96 Posts Found

McKinsey research suggests that society is a key source of meaning for employees, along with company, customer, team, and individual. Together, they make up a collective, integrated whole that leaders can address.

Content: Quotation | Authors: Brooke Weddle, Tera Allas | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Dangling bonuses to checked-out employees might only be a Band-Aid solution. Brian Hall shares four research-based incentive strategies—and three perils to avoid—for leaders trying to engage the post-pandemic workforce.

Content: Article | Authors: Avery Forman, Brian Hall | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Compensation, Human Resources, Motivation

Wharton’s Matthew Bidwell shares tips on how to elevate employee engagement and maximize the talent of your workforce.

Content: Article | Author: Matthew Bidwell | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Recently I was surprised to discover that two men whose philosophies I’ve compared and contrasted for years to help explain modern motivation science had a relationship where they did the same thing during their lifetime. We can all benefit from the relationship between Abraham Maslow and Viktor Frankl.

Content: Article | Author: Susan Fowler | Source: SmartBrief | Subjects: Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior, Personality / Behavior

The consensus in social psychology is that monetary incentives for performance have a detrimental impact on individual performance. Yes, under certain specific and limited conditions, rewards can reduce performance. Yet pay for performance schemes are ubiquitous. How can we resolve this divergence between theoretical recommendations and observed practices? Nirmalya Kumar and Madan Pillutla recommend solving the problem by designing smarter incentives that avoid these detrimental … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Madan Pillutla, Nirmalya Kumar | Source: Management and Business Review (MBR) | Subjects: Compensation, Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

In order to understand the undermining effects of rewards, we must consider how the recipients are likely to interpret them. Specifically, the effects of a reward depend on how it affects the recipient’s perceptions of autonomy and competence. When monetary incentives interfere with an individual’s sense of autonomy or competence, they tend to decrease intrinsic motivation.

Content: Quotation | Authors: Madan Pillutla, Nirmalya Kumar | Source: Management and Business Review (MBR) | Subjects: Compensation, Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Unlike pay and other financial rewards, being praised and recognized is an expression of care, and this—and not money—affects the hearts in people. Here are five habits leaders must develop in order to maximize the effect of recognition and thereby derive its greatest benefits.

Content: Article | Author: Mark C. Crowley | Source: Chief Executive | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

The exclusive focus on monetary rewards inevitably leaves organizations fighting a fierce but losing struggle to balance individual and team results. Rewarding high performers serves the imperatives of accountability and excellence but can undermine alignment and cooperation among team members. Yet basing pay on team results in order to incentivize collaboration often ends up inadvertently rewarding subpar individual performance and penalizing individual excellence. Neither approach … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Fred Kofman, Sally Helgesen | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Compensation, Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior, Teamwork

When people claim they have survey fatigue, they’re not tired of you asking them. They’re upset about you not doing anything with it.

Content: Quotation | Author: Bill Schaninger | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Russ Laraway’s book When They Win, You Win, weaves together tons of existing management studies from top-notch sources like Gallup, his own primary research, as well as thoughtful stories from his own decades-long career.

From the Marines to software to VC, Laraway has spotted a pattern that frequently crops up and muddies the waters for managers everywhere. “People have become far too focused on all the … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Russ Laraway | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Everything else you’re doing to affect engagement is worth less than half of whatever you’re doing to make your managers great.

Content: Quotation | Author: Russ Laraway | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation

Although most great managers want to recognize their people, the challenge, which has only been made more difficult in the hybrid world, is finding meaningful things to recognize them for. The limitation to our typical approach to praise is that we can only recognize what we see, observe, or learn about from others and our recognition focuses on what we appreciate, which is not always … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Christopher Littlefield | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

There are limitations to our typical approach to praise. We can only recognize what we see, observe, or learn about from others and our recognition focuses on what we appreciate, which is not always what others want to be appreciated for.

Content: Quotation | Author: Christopher Littlefield | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Personal Development

Not all purposes are motivating, and not all statements of organizational values are effective in guiding behaviors the way we have discussed here. To the contrary, if we judge by the fact that 87 percent of employees in the world claim to be disengaged or actively disengaged at work, the majority of purposes must be useless. The question that we must address, therefore, is, “What … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Constantinos C. Markides | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

What’s interesting is that people often treat middle managers as the dispensable layer of the organization. This may be a contracting issue. Those at the very top are incentivized with high compensation tied to stock options. Those at the very bottom have simpler tasks that are spelled out in legally enforceable hourly contracts. Not so for those in the middle, who are responsible for implementing … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Claudine Gartenberg | Source: IESE Insight | Subjects: Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Too many employers pay too little heed to the needs of the lower earners in their company. Here’s why—and how—they should shift gears.

Content: Article | Authors: Brooke Weddle, Tera Allas | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Many employees who are not engaged want a reason to be inspired. They are the “show me” group that needs an extra push to perform at their best. While positive feelings, such as happiness, are usually byproducts of engagement, they shouldn’t be confused with the primary outcomes. Rather, the primary emphasis should be on elements that engage workers and drive results, such as clarity of … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Annamarie Mann, Jim Harter | Source: Gallup Management Journal | Subjects: Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Managers must take proactive steps to increase employee engagement, or risk losing their workforce. Engaged employees perform better, experience less burnout, and stay in organizations longer. The authors created this Employee Engagement Checklist: a distilled, research-based resource that practitioners can execute on during this critical period of renewed uncertainty. Use this checklist to boost employee engagement by helping them connect what they do to what … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Ashley Whillans, Daniel Stein, Jon M. Jachimowicz, Nick Hobson | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Feelings are messengers of needs. Meeting needs unlocks positive feelings and energy; neglecting needs does the opposite. By integrating business objectives with meeting people’s needs, companies can make sure the strong wind of a positive emotional force is at their back. Emotions and feelings bring our needs — human requirements for survival — to our attention and strongly move us toward meeting them. 

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Our feelings … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Carolyn Black, Chad Gomes, Jon R. Katzenbach | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Where self-advancement cannot, or is not allowed to, serve as a driving force, other sources of enthusiasm have to be found if momentous changes, such as the awakening and renovation of a stagnant society or radical reforms in the character and pattern of life of a community, are to be realized and perpetuated.

Content: Quotation | Author: Eric Hoffer | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Change Management, Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior