You may have read my post from a few weeks ago on The Psychology of Motivation, well I thought I’d follow it up with a post about a new study, yet to be published, but brought to my attention by The Center for Self-Determination Theory. This new piece of research has been accepted for publication by the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology and as well as endorsing SDT and the impact of each of the three components (below) on intrinsic motivation it gives us some very practical examples of what organisations need to do in order to satisfy these needs.
Autonomy: the freedom to act with volition and choice, without a feeling of compulsion or control.
Competence: the need to develop potential and feel effective in one’s environment.
Relatedness: the need to experience mutually satisfying social relationships.
The paper tells us that in order to “make employees intrinsically motivated and stay vigorous at work, managers and organizations should implement practices promoting employees’ feelings of volition, effectiveness, and belonging.
For example, information sharing, employee involvement in decision-making, and flexible job design can contribute to autonomy satisfaction.
Rigorous recruitment and selection, offering training and development opportunities, and constructive feedback are designed to make competent and skilled employees.
Leaders and organizations can foster a sense of belonging through teamwork, organizational social activities, and building an inclusive work environment.”
Many of us may say, “yes, we do all of that.” But doing “all of that” requires a huge amount of work and relentless focus and attention throughout the organisation. I’m sure we’d all agree we can do more.
