Employee Motivation in the Workplace
Is Motivation Really Motivation
We are all born into this world with motivation. It is an intrinsic part of who we are. In fact, all of us have our own unique style of motivation and are driven by it each day. However, pop-psychology with the complicit sales training industry has taken it upon themselves to decide what is and what is not motivation, all of which is based upon biased research. All of us have paid for this confusion, but managers and employees especially so, since management expects emotionally induced seminars to generate sustainable life changes within their employees. Seminars like these are costly and only make a difference in the short term. What they have done is confused enthusiasm for motivation. So what is enthusiasm?
Enthusiasm is defined as fervor, zeal, explosive eagerness, rapturous intensity, and intense conviction or worthiness. It is a temporary emotion. Temporary in the sense that it can only be sustained for a brief period of time until it is either replaced by another emotion or a sustained feeling. (See the article: “The Difference Between Emotions and Feelings” for more info.) Ponder how long you could really sustain the act of laughing or crying? For how long can you cry? How long can one remain in a excited or thrilled state?
That is why you can go to any number of so called “motivational seminars” get really “pumped” only to have that enthusiasm and energy fade away after just a few days. A form of social hysteria is what you’re really experiencing at such seminars, albeit in a positive form but never the less very transient.What these events should be called is “Enthusiasm Seminars”.
Employee Motivation
The workplace is one of the main areas where motivation becomes a case of discord. It often starts with the gross profit numbers. When profits are down, the company usually looks internally for the cause. Upper management is told to shape up and puts pressure on middle management to make changes who then leans on lower management to shape up who in turn beats up the employees to find some “Motivation!”.The solution is usually a motivational seminar, workshop, or other program to get everyone fired up and back up to peak performance.
And because of that, motivation is managed as if it were a learned skill of “doing”(See the article: “What is Motivation” for a more in depth discussion of true motivation). However, with such training, a downward spiral soon begins that is fraught with confusion, distress, and self sabotage. “Motivational (Enthusiasm) Seminars” only have temporary effects. Enuthisam can be sustained for only so long. Your enthusiasm will eventually diminish. When this happens you’ll typically ask yourself: “What’s wrong with me?” Doubt, and a lack of confidence follows and the stress builds. Does this sound familiar to you? Understand that there is nothing wrong with you and there is nothing to fix. You are actually behaving within the parameters of mental health. The problem lies with our culture’s inaccurate understanding of motivation. Motivation is not a learned skill. It is naturally present. It is the expression of your state of “being”. Natural motivation drives you to leave your bed each morning. There is a significant need for you to express your unique existence to the world.
Anyone who teaches that motivation is a “learned skill of doing”, demonstrates a lack of understanding of the basic function of motivation. This is the reason why so many people are confused about motivation and why pop-psychology continues to design inherently flawed testing methods, books, seminars, and workshops which sadly point people down the wrong path. Having said that, some people will still find value in these materials but usually as a catalyst unique to them.
Westernized cultures (Particularly Americans), live in a capitalistic society that cannot afford to define motivation as simply a state of “being”. That’s the reason why Motivational Gurus seldom use Mother Teresa, a fine example of natural, authentic motivation, to exemplify what it means to be motivated. From their viewpoint, there is no profit in using her as an example motivation.
The Solution to Employee Motivation in the Workplace
The key to employee motivation in the workplace is honest and consistently effective. If you like what you do for work, it’s unnecessary to seek out motivation because it is already present. If any professional feels the need to attend a “Motivational Seminar,” they should seriously consider another profession. Imagine for a moment that your surgeon is running late to your pre-surgery consultation because he or she has yet to return from a “motivational seminar”. How might you feel? For that matter, what might you do? Would you still go under the knife?
Motivation comes naturally to each of us from a deep level within. No one should have to go out and find their motivation. Your motivation is not somewhere out there, it’s intrinsic, It’s within you. Ask yourself why plumbers, carpenters, electricians, doctors, computer technicians, and in fact most professionals do not have a desperate need to attend motivational seminars in order to get fired up to do their job.
The real secret to all this, is to discover the exact style of motivation you already posses. We call this “Your Life Theme“. It is as though you view the world through a unique set of prescription glasses. It is this prescription which dictates how you should live life and what career you should pursue. Discovering it and learning how it guides you is vital in creating meaningful, sustainable change in your personal and business life.
It is through discovering who employees are at their very core that management will be able to generate natural and effective motivation in the workplace. Managers who discover their “Life Theme” as well as that of their employees, are capable of building dynamic, highly productive and profitable teams where everyone has a greater sense of fulfillment and sustained cooperation. Management will also know which projects should be delegated to which individuals in order to attain the highest level of productivity. Each person will be able to maximize their self-expression with each project, completely by-passing the typical, costly debating and negotiating process. Imagine no more ego driven episodes that cause inner office strife and hinder productivity. This is the future of business. Discover Your Life Theme.
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