Some experts advocate employee engagement, others strongly believe in motivational strategies. But one does not necessarily exclude the other. There may be circumstances where even a committed employee can use additional motivation. Having an overall committed team should be the primary goal of every leader. Engaged employees are a true asset to all organizations, especially in tough times. However, there is a lot of confusion about the difference between commitment and motivation.
Commitment
Commitment comes from “within”. It is having faith in the “cause.” Engaged people do what they do because they believe it is the right thing to do and not necessarily because there is a reward waiting at the end. An excellent example of commitment is volunteer work. There is no pay involved, it takes a long time and is often a thankless job. However, most volunteers do it with passion and perseverance. Why? Because they believe in what they do. Commitment has everything to do with commitment.
Motivation
This is where the confusion begins. When we talk about motivation, we distinguish two different types: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation in fact, it is exactly the same as commitment. It comes from “within” and has to do with the joy or satisfaction that a certain job or task brings to the person, rather than with the reward it will bring.
Extrinsic motivation it is caused by external factors. As soon as those factors no longer exist, the motivation will also disappear.
Opponents of motivational strategies are against extrinsic motivational measures like incentives and reward programs and they are absolutely right. Rewards programs are counterproductive; they typically have a negative return on investment in terms of money, employee satisfaction, and retention.
What’s against rewards programs?
Let me share my own experience with you. I started my career as a sales representative for a company that sold copiers, faxes, and printers. As is often the case, we were paid a commission in addition to our base salary, which is quite low. On top of that, the company had some ‘bounty programs’ running. A program for the best-selling units in a given period, a program for most ‘new businesses’ and a few more like these.
The worst was the ‘Seller of the Month Award’. Whoever had the most sales in a particular month was able to hand over the keys to their company car and was allowed to drive the company’s Porsche Carrera the following month AND got their own parking space in front of the building.
What do these rewards programs bring to you? Nothing really. Guess who always won these rewards? Right, the people who were always up there already. Guess who doesn’t even treat to get one of these rewards? Correct those at the bottom again. They knew from the start that they wouldn’t stand a chance against the best. And guess who tried a couple of times but never got the ‘award’ and was unmotivated? Right, the middle people.
So was it motivating? It sure was, for the group that didn’t need to be motivated; the best. They may have sold a bit more, but once you’re at the top, the room for improvement gets smaller and smaller. He did nothing for the worst results. These programs “did not touch them.” However, he did a lot for the middle group. That is the group in which every sales manager can “score.” They have potential and a lot of room for improvement. And what he did? The exact opposite of what the program was invented. They knew that they contributed to the company and saw that they would never be “rewarded” for their contribution. How motivating is that?
I heard some people already say, “Then they should get to the top! Then they will get the rewards too!” I can get 110% of my goal, but if other people get 115%, does that make me “average”? No, it is not. No matter how large your pool of salespeople is, there will always be a number one and a number at the end. And rewards programs will always reward number one, the people who need it the least.
Extrinsic motivators: short-term strategy
Incentive and reward programs “motivate” only for the duration of the program or even less if the employee feels they will not “win.”
Suppose you have installed a reward for producing a certain quantity of your product and suppose that everyone is trying very hard. What happens after the deadline? Exactly. People will go back to their normal production. To get the same results, you will need to install another rewards program, and so on.
Commitment: long-term strategy
Let’s look at that last example again. Suppose one of your suppliers has delivery problems and therefore their production stops for a certain period of time and no one will reach the reward target. People who were motivated will not pick up the pace right after the supplier starts delivering again, because there is no reward to work more.
There is a group of people who Will pick up the pace, even though there will be no reward. They have a ‘let’s see what we can do to make up for lost time’ attitude. They are in the ‘game’ for the ‘game’ and not for the ‘prize’. Are committed.
Engaged employees have resistance. They will continue to bring the task to a good end, despite external challenges and circumstances. They support the goals, mission and values of the company and being part of the organization makes them proud. In general, the quality of your work is better. They want to be able to be proud of what they have done while motivated people are like horses with blinders, trying to get to the finish line as quickly as possible, no matter how.
The commitment runs deep. That also means that an organization’s leadership has to create an environment in which engagement can thrive and prosper. In my next post, I’ll share my thoughts on what you can and should do to build an engaged team around you.
Let me close with a story I heard that best describes commitment:
Former US President John F. Kennedy made a very bold statement in September 1962: “We are going to the moon.” A short time later, he paid a visit to NASA. While he was there. He asked an employee, “What is your job?” The man replied, “My job is to take a man to the moon.” It turned out to be the concierge.
That it is ‘commitment’. No matter what you do, your work is as important as anyone’s in contributing to the common goal.
I wish you a lot of commitment.