Do Something! Motivating Employees

On a recent flight on Southwest Airlines, I was reading through their in-flight magazine, Spirit, and I came across a piece entitled School of Thought, a part of their "Life Apps" feature. It was a short piece highlighting a study conducted by author Dan Ariely that revealed some misconceptions about what really works when trying to motivate people.

I found the piece particularly compelling, not just because I'm always interested in what motivates people, but also because I recently read Daniel Pink's book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us which covered a lot of the same ground (albeit in much more detail) and came to similar conclusions.

One common complaint I hear from law firm managers is that they have difficulty motivating their employees, particularly when it comes to non-billable tasks, and that effort seems to be lacking in a number of areas. This issue often arises when we discuss marketing. Lawyers just cannot understand why associates don't work to develop business when they know that developing business is the best way for that associate to increase their compensation.

The answer may be that focusing on compensation is a de-motivating, rather than a motivating factor.

The studies referenced in both Pink's book and the Spirit magazine article show that in many circumstances, emphasizing compensation or monetary bonuses is misplaced - particularly where basic needs are already being met (compensation is fair within the marketplace) and the work is more than merely rote work. In fact, in some instances, the promise of a monetary reward for performance actually hindered productivity. In short, as Pink says, sometimes rewards and punishments turn what was interesting and motivating work into a drudge.

To really motivate others where the work requires creativity, innovation or decisionmaking, instead of focusing solely on salary and the promise of monetary bonuses (or the threat of job loss), incorporate the following:

1. Recognition and Feedback - Pay attention to people and what they are doing. Good employees want to know not only that you're aware of what they're doing, but how they can learn and improve.
2. Ownership - Let employees help develop ideas, propose and execute solutions. The more people have invested in an idea or can claim it as their own, the more likely they'll work hard for it.
3. Credit for Contribution - Allow employees to take credit for their work and remind them how important their contribution is to the project, the firm's goals or the individual case.
4. Opportunities for Growth - Instead of rewarding with money, reward with an opportunity to grow or learn.
5. Praise for Effort - Effort and action lead to results, but those results aren't always immediate. Focusing only on results can cause employees to give up when they don't see an immediate response, or to avoid difficult challenges (thereby avoiding failure).
6. Choice - Let employees be accountable; whenever possible, allow them to make choices about who they work with, what they work on, how they spend their time or how they accomplish a particular task.
7. Unexpected Rewards - Expected rewards narrow the focus to the reward itself, rather than focusing on creative solutions to problems. Instead of providing expected rewards, provide unexpected rewards at unexpected times - but always after the task has been completed so the focus remains on the goal, rather than the reward itself.
8. Self-imposed Goals - Allow employees to set goals for themselves that are focused on learning and mastery.
9. Purpose - Provide a rationale for tasks that need to be performed, and inform all employees of the firm's goals and purpose.
10. Atmosphere - No one performs at their best if they feel bullied, harassed, uncomfortable or micromanaged. Your employees spend a lot of time at work - make it a congenial place to be.

The bottom line is that most people want to do a good job. Even in this economy, it isn't all about the money.