The Green Tie – The Official Blog of NAEM

More Pay is Not the Way

August 25, 2011 at 8:00 am Leave a comment

Alex Pollock

As I write, the storm clouds are gathering around the already sputtering national and global economies. Companies are reacting to this stiffening headwind by toying with the idea of re-engineering initiatives, requiring even more effort from employees while reducing spending, including employee compensation packages.

With employee engagement levels still stalled in many organizations from the 2008-2009 recession, how can we best motivate employees, who are, after all, our greatest resource?

“Current research seems to suggest a mismatch between what science knows and what business does,” Daniel Pink writes in his book, ‘Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us’. What do we know for sure?

• We are internally motivated to learn, create and better our world
• Coaxing us with external rewards and threatening us with punishment demotivates
• Goals we set for ourselves are positive, while those that are thrust upon us can have negative effects
• Higher pay does not guarantee greater engagement
• We yearn to be treated ‘fairly’
• Extrinsic rewards should be unexpected and offered after the task is complete
• Praise and useful feedback are much less damaging than cash and trophies
• People who are intrinsically motivated are better coworkers

I’m challenged by Pink’s thought that “effective organizations compensate people in amounts and in ways that allow individuals to mostly forget about compensation and instead focus on the work itself.”

What has been your experience with finding ways to keep yourself and coworkers motivated and committed to your organization? Do you agree that “more pay is not the way”?

Entry filed under: Career Management, EHS Management, Leadership Development, Sustainability, Uncategorized. Tags: business management, corporate culture, Corporate leadership, Daniel Pink, Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us, EHS Management, employee compensation, Employee Engagement, Employee motivation, engaged workforce, human resource management, human resources, Leadership, Leadership Development, leadership philosophy, Leadership truths, Management, Motivation.