How to Motivate Employees
Riverway's Balanced Employee series continues with our expansion on motivating employees following Herzberg's Two Factor Theory.
A quick summary provided by Wikipedia: The two-factor theory (also known as Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory and dual-factor theory) states that certain workplace factors cause job satisfaction while a separate set of factors cause dissatisfaction, all of which act independently of each other.
The biggest take away is that you cannot just increase the job satisfaction motivators if the dissatisfaction motivators are present. These need to be eliminated before anything is increased.
This can be simple, or complex based on your team structure, size, and complexity. But you need to start somewhere. Create a pro and cons list of your wants/needs and likes/dislikes about your current position/team/company. Once you have this analyzed, see how many dissatisfaction motivators you can eliminate yourself or with the help of leadership. Finally, how can leadership help support you by increasing your motivators now that the dissatisfaction factors are eliminated. Building this communication with your direct supervisor will help open this discussion and hopefully provide more motivation in your daily work life.
We hope this step-by-step guide will help you. Maybe something like “think critically about what affects motivation. We have sent this content to your managers and supervisors, as well, in the hopes that this opens up dialogue regarding your team dynamics.” Our next edition in this content series will discuss communication styles, focusing on the best way to communicate motivation in a way that has the most impact.
Further Reading
