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In my last post, I wrote about four common types of work motivation: Money motivation, ego motivation, meaning motivation, and intrinsic motivation.
If you think about your own reasons for putting effort into your work, you will quickly realize that you have a bit of each of type of motivation. In fact, when you think about the different tasks that you do at work, you may realize that you have different reasons for doing each of them. Some may interest you more, while some might feel very tedious, even psychologically painful.
Let’s see what your overall work motivation profile looks like. Simply answer these four questions, rating each of them on one (not at all true) to five (completely true).
1. I put effort into my work because I am financially rewarded when I do.
2. I put effort into my work because otherwise, I would be ashamed of myself.
3. I put effort into my work because this work is important and meaningful to me.
4. I put effort into my work because it is interesting and exciting.
The first question measures your money motivation, the second your ego, the third its meaning, and the fourth your intrinsic motivation. How do these reasons or motivations combine to affect your performance and well-being at work? Is it good to have all of them?
My colleagues' and my research shows that it is better to be higher on the latter two (meaning and intrinsic) than on the former two (money and ego) types of motivation. In this research, we surveyed Canadian and Belgian workers working in different types of organizations, including high-tech, manufacturing (blue-collar) and government (bureaucrats).
We found that people usually hold some combination of these four work motives. Some groups were high on all of them, while other groups were higher on the money and ego motivations, and yet others were higher on the meaning and intrinsic motivations. Interestingly, one group was also low on all of them.
Not surprisingly, those who had low overall motivation for their work did not perform very well and displayed high symptoms of burnout. Where did these people work? Many people assume it would be the manufacturing workers. But it was not. It was the government bureaucrats.
We also found that, as long as meaning and intrinsic motivations are higher than money and ego motivations, people are likely to perform well, be engaged and be well. Things start to go downhill when the balance tips the other way. Not surprisingly, high-tech workers tended to have the best motivation profile, though it was also frequently found in manufacturing settings.
What does your score tell you? Add your scores for the first two questions: that is your level of external motivation. Now add your scores for the last two questions: that is your level of internal motivation. Each score should be between 2 and 10. As long as your external motivation is lower than your internal motivation, you have a profile that is likely to lead to good performance and high well-being.
In future posts, I will write about factors (besides working for the government...) that affect motivation profiles at work.
References
Howard, J., Gagné, M., Morin, A. J. S., Van den Broeck, A. (2016). Motivation profiles at work: A self-determination theory approach. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 95, 74-89.
