What Drives Employees’ Engagement?
It is a startling fact that most people are not fulfilled in their jobs. Only about a third of the workforce feels engaged in their work. Of those engaged only 13% feel that all of their abilities and talents are being fully used in the workplace.
That's a big gap for the typical 40-50 hour workweek each of us puts in as an employee! How can employers change these low numbers? How can people become more engaged in their work and use a majority of their strengths?
Daniel Pink, a career strategist and coach lists three key ingredients in his book DRIVE: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose
Here is a blurb from the book: Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink. In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction-at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.
Autonomy
What is more empowering? To direct and make decisions for ourselves? Or for others to tell us how to live our lives?
Pretty simple answer but in the workplace how much are we being empowered? How much autonomy is being allowed? Employers who allow individuals to have a say in their work processes, in how they direct a project or innovate a new way of running a meeting or changing the way it's always been done are encouraging autonomy.
Autonomy is a building block for our human development. As children we climb our way to adulthood through autonomy. Why are we not encouraging this in the workplace? Along with autonomy comes stumbling and failing occasionally. It's part of the learning process, but so highly frowned upon in the high-octane business world of success. Gaining autonomy and mastery has to include a cushion of being able to fail, to learn and revise.
What is springing up everywhere in perhaps to a desire for autonomy is a wave of new entrepreneurs. People who want to direct their lives. Start ups are celebrated and encouraged (Galvanize, Tech Stars, Austin Tech Ranch, Builit in Colorado are just a few organizations supporting and mentoring start ups). When you examine a startup, the three drivers of motivation are there in hyper-voltage strength!
There is autonomy, creating (and failing and recreating) until mastery is gained, and purpose. Walk into any culture of a startup and there is electricity in the air! People are engaged!
Mastery
When we master something, whether it's how to create a functioning excel pivot table or successfully assemble an Ikea cabinet, reward of its own follows.
When we are guided, mentored, and trained to master an area in our career, we are eventually called subject matter experts.
A great example of full-fledged Mastery was during the Renaissance in Italy, specifically artisanal areas such as Florence and Venice. Young artists would apprentice and learn under the great Master who had large commissions from wealthy families (Think Medici). The artist would have to follow the Master's technique and style to the letter. Once the Master was confident of the student, he was allowed to work on commissions but only partially, still being guided and critqued. Eventually, the artist had mastered the techniques and could then begin to exhibit his own style.
Mastery comes in many forms in today's workplace: Formal training, informal on the job training, mentoring, and self-guided training. Mastery includes creating, not just carbon copying what has been done in the past. People excel when they are in the creative phase of mastery, when they are learning and trying the knowledge out and even improving on it.
Purpose
Being connected to a purpose greater than ourselves is satisfying. And this is not just for those who work in the non-profit sector (though this is a motivating factor for a majority of people who work for non-profits). If you are an engineer that creates a product that helps others, you are connected to a purpose greater than oneself.
CEO's, CFO's and Managers need to connect the dots for employees. Helping employees see how their particular skill, effort and contribution makes a difference is powerful. People want to believe and know how their particular work has purpose. That feel good warmth of their own contribution, and a bit of personal pride of purpose goes a long way in motivation.
When I first began my career in HR, I worked for a company that was young and a startup. My pay was a bit lower than market ( a smaller carrot-stick), but because my boss took an interest in me, gave me autonomy in the workplace (instructed me to build an HR department!), supported me as I mastered my trade (guided me and sent me to formal HR training), and showed me my purpose in the company, I was devoted to him and the company!
A successful business pays attention to how the people side of business is doing: are employees happy, satisfied, engaged? There is much more on the subject such as leveraging people's strength in the workplace. You may be creating an environment that encourages autonomy, mastery, and purpose, but are you truly tapping into and amplifying people's strengths in the workplace?
Ahh, that's another subject for another article.
