Are Workers Today Unhappy, Or Just Unmotivated?

By Meghna Chakrabarti
Sep 19, 2011, 3:30 PM
26 Comments

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(Michael Lokner/Flickr)

It’s easy to laugh at a hapless fictional TV office manager like “The Office’s” Michael Scott — we’ve all had bosses that make the workplace less than exciting.

But with unemployment still above 9 percent and wages stagnating, finding meaning and motivation at work is more important than ever, for employers and employees.

The problem is the vast majority of managers don’t know what truly motivates people, according to a major, years-long study from Harvard Business School. Researchers found that a series of small, key changes can bring dramatic boosts to motivation, creativity and productivity.

“We found that of everything that engage people deeply in their work, the single most important is simply making progress in meaningful work,” said Teresa Amabile, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School and one of the study’s authors.

Now, we all want to be fulfilled at work and it’s no easy task. According to the study, though, you’ve got to focus on the small stuff: the more steps forward you take, the more fulfilling you find your work.

“We found, interestingly, that progress could incredibly boost people’s motivation and happiness, even if it was what we call a ‘small win’ — a relatively incremental step forward,” Amabile said.

Progress even trumps normal workplace motivators like promotions and bonuses, according to the study.

Cambridge-based Internet marketing firm HubSpot was ranked by the Boston Business Journal as the best place to work in the Boston area. Brian Rogers, the manager of people operations at HubSpot, says the key to workplace satisfaction is respect.

“We treat our employees like adults here,” Rogers said. “We know that they’re very hard working, responsible individuals that want to do well at their job, but also want to see the company succeed so we let them do that.”

So, what matters to you at work? Your project? Your team? Your manager? Your work?

Guests:

Teresa Amabile, professor of business administration, Harvard Business School
Brian Rogers, manager of people operations, HubSpot

Anonymous

The problem is wages are stagnant. We don’t need another study claiming something other than money motivates people.

Guest Girl

Well spoken.. especially here in Boston, or in any expensive Metropolitan area, such as New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles or Sand Diego..

Anonymous

My fear is that the CEOs just reads the summary of the study and miss the part where she concedes that a sufficient wage is a prerequisite to being motivated through her methods.

If I were a well-paid Harvard professor doing interesting work, I’d be motivated by those methods. I’m not, so I’m doing my job professionally at a company that I like, but am waiting for it to be 5:00 and am motivated that I’m working at a job that I can leave at 5:00.

Anonymous

I am content with the challenge of earning the biggest commissions I can
earn and winning award trips and iPads and being free to work my day as
I choose.
http://www.filmdiziseyret.gen.tr/
Why do we love the basketball player that plays a
great game? Or the quarterback that signs on with a team for one more
year? We don’t treat them poorly because they don’t want to coach after
a few seasons of play. We admire their commitment to the game.

Sabrina

No, we need to pay more attention to those studies that say that and then act accordingly

FamilyHomeBiz.Info

Why not have a motivational company meeting once in a while and get team feedback?

Anonymous

in short – unless you are willing to critique yourself objectively and
figure out where the problem is, you will always wonder why its always
them and never you..�
http://www.filmdiziseyret.gen.tr/
Just a thought, i m not suggesting its your fault.. it can be very true that you are locked in with a bad boss

Blackwealthnow

My manager recently asked me what motivates me and I said my family and doing what I love to do.

He knows what motivates me but has no idea how to turn those into a system of carrots and sticks.

My boss clearly loves being the boss and will take on any project, any chance to stand out and look good plus he’ll volunteer his team for any side projects that come up. This is all good stuff for the young bucks that want promotions and recognition. However, there is nothing for those us (field sales) that love to be in the field, love being with customers, handling objections and closing deals.

I am content with the challenge of earning the biggest commissions I can earn and winning award trips and iPads and being free to work my day as I choose.

Why do we love the basketball player that plays a great game? Or the quarterback that signs on with a team for one more year? We don’t treat them poorly because they don’t want to coach after a few seasons of play. We admire their commitment to the game.

My boss thinks I’m not motivated because I dont want to be on a committee or to lead a project or analyze data other than my sales. It’s actually the opposite. I love my job, I do it well and aspire to be great. Why is not enough to be that in corporate America?

