Tag Archives: autonomy

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Discover The Secrets To An Engaged Workforce – Part III

In my last few posts I have written about the concept of Motivation 3.0 and explained how it is the secret to an engaged workforce. I have defined two of the three components of Motivation 3.0; Autonomy and Mastery. Today, I will define the final component, Purpose.

Purpose

Purpose can be defined as a cause that is greater than a single individual. It is the “reason for being” . . . the French call it “Raison d’être” or reason for existence. This is much greater than a simple goal or objective. This is something that a person will stake their entire existence on. The people that understand their purpose and are aligned in the pursuit of that purpose are focused and are not easily discouraged or knocked off track.

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Discover The Secrets To An Engaged Workforce – Part II

In my last post I introduced the concept of Motivation 3.0 and explained how it is the secret to an engaged workforce. I went on to define Autonomy (one of the three main components of Motivation 3.0) and how leaders need to give their employees autonomy over their roles at work. Today, I will define the second component of Motivation 3.0, Mastery.

Mastery

Mastery is defined as an individual’s desire to get continuously better at something that matters to that individual. This desire to improve in a particular area occurs when that individual experiences an activity that motivates and captivates them. Teresa Amabile said “The desire to do something because you find it deeply satisfying and personally challenging inspires the highest levels of creativity, whether it’s in the arts, sciences or business.“

Daniel Pink defined it this way “in flow, the relationship between what a person had to do and what he could do was perfect. The challenge wasn’t too easy. Nor was it too difficult. It was a notch or two beyond his current abilities, which stretched the body and mind in a way that made the effort in itself the most delicious reward. That balance produced a degree of focus and satisfaction that easily surpassed other, more quotidian, experiences. In flow, people lived so deeply in the moment, and felt so utterly in control, that their sense of time, place and even self, melted away. They were autonomous, of course. But even more than that, they were engaged.“

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Discover The Secrets To An Engaged Workforce

In my last few posts I have written about employee engagement in the workplace (Your Employees Are Happy . . . And Other Popular Myths and The Employee Engagement Survey Says . . .). I conducted an informal survey that indicated that 47% of employees felt that they were engaged in their jobs but their leaders felt that only 24% of their employees were engaged. This is a fairly large disconnect.

So, as leaders, what can we do to increase employee engagement and, at the same time, align ourselves with our employees around engagement (besides the ideas that I listed at the end of my last blog post)?

I believe Daniel Pink has done a great job of researching this topic and he has published his ideas in the book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. I will take a more detailed look at this in today’s post and over the next couple of weeks.

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Your Employees Are Happy . . . And Other Popular Myths!

Are your employees really happy? What does “happy” actually mean? Are we even asking the correct question? Perhaps we should ask; “Are your employees engaged at work?”

According to Gallup only 31% of US workers are engaged at work (the numbers in Canada are similar to this). This is scary! It means that 69% of our workers are either not engaged or, worse yet, actively disengaged. This is costing our economy billions of dollars each year!

Being happy or satisfied at work is not the same thing as being engaged. According to Gallup, paying people high wages, providing Ping-Pong tables and free meals may result in “happy” employees and high employee satisfaction survey scores but it does not mean that your employees are engaged and productive. Jim Clifton stated; “A winning culture is one of engagement and individual contribution to an important mission and purpose. Human beings are not looking for company-bought goodies — they are looking for meaningful, fulfilling work. It is the new great global dream — to have a good job, not a free lunch. The dream is to have a job in which you work for a great manager; where you constantly develop; and where you can use your God-given strengths every single day.”