Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Is your motivational approach bordering on Insanity?

Human motivation, or more specifically what motivates humans to choose certain ways of behaving, is a question that boggles the minds of parents and CEO’s alike and it is of particular relevance in creating and sustaining high-performance work cultures.   A recent book by Daniel Pink, Drive, and an earlier book, Why We Do What We Do, by Edward Deci provide insight into this leadership challenge and question. Both authors present decades of research that challenges the traditional philosophy and methods of motivating performance. In fact, the research on human motivation contradicts the underlying theory of motivation in practice in most organizations.

Daniel Pink, in his book Drive, comments on reward and punishment or  “Carrot and Sticks” approaches to human motivation.  “It is so deeply embedded in our lives that most of us scarcely recognize that it exists. For as long as any of us can remember, we’ve configured our organizations and constructed our lives around its bedrock assumptions: The way to improve performance, increase productivity, and encourage excellence is to reward the good and punish the bad.” The basic belief of this model assumes that humans are similar to pets; give them a treat for good behavior and a stern admonition or punishment for non-compliance or “bad” behavior and you get compliance. In today’s business environment compliance is barely acceptable and is dangerous. What we need is employees willing to give their discretionary effort, look for opportunities and to be pro-active in preventing costly mistakes.

Edward Deci in, Why We Do What We Do, states that there are two basic responses to the rewards and punishment style of control and motivation: Compliance and Defiance and both have negative consequences, intended and unintended. “Where there is one, there is also a tendency for the other, even though one or the other is typically dominate within an individual. Thus, we find some people who are highly compliant, always seeming to do what the situation demands, and we find others who seem to defy all the demands and prods of authorities. But even with these people, where one response to control dominates, the tendency for the other will still be there and could come out in subtle ways. A subordinate who is outwardly obedient to all the boss’s demands might, for example, engage in secret sabotage as retaliation.”

The Gallup Organization in polling of thousands of employees across all sectors of businesses continues to find that 75 % of employees are not meaningfully engaged with their jobs and organizations!  There are many assumptions, which can be drawn from this sobering and sad statistic, but one that I think is relevant is the negative affect of carrot and stick approaches have on employee engagement.

There are two types of motivation: External or extrinsic motivation and internal, which is intrinsic motivation. The Carrot and Stick approach is an extrinsic method for motivating performance, and the one that is most prevalent in organizations. Its underlying belief is that people fundamentally dislike work and that they require direction and even coercion to produce. It gained support from the work of behavioral psychologist who noticed that animals changed their behavior after consistently receiving a reward or punishment.

In 1960 Douglas McGregor proposed an alternative to this theory. His conclusion, based on research and experience as a leader, was a perspective that held that “taking and interest in work is as natural as play or rest, that creativity and ingenuity were widely distributed in the population, and under the proper conditions, people will accept, and even seek, responsibly.” Unfortunately, the work and theories of McGregor did not receive wide acceptance or application.

Today’s leaders and organizations have not adopted and applied what research has shown to be the proven principles and methods of motivation. Management in most organizations still relies on structures and approaches utilizing the Carrot and Stick approach to motivation, which results in a workforce that continues to perform sub-optimally. 

There is a smarter way and it’s based on years of sound research and it is to incrementally transform the reasons why employees perform and engage from extrinsic to intrinsic motivation.  This is not new or novel; social scientists have known this for decades, however, because extrinsic approaches are so embedded they are viewed as breakthrough approaches.

The first breakthrough approach to creating high-performing work culture is the practical application of Self-Determination Theory or SDT. It is a theory pioneered by two of the most influential behavioral scientist of their generation, Edward Deci PhD and Richard Ryan PhD. Both scientists have conducted extensive research into human motivation, which identified three factors:Autonomy, Competence and Interpersonal Connectedness as the needs and drivers of developing intrinsic motivation. When these three factors are consciously and purposefully integrated into a leadership approach, and in the design of performance initiatives they will begin the transformation process form extrinsic to intrinsic. 

The second breakthrough approach is the neuroscience of emotions and their affect on employee behavior and engagement. This particular area of science is called Emotional Intelligence or EQ. Emotions are inseparable from our thinking and they are the batteries that drive our behavior. Once again, research shows that leaders, teams and organizations that have higher EQ get better results and a workforce that is more engaged.

Organizations can choose to continue to inventing and re-inventing carrot and stick programs and resign themselves to achieving the same levels of performance they have experienced for years; or they can begin to restore and build their employee’s intrinsic and emotional commitment to performance and take the next step in building and sustaining a high-performance work culture.

Contact us about our program, Stop The Insanity … Breakthrough Approaches to Motivation  

What skills and personality traits contribute to being an outstanding sales representative or manager? There are probably quite a few, not the least of which are to have a great product and company behind you.  And it’s also helpful to be smart. I know a pharmaceutical sales rep that has sold products for eyes, heart, and lungs and joking said to me that shortly she will have her medical degree.  She’s smart, but what makes her successful and why companies recruit her is that she’s a RIB

Assuming that the people you hire are and can become expert smart with training and a lot of self-study, the next set of factors that make the difference between average and outstanding performers are being emotionally and socially smart. I call this combination being relationally intelligent. The path is clear, train your sales personnel and make sure they “get” the product stuff, but be even more focused on hiring and developing your reps and managers to be RIB’s: Relationally Intelligent Beings.

 Here are a few of key reasons why this is critical for performance and success. Realistic optimism, considered a core RIB competency was the focus of a study by Martin Seligman, who developed a construct called learned optimism. When he studied the effect optimism had on life insurance sales people he found that optimists sold 37% more insurance. Optimism even helped those that failed the normal screening process to sell 21% more insurance in their first year and 57% more in their second year of work above rep’s that were pessimistic.

 The ability to manage feelings and handle stress, also RIB competencies, were found to have a significant positive effect on store managers for a retail chain in increasing their ability to generate net profits, sales per square foot and sales per employee.

In a study (Hunter, Schmidt & Judiesch, 1990) that looked at the most complex jobs e.g. account reps and sales managers; a top performer was 127% more productive than an average performer and 2/3 of the difference was attributed to emotional competence.

The research is clear, if your not hiring RIB’s and developing your current sales force and managers to be RIB’s you are NOT achieving at the levels you could be. You know the saying, “you’re leaving money on the table”, and your customers will leave also.

 We can help; our Personal Side of Business program builds RIB’s.