Motivation is one of the fundamental principles linked to effective employee training and development. It is pretty simple – If employees are motivated to learn, they will learn, if employees are not motivated to learn, they will not learn. The more employees are able to learn, the more connected they will feel to the organization. When employees are not connected to the organization, organizational growth and positive employee engagement just does not happen.
As highlighted in our Training and Development studies, motivation comes in two forms: extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic rewards are fairly standard in that they rely mostly on compensation based systems. It is a bit more difficult to build intrinsic reward systems as these rely on individual value based connections that may vary from employee to employee. From a value based perspective, however, the more difficult things are, the more important they become. This also applies to the development of intrinsic reward systems.
According to the Ivey Business Journal, intrinsic rewards are more important that ever, given a historical pattern that shows significant decreases in rigidly structured and directive driven organizations.
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As noted in this article, implementation of effective intrinsic rewards systems begin with management training on what intrinsic rewards ‘feel’ like. By developing a concrete understanding for the ‘feel’ of intrinsic rewards, the hope is that those managers will re-create a similarly positive feeling state for employees that report to them.
It is important to note that this article does not advise or advocate for the abandonment of all extrinsic rewards systems. From a Human Resources perspective, we can learn from this advice by developing a solid blend of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards systems that act as motivators for excellence both for ourselves and for the organizations that we serve.
Discussion Questions:
- Thinking about your own work experience, how do extrinsic rewards influence your work performance?
- What are intrinsic motivators that drive you to be successful in your career?
- From a Human Resources perspective, how can an organization be explicit about rewarding performance from a value based, internal motivation system using the four steps identified in the article?
- Why is it so important to have management training based on intrinsic reward systems?
- Is striving for excellence an internal or external motivator for you?
- Why does excellence in employee performance matter?
