The Three Things We Work for (Money Isn’t One of Them) by Andy Mulholland discusses the motivations behind every employee in the work environment. He determined the three motivators are: to do interesting work, expand skill sets and to be recognized or actually to be valued. I have to agree with his findings.
As an employee myself I want to be interested in what I am doing every day, especially since the working day consists of eight hours equaling out to forty hours a week. This is a very long time to be away from my family and the comfort of my home doing something I do not enjoy. If an employee can go to work and find some enjoyment within their daily tasks then they will want to go back to work the next day and the next because it won’t feel like work. Having a job where you are doing something you find interesting and or challenging helps the employee stay curious and involved.
I am a financial aid counselor and I find my job to be very interesting. Every day is a new experience and a new challenge. The Federal Guidelines are always changing year to year and we have to stay up-to-date with all of the Federal Regulations. We attend conferences yearly as well as receive emails daily on the ever changing laws. Knowing that I play an important role in my student’s education makes me feel accountable and encourages me to strive to succeed for their well being. I am compelled to stay on task at my place of employment as I am the Eastern Region Financial Counselor and have roughly 1500 students depending on me. Feeling like these students need me also helps me stay interested to learn and complete my daily tasks. I feel like every day I am up against a time clock and I have to be on "top of my game" in order to win or complete my assignments because I know the next day I will start all over again.
The next motivator Andy discussed was the need for employees to expand their skill sets. To me this means the need for the job to challenge the employee every day. This motivator is extremely important to me and everyone else in the working environment. In order to succeed employers must push their employees to work hard. If the employees do not feel like their work challenges them then they will not be motivated every day to think critically and the outcome of the organization will suffer.
I go to work every day to learn something new and that is why I love my job as a financial aid counselor. Every day presents a training opportunity for me to learn something. I cannot think of a day in my year and a half of employment that I went home without discovering a new process or law that in turn changed my job responsibilities or routines. My skill set that I believe is improving the most is my adaptation to change. It is becoming second nature to adapt to change everyday. As I am advancing throughout my master degree in the Science of Leadership it is becoming more and more obvious that change is the inevitable. I look to learn this ability in how to adapt through my education as well as my job.
The last and most critical motivator Andy discusses is the need for the employee to feel recognized. Recognizing the employee is not just acknowledging their presence, it is more than that. The employee needs to feel as though they are valued within the work place. Feeling like you matter helps you feel like if you were not there then things would be affected. I completely can relate to this motivator. I have experienced a job where I was one of many and then a job where I was the one. Feeling like you do not matter or feeling like you do not exist makes you feel like it would not matter if you came to work or stayed home because no one would care. Having a leader make you understand your worth will motivate you to succeed. This is a great form of positive reinforcement.
In my current job I am reminded of my worth and I feel as though I matter. I know people depend on me and my Director makes it well known to me when I do a good job. He helps me stay involved by reminding me that I am very important part of the team and without me things would suffer. I am informed of my worth through fellow employees as well which keeps me very interested in doing a good job everyday because I know we are a team and everything we do affects one other. Having a positive leader and team helps me want to do a good job because they make me feel like I matter every day.
The three motivators Andy identify: to do interesting work, expand skill sets and to be recognized go hand in hand with many other underlying motivations that are involved in the overall process of success of the organization and the individual. Some other motivators I feel encourage me are feeling challenged every day, staying up-to-date by being educated or trained through attending workshops/conferences, positive reinforcements and feeling as though I am part of a team all striving towards one common goal. I really enjoyed watching Andy’s video and would recommend it to others.
No comments:
Post a Comment