Out of the Crisis.Org

[Louis Altazan]

Part Two

People can be manipulated [coerced, controlled] as long as they need and do not have enough of whatever is offered. A man will do almost anything for a glass of water, if he is dying of thirst. Once his needs are met, additional water will do little to motivate them.

Workers must have money to survive, and while it is not on a par with water, it is a lot harder to obtain. This is why money has been used with success to influence people for many years. It overlooks one important point however. People are already motivated, what they need is removal of the things that on a daily basis de-motivates them.

A primary job of management is to increase production per cost unit. To this end removal of as many de-motivators as possible is in management’s own best interest. I think most agree motivated workers produce more and better services than de-motivated workers. Still more can be gained by making the methods of production more efficient.

An example may be laborers building a road in the hot sun. Provide them only picks and shovels and they will produce a certain amount. Giving them an incentive to work harder may show temporary results, but soon they can work no harder, even for more money. Provide them with a bulldozer and they can produce far more, and likely be more motivated as well.

In practice may things in a shop may be equally disruptive. Things such as unfair goals with no practical means of reaching them. Unfair rating and ranking of performance when there is unequal distribution of work. Lack of proper equipment, information and training, the list goes on and on.

Another problem with external motivation, in my opinion, is that people see the reward as the whole point and often fail to see the joy of a job well done. This tends to lessen if not destroy intrinsic motivation. Reaching the goal, becomes more important than the work itself, and there is little job satisfaction in this situation. Further, as a flat-rate technician pointed out to me, a worker who feels he cannot meet a goal may actually slack off. They see no use in trying.

Worse, many may begin to confuse compensation with self esteem. A large pay check equals success and a smaller check means failure. When a person ties their self esteem to a condition outside of themself, inevitable problems will follow. For instance, work falls off or there are few bad weeks and the employee starts feeling really badly about themself. This may manifest as depression, anger, aggression or any number of other conditions. It can also result in problems at home with long lasting consequences. There will be little joy in such a situation.

A person who gets no joy from their work may continue in the job as long as they do not find the conditions intolerable, and the reward is great enough. They go through the motions but there is little motivation. Normal outcome is doing just enough, just well enough to get by.

This is unfortunate because it misses what I feel is the whole point. Work can be fun, it can be challenging and enjoyable all at the same time. Enjoyment in work is necessary but should not be considered a substitute for proper pay. An employee is entitled to full payment for the work they do as well as enjoyment of that work. There should be no penalty of payment because one enjoys their job.

Many people in the auto repair trade have not and will never reach the stage of doing a job merely for the joy of it. Certainly people still work to be paid, but as enthusiasm increases work becomes enjoyment. Just as fishing or golf is a lot of work, but very enjoyable to those that like it. Those inwardly motivated want to know more about the sport [job] and be the best they can be at it. I feel in order to reach this stage, a person must have enough money so that money is no longer an issue and they must desire to reach it.

(End of part two)

Part one: http://www.outofthecrisis.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=53
Part three: http://www.outofthecrisis.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=55

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Louis Altazan
Owner/Manager AGCO Automotive Corporation
Baton Rouge, LA