Don’t show me the money
Nandita Gurjar
Think of the last time you felt really charged up about work, and what made you feel that way. I’ll bet it wasn’t money.
I am not suggesting for a moment that money doesn’t matter. It does, but only up to a point. There’s enough academic and empirical evidence to show that once people are paid enough—and let’s take that to mean, are compensated fairly and to the extent that they can maintain a certain standard of living—money is no longer the motivator it is made out to be. Bestselling author, Daniel Pink makes this point very convincingly in his talks on employee motivation in which he says that while higher financial reward elicits better performance of mechanical tasks, it actually worsens the performance of jobs with even the slightest cognitive content.
Actually, motivation works in inscrutable ways and often contradicts the laws of expected behaviour. How else would you explain why workers earning a fixed salary put in more hours than those on an hourly wage? Or why unpaid volunteers in a cause are so enthusiastic about showing up at work? So, if it’s not money, then what do people get their buzz from? My short answer: supportive workplace, purposeful work.
If I had to name just one thing that inspires employees
