Finding joy at work
As we begin the countdown to summer holidays we were pondering, how do you stay energised and motivated, especially as workload and deadline pressures mount?
We know there’s a lot of extrinsic motivation at this time of year with the promise of time-off a strong driving force for many. But once this wears off, how do we maintain the momentum?
Let us share our secret: there’s a powerful force that once you tap into – can create the extra drive needed to move mountains – not just as we head into Summer Holidays, but all year round: it’s called Intrinsic Motivation
What the data tells us:
When we do things we enjoy, we will go the extra mile
Researchers have found that when we are free (i.e.,/ autonomous) to do things that we enjoy, we are more likely to persist at it, which in turn, leads to higher performance.
This is known as intrinsic motivation – that is, the incentive we feel to persist at a task simply because we find it interesting or enjoyable.
This is known as intrinsic motivation – that is, the incentive we feel to persist at a task simply because we find it interesting or enjoyable.
Much of the literature about intrinsic motivation and its use in the workplace refers to finding that ‘work task’ or ‘activity’ that aligns with a person’s intrinsic motivation. But what we’ve found, working with companies big and small, is that tapping into an individual’s intrinsic motivation isn’t about the ‘task’, it’s about the workplace experience.
A workplace is dynamic. It can consist of physical, social, cultural, psychological and developmental dimensions. Any one of these dimensions can provide intrinsic motivation for an employee, impacting on the way they show up at work.
When a person goes the extra mile at work by helping out coworkers, volunteering to take on special assignments, introducing new ideas and work practices, or even attending non-mandatory meetings and events, researchers refer to this as “citizenship behaviours”.
When organisations have high “citizenship behaviours” present, they’re known to be more efficient and effective.
Our experience mirrors this. When we’ve worked in teams with high citizenship behaviours, we’ve seen all kinds of great things happen – like that team member who loves organising social functions; or that plant lover who enjoys greening up the office; or we once had a team member who was a superstar at booking travel and would happily jump in and organise everyone’s flights and accommodation as an extra little side job.
When it goes wrong:
Earlier this year, we worked with a client who was highly skilled at her role and had a history of strong citizenship behaviours, such as coordinating social functions, checking-in on the wellbeing of team members, and always heading along to roadshows and award events to cheer on her peers.
But when we intervened it was because she’d lost all interest in work. She barely wanted to contribute, let alone go the extra mile.
The catalyst? A chocolate Labrador named Chipper.
For years, Chipper had been her office companion on a Wednesday.
Over time Chipper became the resident hound and built her own special relationships with colleagues who would make their way over for a chat and a pat.
Having Chipper in the office did wonders for our client’s intrinsic motivation and brought oodles of joy and connection to others.
Then one day after lots of transformation projects came to fruition, a few things changed including an office move into a new building. After a few weeks in the office, Chipper received a stop-work notice. A person on the other side of the office building didn’t like sharing their space with a dog. The boss made a snap decision: no more Chipper.
What happened next reveals everything about intrinsic motivation. Our client moved mountains trying to get Chipper back in the office, including:
Researched every workplace policy and benchmarked them against industry standards
Gathered signatures from supportive colleagues in the same building
Investigated legal precedents
Created risk management plans; and even
Negotiated suitable terms with the complainant
But it was too late. The boss wouldn’t change their decision. And so began the downward spiral of a once highly engaged and motivated employee.
When Chipper was banned from the workplace, the organisation was solving a facilities management issue and neglected to recognise that it was connected to much bigger physical, social, cultural and psychological workplace dimensions.
In this case, not considering its impact led to:
Decreased productivity
Team relationships suffered; and eventually
A previously high performing staff member decided to leave the organisation
All because a leader didn't recognise the importance of intrinsic motivation and its relationship to workplace engagement.
A simple solution:
Intrinsic motivation varies from person to person and is inherently individual. But, when it is appropriately acknowledged and leveraged, it can become a superpower for your team and yourself.
There are lots of ways to tap into intrinsic motivation, but to keep it simple, we’re sharing our top 3:
Acknowledge intrinsic motivation: Be aware of your people and what is driving them. When are they displaying strong citizenship behaviours? What are the workplace dimensions (physical, social, cultural, psychological, developmental) at play around them? If a colleague is keeping the kitchen clean, what is driving this behaviour? If a team member is watering plants after hours and taking them home on the weekends, what is driving this behaviour? If a person is staying back to finish a project by a deadline, what is driving this behaviour? Get curious, connect the dots around the activity or behaviour, and then do what you can to support it to stay.
Make sure your team understands how their job fits into the bigger picture: Start by sharing the organisational strategy and regularly explaining how your team helps achieve that strategy. But don’t stop there. At a local level, regularly connect individual roles to the broader team objective. It is your job, as their leader, to continually remind people about what they do and how it matters.
Collect easy wins: There’s nothing more encouraging than planning and achieving micro goals. Research shows that when we check items off our to-do lists, feel-good hormones are released that make us more motivated to do the work. Support your team to tap into some extra motivation by encouraging small and easy tasks to be completed and celebrating those wins when they happen.
The result
Once you’ve mastered greater awareness of yours and your teams’ intrinsic motivation, you can then harness it to transform work from a transactional activity into a meaningful, self-driven journey of professional and personal growth.
We would love to hear your thoughts: Are you aware of your own personal intrinsic motivation? What does this look like? Drop us a comment or send us a message.
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We work with leaders to grow high performance. If you want to chat about how we could help you change habits and evolve your or your team’s approach, get in touch today.