Jay
I have followed this debate and I have to agree with the flavour of Fred
Nickols' message. In my experience motivation in the main sits with the
individual and the intrinsic values will always play a major part. But this
very much includes the relationships with colleagues and managers. The
number of times I have heard someone say that I will do it
(enthusiastically) because John asked ... or I am not going to put too much
effort into this because its for Janet (no sexist intention meant here) ...
or even I can't be bothered because I will have to work with Paul .... etc.
And I have even heard ... I am not interested in doing a good job on this
because I don't like the machine that I will be working on!
If this is the case then an individual's motivation can and will change
(even daily!) depending on the task, the environment but more importantly
the people involved. I am afraid that this debate could turn into one of
leadership and no doubt we could spend the next millenium talking about
that.
I tend to feel that perhaps we over-intellectualise the motivation angle
and that the expected rewards for doing the job are usually enough to
obtain a decent performance from most people (there will always be
exceptions of course). What I am clear about though is that you cannot
force long term motivation into anybody ... but you can gain over time is
what individuals will respond to and this will include the way that they
are treated by their menagers and their colleagues.
But getting back to your problem of your VP's apprenticeship posts ...
perhaps motivation is the wrong word here. Perhaps its value to the
individual compared with other employment/activities and that the job
specification is just not enticing enough.
Hope this helps more than it hinders ...
Ron
----------
> From: Jay Warner <
a2q@execpc.com>
> To:
MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
> Subject: Motivation - what is it and how do we create it?
> Date: 19 March 1999 17:11
>
> Dear Manager/Educator people,
>
> I have a question, for which you each may be well suited. I want to
> know what it is �motivation.� I figure that if I can get terms that
> work for me, then I can figure out how to instill it into various
> people, and solve a lot of problems. I'm really confused on this issue.
>
> I listened recently to local managers decry the lack of labor in our
> area (Wisconsin, upper midwest USA). Yesterday a foundry VP told me that
> he had two apprenticeship positions hanging open for lack of willing
> warm bodies. Please put aside any minor prejudices you may have
> regarding foundries - some of them are nifty places to work. The
> minimum skills for many jobs are sometimes _very_ low. Seventh grade
> reading and arithmetic for a circuit board manufacturer.
>
> At the same time, I am in occasional contact with high school kids from
> various backgrounds. Some of them are eager to do well in the adult
> world. Many, however, have little understanding of the relationship of
> prior effort to eventual adult activity. Others believe there will not
> be a place for them, so they don�t try. We say they are �not
> motivated.� I was present at the very second that a HS student realized
> that there was a place for him in the larger business world. The change
> in his behavior was extreme.
>
> I�m getting pushed radically different ways by these people and words.
> I feel like I�ve been on 2 planets at once. I won�t even try to put
> voice to some instructors� comments I�ve received, when I explain the
> disoriented nature of the above input.
>
> My personal nature is to seek solutions to a perceived problem (need for
> labor, excess human time available, let�s bring them together). I�m
> told, �It�s a question of motivation. The teachers can�t motivate the
> students to do the school work, so they can�t reach for the good jobs
> (or any jobs).� �The VP can�t motivate the HS graduate. He doesn�t
> understand young people today.� [side note: Did VP�s ever understand
> young people?] You can probably put in a couple choice lines of your
> own.
>
> I asked around, and couldn�t get a decent description of what motivation
> is, or equally important, how to do it. But that is what managers are
> supposed to do - motivate others to do specific tasks. If someone isn�t
> motivated to do a task, the manager cajoles them or kicks their hind
> side, so they get excited or at least get to work. Or the worker is
> fired, and everyone else is motivated. At least, that is a prevailing
> common wisdom.
>
> Perhaps the word motivation has too many definitions, like �quality.�
> When that word is used excessively, which is often in
> Quality-with-a-capital-Q circles, a solution is to drop the word
> altogether. Then we can communicate what people really mean. What
> words could we replace �motivation� with?
>
> So I come to you, the instructors of managers. What do you think is
> �motivation�? How can a manager put it into an employee? Or pull it
> out of an employee? A long time ago, my boss, who at 2 years from
> school was no more experienced than I, said he felt people had to be
> self motivated - it came from within. Which thought absolved him of
> responsibility, but also reduced my eagerness to work in his group.
>
> Can you address any of my questions? I really need some answers.
>
> Jay
> --
> Jay Warner
> Principal Scientist
> Warner Consulting, Inc.
> 4444 North Green Bay Road
> Racine, WI 53404-1216
> USA
>
> Ph: (414) 634-9100
> FAX: (414) 681-1133
> email:
quality@a2q.com
> web:
http://www.a2q.com
>
> Power to the data!