Discussion
I was looking at all the managemnet theories about staff motivation (all that Maslow, McGregor, Hertzberg stuff) and thought how woefully out of date and blunt it was.
Got me thinking about what has motivated me to do stuff at work over the years and concluded that it has changed as my life has changed.
When I first started work it was about the excitement and challenge, I was never in the same job for more than 2 years for the first 10 yearsand would do anything that was more glamorous, more dangerous, more fun. Then with kids it was about being in a job with stability, a decent wages but time to be with the kids and study and getting promoted/status, with a few hobbies thrown in. Then I got divorced and it was about survival for a while before I took the plunge to work for myself because I had nothing to lose which was about proving things to myself that I could make it alone in the real world away from that regular pay cheque. Now as I have retirement looming it is very much more about the £££ and saving for an older age.
If you look at what motivated you to work hard, despite having a crap boss, a long commute, poor wages or prospects, what was it?? As it changed too?
Got me thinking about what has motivated me to do stuff at work over the years and concluded that it has changed as my life has changed.
When I first started work it was about the excitement and challenge, I was never in the same job for more than 2 years for the first 10 yearsand would do anything that was more glamorous, more dangerous, more fun. Then with kids it was about being in a job with stability, a decent wages but time to be with the kids and study and getting promoted/status, with a few hobbies thrown in. Then I got divorced and it was about survival for a while before I took the plunge to work for myself because I had nothing to lose which was about proving things to myself that I could make it alone in the real world away from that regular pay cheque. Now as I have retirement looming it is very much more about the £££ and saving for an older age.
If you look at what motivated you to work hard, despite having a crap boss, a long commute, poor wages or prospects, what was it?? As it changed too?
The thing that has really motivated me to work hard was the threat of losing my job, and proving the cocksocket i used to work for wrong, when she raised a spurious under performance case against me. When i beat her and proved i wasn't she moved onto "another area of the business to refocus on her core skills."
Now that challenge has gone and i find myself back to the mundane day to day work. I am finding it hard to keep motivated, and am seriously looking into a move into contracting.
Now that challenge has gone and i find myself back to the mundane day to day work. I am finding it hard to keep motivated, and am seriously looking into a move into contracting.
Interesting topic. I guess there is a difference between what motivates you and what makes you happy in your job.
For instance, I read recently that it's not necessarily being paid more that is most important for employees, it is being paid equivalent to or more than your peers and being rewarded for effort. I guess this is more obvious if you look at the reverse: if you find out your co-worker is earning more than you, you get pissy. And if you put in extra work and get nothing back, you get pissy.
For me, it's important for me to feel like I am "progressing" in some way, which means I want to be challenged, to learn new things, take on additional responsibilities and for my advice to be more influential. I am quite sure that, later in life, I will overdo this pursuit and end up making sacrifices elsewhere. When that happens, I will look for an easy, relaxed and stable job. On the money front, I have to say that it is very much a means to an end for me. I have in my head a standard of living I am aiming towards, and that determines what I want to be earning. So, right now, money is definitely a motivating factor because I'm not there yet. When I am there, I guess I will either stop being motivated by money or will redefine my ideal standard of living
For instance, I read recently that it's not necessarily being paid more that is most important for employees, it is being paid equivalent to or more than your peers and being rewarded for effort. I guess this is more obvious if you look at the reverse: if you find out your co-worker is earning more than you, you get pissy. And if you put in extra work and get nothing back, you get pissy.
For me, it's important for me to feel like I am "progressing" in some way, which means I want to be challenged, to learn new things, take on additional responsibilities and for my advice to be more influential. I am quite sure that, later in life, I will overdo this pursuit and end up making sacrifices elsewhere. When that happens, I will look for an easy, relaxed and stable job. On the money front, I have to say that it is very much a means to an end for me. I have in my head a standard of living I am aiming towards, and that determines what I want to be earning. So, right now, money is definitely a motivating factor because I'm not there yet. When I am there, I guess I will either stop being motivated by money or will redefine my ideal standard of living
My current motivation is experience to help in future roles as im paid peanuts and the work tbh isnt interesting in the slightest. I try to challenge myself daily to complete things and improve and i struggle but its the only option I have currently.
work out your long, medium and short term goals write them down and work out routes to attain them.
work out your long, medium and short term goals write them down and work out routes to attain them.
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