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ticipants both in America and India performed poorly
as the reward amount progressed. He claimed that
the sophisticated and challenging nature of 21st cen-
tury jobs alongside the emergence of dynamic busi-
nesses and technologies accounted for this ‘anomaly
in behavioural physics’. Strange? The closest explana-
tion is money, right? Yes and No! Money is a motivator
but Daniel believes that the best use of money as a
motivator is to pay people well enough to keep the
issue of money off the table so that employee focus
would move from money to work. On the other hand,
a surprising truth about what motivates us according
to Pink is found in three interesting factors that can
lead to better performance and even personal satis-
faction; Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose (AMP).
Autonomy:
Human beings naturally want to resist authority and
embrace self-direction. Likewise, employees want to
do jobs at their own time, with self-designed tech-
niques, choose their desired team members and
work at their own kind of tasks. That’s what Daniel
Pink calls Autonomy. However, most organizations are
highly controlled and support the traditional notion
of managing people which aligns with management
by compliance but higher performance is better
achieved through management by engagement.
Mastery:
The more you engage in a task, the better you get at
it, that’s mastery. This scenario is possible when tasks
are neither above nor below employees’ capabili-
ties. The former leads to anxiety while the latter leads
to boredom. Secondly, mastery is practicable when
autonomy, clear goals with immediate feedback and
achievable tasks exist. Therefore, employees will work
their best during and even off work hours on tasks
they enjoy having developed mastery in them.
Purpose:
The question is; do organizations communicate equal
emphasis on profit as well as purpose maximization?
Daniel Pink says that when profit is unhitched from
purpose, bad things happen. Things like bad and
lame service, lousy products and uninspiring place to
work. It is important the employee focus is in line or-
ganization’s objectives to achieve better work place
motivation towards better performance.
Summarily, as most organizations are likely to be ei-
ther highly controlled or flexible and sophisticated or
even both and employees are not as predictable and
manipulable as expected, the carrot and stick ap-
proach may not work all the time. Therefore Manage-
ment By Engagement (MBE) would be a better tool in
the hands of managers to incentivize employees to
higher performance and personal satisfaction rather
than Management By Compliance (MBC).
Sources and direct quotes:
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Succeeding
in the Work-
place
By Gabriel Odang
T
here is no doubt that our behaviour
at work reflects on our colleagues
and organization; therefore we
need to develop appropriate work eth-
ics, and a respectable moral standard.
Here are some tips to help you achieve
success in the workplace:
• Your job is undoubtedly important
therefore treat it as such. Always
attempt to perform to the best of
your ability. Constantly learn about
your industry and try to stay ahead
of the curve to gain a competitive
advantage. Put in extra hours if you
must but also be aware of your own
capabilities.
• Always be on the look-out for ways
to improve the lot of everyone
rather than just yourself. Think in
terms of ‘we’ rather than ‘I’ .You
are a part of a team and should
fit in and be a part effectively and
efficiently.
• Try to spread a little happiness
along the way and refrain from
the infamous office gossip. Stick up
for the under-dog and a genuine
compliment to a colleague can
surely brighten up their day.
• Dress smart and try to set good
examples for your colleagues.
Maintain high standards and put in
the hours. Try not to sleep at work or
look for love. You are there to work,
get on with it.
• Try to be kind to colleagues; they
are as lost as you once were. Give
them a break, a chance, a bit of
slack. Encourage them by example.
• Don’t be afraid to speak your mind
or ask questions. There are no
awards for being work-shy. Be proud
of being effective and efficient.
