As the saying goes, “It takes two to tango.” Whether you’re into dancing or not, there is a clear message here. A baseball pitcher can’t pitch if no one catches the ball and throws it back to him. Similarly, if a quarterback has no receivers, who will catch his passes?
Employee motivation is much the same, according to professors Bernie Erven, Ohio State University, and Robert Milligan, Cornell University. While a lack of motivation is frustrating to employers, often overlooked is that employees’ lack of motivation frustrates them as well. After all, the professors note, why would an employee choose the frustration of not being motivated over the praise and recognition received by well motivated employees?
The bottom line, the professors believe, is that employee motivation works best as a partnership between employer and employee.
The Employee’s Role
Just like a successful relationship between a pitcher and his catcher, a partnership between employer and employee that adequately addresses motivation requires that each perform his or her part well. For employees, that most important contribution is self-motivation.
According to the professors, self-motivation begins with employees accepting a job and work environment that fits their knowledge and skill level while also meeting their needs and interests. The wrong employee in the wrong job is like trying to put a square peg into a round hole. Frustration and waning motivation will surely result.
However, even where there is a good fit, employees need to recognize that there is always room for improvement. In AP the introduction of new technology, which can streamline and improve operations, presents an opportunity to learn and grow. Baseball pitchers throw more than fastballs, so being able to hit the curve as well turns average players into all-stars.
It’s equally important that an employee’s goals, needs and beliefs fit with those of his or her employer. To ensure that mesh, employees have the responsibility to communicate their needs and ideas to their employer. Similarly, they need to listen to, and at least respect, their employer’s point of view. Not doing so will almost certainly result in a disappointing experience for both parties.
The Employer’s Role
Professors Erven and Milligan point out that there are two factors that impact employee motivation, and employers have the primary responsibility for both. The two factors are dissatisfiers and motivators.
Dissatisfiers can be poor working conditions, excessively long work days, unfair pay, disagreeable supervisors, unchallenging work, and conflict with co-workers. Before motivating factors can work, employers bear the burden of eliminating these dissatisfiers. For example, employees receiving unfair pay or engaged in conflict with co-workers will not be motivated by recognition and delegation of additional responsibility, two key motivating factors. Other motivating factors include satisfying work, achievement, and personal growth through training and new experiences.
For employers, the challenge is to identify the dissatisfiers that are impacting his or her employees. For employees, it’s important to help make employers aware of the dissatisfiers that exist. Hence, communication is critical. Remember, factors that are dissatisfiers or motivators for one employee might not be for another.
A Synergistic Partnership
Synergy, the professors explain, is the concept that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. That, they say, is exactly what the employer and employee partnership is all about. Employers and employees working together to resolve the motivation puzzle can accomplish more than working alone.
Remember the pitcher and the catcher? If the catcher gives the sign for a fastball and the pitcher throws whatever pitch he wants, it won’t take long before the catcher is an unmotivated participant. Similarly, to make employee motivation work, both employers and employees need to agree on a mutual set of signs.
