves the alignment of your employees’ interests with your own and then letting them use their own best judgment concerning what to do. This, then, is consistent with at least the first part of self-determination theory, that you should give employees autonomy.

But it is incompletely consistent. An employee who is intrinsically motivated is motivated to do those things for which she has a lot of intrinsic motivation—that’s a tautology—which may or may not be the things that the organization desires her to do. If the employee’s intrinsic motivation aligns with what the organization wants, it can be a proverbial silver bullet. But that’s a mighty big if. The key to enlisting intrinsic motivation is to find ways and means to get the employee’s intrinsically motivated behavior aligned with what the organization values.

And don’t lose sight of qualities 2 through 4 on the self-determination list.

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