Does money motivate? The topic of Motivation came up in a discussion

Bill Pflanz · Jul 8, 2009

Denis said:
Yep, no doubt about it, money is probably the biggest motivator.

Let's put it this way, would I take a more senior position for less money? No.

And I've yet to find anyone who would take a more senior position for less money than they currently earn.

It's easy to say money is not a motivator when you're relatively secure with savings and securities.
But the money that you've earned during your job has been the motivator to aquire this status.

The human race is primarily greedy, so wealth is another form of security and social standing. Why else would people chose to display their wealth with very expensive houses and cars?

Salary increases are given for promotions since it usually involves additional work or responsibility and not as a motivator. Even Deming acknowledged that it is necessary to identify the outliers on the high side and find a way to get more benefit from them and reward them as appropriate.

Personally I do not believe that the human race is "primarily greedy". People with wealth buy expensive things because they can afford them not because they are greedy. Some people just like to accumulate more things than others.

Bill Pflanz

zamclachia · Jul 8, 2009

John Nabors said:
many years I drove 1971 Volvo 164. :mg: Loved that car. The engine finally gave up the ghost after a mere 515000 miles/824000km. Sigh. They just don't make 'em like they used to.

Kind Regards -John

[FONT=&quot]I bet the Volvo was just out of warranty when it broke?[/FONT] :lmao:

cruss · Jul 23, 2009

With money you can get everything you want/need.And i hope you understand that no one is working just to waste his time :magic:

Kevin Mader · Aug 1, 2009

Some food for thought –

As Deming noted, paying everyone double their salary tomorrow will only provide us with short-term gains and longer-term losses. Would you agree with his position?

When it comes to pay, is it a hygienic factor or a motivational one? I believe some clues are contained within preceding posts.

Is fair compensation the same as incentives and rewards?

Regards,

Kevin

Jim Wynne · Aug 1, 2009

Kevin Mader said:
Some food for thought –

As Deming noted, paying everyone double their salary tomorrow will only provide us with short-term gains and longer-term losses. Would you agree with his position?

When it comes to pay, is it a hygienic factor or a motivational one? I believe some clues are contained within preceding posts.

Is fair compensation the same as incentives and rewards?

Regards,

Kevin

A couple of years ago, in this thread I mentioned having bought a copy of Alfie Kohn's Punished by Rewards, but I never got back to commenting on it after I read it.

I found it interesting but (to me) a prolonged belaboring of the bloody obvious, that being that incentives and rewards are almost always lame substitutes for actually engaging the workforce (or students). Rather than the idea that business managers believe that they're actually helping to improve things by offering shiny objects as incentives, I think in most cases it's more likely to be abdication of leadership that's at work, and the hope that offering "prizes" will mask it.

People, in general, want to do what's expected of them, and "leaders" continually fail to understand that it's their responsibility to build an organization that does the right things because they're the right things to do.

Stijloor · Aug 1, 2009

Jim Wynne said:
A couple of years ago, in this thread I mentioned having bought a copy of Alfie Kohn's Punished by Rewards, but I never got back to commenting on it after I read it.

I found it interesting but (to me) a prolonged belaboring of the bloody obvious, that being that incentives and rewards are almost always lame substitutes for actually engaging the workforce (or students). Rather than the idea that business managers believe that they're actually helping to improve things by offering shiny objects as incentives, I think in most cases it's more likely to be abdication of leadership that's at work, and the hope that offering "prizes" will mask it.

People, in general, want to do what's expected of them, and "leaders" continually fail to understand that it's their responsibility to build an organization that does the right things because they're the right things to do.

Great post Jim! :applause:

Even the carrot on the stick will eventually rot.

Stijloor.

JaneB · Aug 1, 2009

Jim Wynne said:
People, in general, want to do what's expected of them

Expected?
I don't quite follow you here, Jim, though I strongly agree with your comments about leaders. I'd say instead of 'expected' that people generally want to do some kind of meaningful work: work they find satisfying or rewarding (beyond simply money), which makes some kind of contribution/feels useful and makes good use of their skills and talents.

If I'd only done what was 'expected' of me, I'd have had a very different life! :yes:

JaneB · Aug 1, 2009

cruss said:
With money you can get everything you want/need.

No, you can't.

There's a number of interesting studies around that show this. Even people who won fabulous amounts on the pools/lotteries etc, often ended up miserable and unhappy within a few years. This belief is a false one.

howste · Aug 2, 2009

Denis said:
Yep, no doubt about it, money is probably the biggest motivator.

Let's put it this way, would I take a more senior position for less money? No.

And I've yet to find anyone who would take a more senior position for less money than they currently earn.

I think you're asking the wrong question. More appropriate would be, would you take a more senior position for the same money? I have at least twice.

Jim Wynne · Aug 2, 2009

JaneB said:
Expected?
I don't quite follow you here, Jim, though I strongly agree with your comments about leaders. I'd say instead of 'expected' that people generally want to do some kind of meaningful work: work they find satisfying or rewarding (beyond simply money), which makes some kind of contribution/feels useful and makes good use of their skills and talents.

If I'd only done what was 'expected' of me, I'd have had a very different life!

What I meant was that in any work situation there are expectations-- fulfillment of process requirements is expected, e.g.--and that most people want to do what's expected of them in those situations. It doesn't mean that people don't have aspirations beyond the basic expectations. The idea parallels the current How do you Handle Missing Information?. Sometimes people are pulled in two different directions because of conflicting priorities and must choose which requirement to meet. This doesn't mean that they don't want to do all of what's expected.

Does money motivate? The topic of Motivation came up in a discussion

Bill Pflanz

zamclachia

cruss

Kevin Mader

One of THE Original Covers!

Jim Wynne

Stijloor

JaneB

JaneB

howste

Thaumaturge

Jim Wynne

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