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O P I N I O N
Extrinsic motivation
Leveraging reinforcement theory will connect the action to the reward and bolster your firm’s morale and cultural identity.
A 2013 Gallup survey found that only 13 percent of surveyed employees worldwide identify as “engaged” at work while 63 percent listed “not engaged” and a startling 24 percent listed “actively disengaged.” Motivating yourself and others is the most fundamental and important role of leadership and is even more critical in our increasingly fast-paced and attention-demanding world. If leadership is defined as influencing others to facilitate change and serves as the compass and vision, motivation is the catalyst toward achieving that vision and is the force actively propelling that movement forward.
Mitchell Shope
Motivation is also a resource allocation process used to direct people toward expending time and energy on desired behaviors. Metadata on work performance indicates that performance is equal to effort multiplied by ability and divided by situational constraints. This evidence-based equation depicts effort as equally important to ability; while ability is largely up to the individual, a leader can leverage motivation to drastically increase effort and performance. Both intrinsic (internal) and extrinsic (external) motivators are important in guiding and empowering employees to feel more fulfilled and boost performance, but
this article focuses exclusively on extrinsically motivating factors. REINFORCEMENT THEORY. In terms of motivation, reactionary behavior is a direct function of consequences, so efforts and behaviors can be influenced by controlling those consequences. In other words, what is endorsed and emphasized extrinsically is what unconsciously guides and informs future behaviors. This often happens at an inadvertent level to both managers and employees who unknowingly solidify these behaviors .
See MITCHELL SHOPE, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER JANUARY 18, 2021, ISSUE 1375
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