Why is Motivation Important and Can It Be Measured?

As I talked about in an earlier post, motivation is what gives behavior its energy and direction. Pritchard and Ashwood (2008) further define motivation as “how we choose to allocate our energy to different actions to achieve the greatest satisfaction of our needs” (p. 6). They explain that our level of motivation determines which actions we’ll work on, how much effort we’ll put in, and how long we’ll work (persistence), and that a motivating environment is one in which expending more energy leads to satisfying more needs (p. 7). Why motivation is so important is that it’s at the heart of changing behavior and performance. Here are nine key aspects of motivation that are important to understand, especially as a manager (p. 8 – 9):

• Motivation is understandable, and can be diagnosed and influenced.
• Motivation is a process, a series of connected and ordered steps.
• Motivation is a not a “fad issue” in management, it’s fundamental.
• Motivation must be managed over the long term and takes sustained effort.
• Motivation is logical, operating on principles.
• Motivation is manageable and how you manage people influences their motivation.
• Motivation is a work strategy—choosing what to work on, how much effort to put in, and for how long.
• Motivation is a collaboration between an organization and its employees.
• Motivation levels that are high benefit everyone.

So, how do you know if you have a motivation problem, in yourself or someone you manage? Here’s a “Motivation Symptoms Questionnaire” from Pritchard and Ashford (2008) that can help you figure out whether motivation is high, needs improving, or is in serious trouble (p. 11). The questionnaire is reproduced only in part; the full questionnaire is in their book, Managing Motivation.

On a scale of 1 - 3, do you or the people you manage…
1 = Rarely or never
2 = Sometimes
3 = Often

___ Avoid unpleasant tasks
___Work inefficiently and don’t want to become more efficient
___Generate few innovative ideas
___Put in the least possible amount of effort
___Avoid work by arriving late, leaving early, prolonging breaks, etc.
___Give up on difficult tasks
___Have low commitment to the goals of the team
___Frequently feel stressed and/or fatigued
___Frequently complain about management or coworkers
___Blame others for problems

A score of 10 – 15 means motivation is high; a score of 16 – 22 means motivation needs improving; a score of 23 – 30 means motivation needs serious help!

Reference:

Pritchard, R. & Ashwood, E. (2008). Managing Motivation: A Manager’s Guide to Diagnosing and Improving Motivation. New York: Routledge Academic