Employee engagement, importance of feedback and intrinsic motivation

lattice.com

Employee engagement statistics

There is plenty of disturbing statistics about low employee engagement:

• only 13% of workers are engaged;
• 75% of cross-functional teams are dysfunctional — due to lacking a systematic approach to reach desired goals;
• 39% of employees report that they don’t feel appreciated at work;
• 69% of employees would work harder if they felt they would be appropriately recognized;
• and many more.

In short, employee engagement suffers due to many reasons, which results in lost profits for companies because:

• companies with high levels of employee engagements improved 19% in operating income;
• organizations with more than four engaged employees for every one actively disengaged employee saw 2.6 times more growth in earning per share.

And furthermore, according to Gallup, high employee engagement is actually critical to a company’s performance and it impacts nine key performance outcomes in these ways:

• 37% lower absenteeism;
• 25% lower turnover (in high-turnover organizations);
• 65% lower turnover (in low-turnover organizations);
• 28% less shrinkage;
• 48% fewer safety incidents;
• 41% fewer patient safety incidents;
• 41% fewer quality incidents (defects);
• 10% higher customer metrics;
• 21% higher productivity;
• 22% higher profitability.

Seeing such statistics is interesting, but what do we do about it?

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs within an enterprise

Akila Narayanan came up with an adaptation of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs within an enterprise:

1. Engagement at work;
2. Recognition and growth;
3. Relationships with workers;
4. Workplace safety and benefits;
5. Salary components.

To achieve the highest items in the list, the lowest ones must be first fulfilled. The two very first items from the bottom are something that only the employer can provide and should, if they are to see any level of engagement, and after they are provided, all of the other items in the list can be achieved with either help of human resources managers and management or using gamification elements.

Giving and receiving feedback

Feedback is about providing information so behaviors can be changed. By providing specific feedback on the behavior you’re looking to be altered, you’re more likely to see the employee work to change it.

Yet research has found that despite roughly 87 percent of employees wanting to “be developed” in their job, only a third report actually receive the feedback they need to engage and improve.

“There’s no way to get better at something you only hear about once a year.” Dave Pink.

Companies who implement regular employee feedback have turnover rates that are 14.9% lower than for employees who receive no feedback. And it’s rather obvious why — it has been shown that there is a strong correlation between employees getting consistent feedback and improved quality of work they produce, since they feel that their efforts are seen and there is a room for improvement.

So one needs to provide employees with consistent reinforcing positive and empowering negative feedback.

Intrinsic motivation vs extrinsic motivation

In simple terms, extrinsic motivation is about when one does something in exchange for something else or in order to avoid something unpleasant to happen. Extrinsic rewards send a message that performing an activity is not enjoyable in itself and actually has a price. Another things that should be kept in mind that often times extrinsic motivation lowers intrinsic motivation.

On the other side, intrinsic motivation is about doing something for its own sake, and enjoying it at the same time. Intrinsic motivators usually ensure that a user becomes committed to a system, which has the potential to lead to deeper engagement levels.

It is shown that money often does not quite act like a huge motivator when it comes to getting more productive or creative, especially in the long-term. Often times, extrinsic rewards come as a baseline, and after it is provided, one needs to tap into intrinsic motivators to get the most out of workers.

There is no need to use extrinsic motivators when one can make someone else achieve the desired result using only the intrinsic ones. In the end, people become attached to any system through emotions and this is when workers tend to do their best, which is what intrinsic motivators work primarily on.

And the last concept about extrinsic and intrinsic motivators would sound like this:

Expected tangible extrinsic rewards tend to diminish intrinsic motivation since they are perceived as controlling. That is, your parents telling you “if you play this piece without errors, then you will get the dessert you like so much” thwarts your experience of autonomy in the activity — another core component of intrinsic motivation, and that is what makes it less motivating. Losing at a competition does not reduce intrinsic motivation — feeling controlled by others is.

The bottom line

Feedback, Autonomy and Intrinsic Motivation are crucial in making sure that employees are engaged. Otherwise, lost profits are most likely to follow.