Мотивация: как зажечь энергию сотрудников для результата

This is the second article in a series of publications dedicated to the author's employee motivation system. The system consists of 5 stages.

1️. The first stage is called IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEE NEEDS. You can read about it here

2️. Moving on to the second stage of the algorithm. It's called MOTIVATION. From a neurophysiological point of view, motivation is energy. It is generated by the difference between an unsatisfactory situation in the present and a desired picture in the future. When we really want something, the neurotransmitter dopamine is released in the deep structures of the brain located under the neocortex (namely, in the basal ganglia). These so-called dopamine rushes are visible to the naked eye. This is when a person's eyes light up, their energy level increases, gestures and facial expressions appear or become more active, and their posture and intonation change. I must say that not everyone shows the presence of motivation so vividly)))

So, a person is dissatisfied with the current situation and has a thought about changing it. There is a conscious or unconscious idea of the desired result. There are a huge number of unconscious desires that we satisfy every day. For example, the brain monitors your physical condition, registers thirst, that is, the need for water, and you, without realizing it, reach for a glass.

I specifically use this very banal situation as an example. The fact is that the mechanism for achieving a conscious or unconscious result is the same. It is based on the presence of a need for something. If there is a need behind the idea of a better future, motivation will appear.

The presence of a need is the basis for motivation. We learned about needs, their classification, and even ways to identify them in the previous article.

The manager's task at stage 2

The most important task of the manager to ensure sustainable motivation is to link the employee's personal needs with work tasks, strategic goals, mission and values of the company.

Tools that promote motivation

From the previous article, you already understood that there is nothing more effective than personal conversations with employees to create sustainable motivation. Once at a training session, my colleague Veronika Vodokhlebova and I came up with the idea: the company uses the employee's energy to achieve business results and pays for it. But we found out earlier that just money in exchange for energy doesn't work. It is also obvious that energy needs to be constantly fueled. This is what the manager does in their personal conversations with colleagues.

Minimum set of knowledge and skills to help the manager:

· Clarify the needs of a specific employee using open questions.

· Actively listen to the person to hear what they really need and are interested in.

· Explain WHY this result is needed from the employee, how it is related to other business tasks, company values, what contribution the employee will make with their actions to the overall tasks. And how this will affect strategic goals. We are talking about what is sometimes called "the goal behind the goal".

· Connect the personal needs of each specific person with their business tasks.

Thus, through understanding WHY a task needs to be done, the energy to act appears. We know that this is motivation. As F. Nietzsche said, "He who has a WHY to live can bear almost any HOW."

Application cases (for ethical reasons, without recognizable specifics)

Here's how managers linked employees' individual needs with business tasks:

· "You said that as the head of the production department, you don't know much about what sales does. I know that you are strong in organizing partnerships and would really like to apply this at work. Achieving the goals set for this year (names specific goals) involves close interaction with the sales department."

· "You were interested in the application of artificial intelligence in your work. This project is directly related to the involvement of AI. In this project, you will have the opportunity to work with colleague N, a true AI expert. The project will be the trigger for launching our new product on the market. And we are betting big on this product, as you know."

· "This task is an excellent opportunity to show your creative abilities. You often talk about having a creative approach to problem solving. Unfortunately, this task cannot be solved in the usual ways, but it is its solution that will allow us to prepare a solid foundation for launching the large-scale changes that we have planned for the strategic session."

· "We are facing difficult tasks to achieve the XXX goals set until December 2027. One of these tasks directly concerns you. Your task is to prepare calculations for expanding the area of the production department. Based on the results, including this work of yours, we will make a decision about your promotion."

Olga Yudina,

founder of the Academy "Territory of Innovation", Candidate of Philological Sciences, author of internationally accredited programs for training mentors in business, developing communication skills and leadership competencies