Unless Someone Cares

I came across an interesting piece of research the other day in the International Journal of Manpower that I just cannot stop thinking about.

Carolyn Wiley is a researcher and professor of management at Roosevelt University. In 1995 she repeated a study that had been conducted in 1946, 1980, 1986, and then again in 1992. 

Over 40 years of survey data were analyzed to learn what factors really motivate people to do their best work.

I know what some of you analytical types are saying right now…Scott, that data is at least 25 years old…shouldn’t you write about something a little more current?

Before you stop reading, I would ask you to ponder for yourself; how much has your motivation to do your best work really changed?

Sure, we are all a bit different. The things happening in society when the data was collected was different. But when you look at the data as an aggregate, are things really all that different?

Some popular responses to the motivation question from the survey are:

  • Full appreciation of work done

  • Help with personal problems

  • Job security

  • Good wages

  • Interesting work

  • Personal or company loyalty

  • Promotion and growth in the company

  • Good working conditions

  • Tactful discipline

6BA4195C-FC4B-4D5A-8F5E-C7A813FBBBFB copy.jpg

When studying the 1992 data overall, there are a lot of differences between different groups:

  • Part-time workers placed more emphasis on interesting work, while full-time workers placed more value on personal loyalty.

  • Women placed greater importance on appreciation for work done, while men placed more value on interesting work.

  • There were no statistical differences in motivation by age group. All groups decided on good wages as their first choice.

What I found most interesting is that across the 40 years measured by the study, only one factor made the top two motivators when all of the data is combined. Take a look at the list at some of the top vote getters again and see if you can figure out which one matters most.

Here is the list for you to study:

  • Full appreciation of work done

  • Help with personal problems

  • Job security

  • Good wages

  • Interesting work

  • Personal or company loyalty

  • Promotion and growth in the company

  • Good working conditions

  • Tactful discipline

If you guessed “full appreciation of work done” then you either read the International Journal of Manpower or you are really in tune with what people in organizations want.

I guess that is why the picture in this post really caught my attention.

If I am not valuing and appreciating the folks that I interact with on a routine basis then I am leaving one of the two top motivators for those I work with out of the equation for obtaining whatever business objective I have in front of me.

It is so easy to say to yourself, “of course I do this,” but do you really? Do you really tell those in your organization “thank you" enough?

Perhaps and even better question is, do they feel it? Do they feel it to the point where it is a motivation for them to give their very best?

I will leave you to ponder this for yourself.  Let me know what you think by dropping a comment below.