Does money motivate?

When an employee is unmotivated, we automatically assume that if we throw more money at that person, they will be more motivated. Right? Wrong! Money does not motivate. In fact, money does the exact opposite: it actually demotivates you. Now before you nod your agreement and approval and reach for the company accounts to eradicate all wages and salaries, read on a bit to find out why.

There is something called “neutral motivation” in the workplace. This is simply the number of prerequisites everyone needs to just show up to work and get the job done. However, the difficult problem for every manager is that everyone’s requirements are different. For some, vacations are more important than office conditions. For others, having a shiny new computer is more important than a pension plan. And for others, a certain level of income is more important than the sick leave allowance. And for some, the level of income required to reach this neutral level is “x” and for others, it is “x + 1”, this for doing the same work.

This neutral level is, therefore, the sum of all the elements that each person needs simply to appear. It doesn’t motivate people to work harder. It is simply the point at which people perform their jobs according to their job descriptions and the goals that have been set. Remove one or all of these items (or downgrade them so that the neutral level is not met) and suddenly you have a demotivated person on your payroll. Therefore, these factors, known and named by Frederick Herztberg as Hygiene Factors, do not motivate but can demotivate if they are not present in the required amount. Examples of hygiene factors are:

• Company policies and benefits: vacation package, sickness allowance, pension plans, health insurance
• Working conditions: office space, equipment needed to get the job done, environment, easy access
• Pay: reasonable to do the job
• Interpersonal relationships: good relationships with your boss, colleagues, coworkers, direct reports, team members

Think of it in these terms: the above Hygiene Factors, if present, simply prevent the person from leaving the company and going to another place where these Hygiene Factors are met. So, the moral of the story is, first and foremost, to discover what hygiene factors exist for each employee, remembering that what is true for one person may not be true for the next.

As for Motivators, these are elements that, if they exist, will motivate someone to try harder or “go the extra mile.” However, if they do not exist, it will simply keep the individual at a neutral level but will not necessarily demotivate them. Examples of motivators are:

• A sense of accomplishment
• Recognition
• Responsibility
• Advance
• Using capabilities

Again, each person will be motivated by different things – some just want a pat on the shoulder and be told they did a good job. Others want a promotion. Others may still require a higher level of responsibility and autonomy, while some simply want to be left alone to do their job. As a manager and leader, you must discover what drives each individual and how best to provide that motivator.

In summary, it is important to remember that what motivates does not necessarily demotivate (if it does not exist) and what demotivates does not necessarily motivate if it exists. Talk to your people and find out what they need to reach their individual levels of neutral motivation and then what else is needed to motivate them beyond that level.