Cesar_c

Because your boss sucks and love to shine alone
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=557240972 Ashish Srivastava

i have found the easiest way to research such questions is by truly putting myself into the other persons shoes and listing down things from his angle.
When we are wrong, it is always the situation, when they are wrong, it is always them… so be careful about how you perceive this situation.
Maybe your boss is selfish, maybe you are selfish and don’t want to get out of ur comfort zone. Maybe the company culture doesn’t want lone stars, maybe there is no culture at all and its dog eat dog..

in short – unless you are willing to critique yourself objectively and figure out where the problem is, you will always wonder why its always them and never you..

Just a thought, i m not suggesting its your fault.. it can be very true that you are locked in with a bad boss

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FBD3ZO2NFQ4CDV4FK47UMUU6Z4 sadistica

The whole atmosphere in the country is poisonous, it is not just the work place. Mortgage stories, political divide, threats to social security, American stand around the world, technically and politically, feeling that the enemy is within, the recession, all those gloomy predictions. You cannot seperate the employee from his country, or tell him/her not to think about it by pressing on a button as soon as they walk in the work place. It just won’t work.
http://thyagav.tumblr.com Thyaga

Why do the author of this article assume that managers are highly motivated ? They are generally much older than their employees and tend to get tired easily. They feel much more unsecured about future of their jobs. To justify their high pay rate they are over-worked and getting completed stressed out. They are managing globally distributed teams which stretched their work hours to 7X24 schedule. Majority of these managers are constantly on travel. While they travel the mobile networks are available at most locations. So they are expected to check their emails and respond. They have become complete work-o-holics. The career change is not an option – because of their financial commitments and importantly they really know nothing outside their own job/company. They can’t afford any downtime. This kind of life style is not sustainable – eventually it will break – bringing down their health, family and employed companies. Thanks to the technology that enabled constantly improving employee productivity.

AkITmanager

I agree with you. The worst part of this is the golden hand cuffs. Becoming dependent on the higher pay. We have been groomed to not set personal boundaries between work and personal time. BUT we have created to a great extent our own gilded cage. This cage is an illusion, but we believe in it completely. The good news is that we can push back and set those personal boundaries without the horrible imagined consequences. It comes down to this: employers will take from us as much as we are willing to give. Our managerial peers buy into this as well. One person breaking out of this cycle of addiction and fear can change the entire dynamics of a managerial team by resetting expectations and challenging dysfunctional beliefs. Thebresults of these shifts are paradoxical in that the productivity of the management team actually increases as folks spend LESS time working. As each individual reclaims their personal time and finds meaning in other life activities, perceptions and health improve.

Ive done this after having reached bottom – 2 stress related surgeries and 8 weeks off of work. I am going to school for my lesser but more meaningful retirement career. My peers are encouraged by seeing my success and see that there is a way out of the trap. They are now reclaiming their lives and independence step by step.

I spent years rallying against the company machine – only to find that the solution to this problem was within my means to change.

J Dannenberg

Motivation comes from within, if a management team puts a group of people together that can find value in working towards a common goal then employee satisfaction will prevail. It is a two way street!
Magpvny

Good managers are a rare find. My current manager is a demotivator. Actually, He’s really not a manager, just has the title. It’s amazing how many poorly trained managers there in the workforce.
Lques

Work is but a part of this thing called life. So the question to ask is what motivates you in life? Then see how you can apply this at work. So, for example, one person said “my family is what keeps me going”. Then find meaning at work using your family as your source of inspiration. Don’t wait for your boss to figure this out for you. He/she is but another human being who needs to figure out what inspires him/her. Make your inspiration work for yourself… And like anything good, it becomes contagious… Perhaps even to your boss.
Vincent_l_Pompeo

The challenge for employers is how to properly evaluate potential managers…someone who is a good at a task or job is not always the right person to manage. Michael Jordan was a great basketball player but his great talent has kept him from mentoring rookie players and made him less then great as a GM and now owner. Meanwhile Bill Belicheck wasn’t a great football player yet is among the best coaches ever how do we differentiate the talented from those who have the talent to manage?
Kenneth john delfin

what makes me motivate as an employee is a better manager, a better management and better harmony with all employee… i motivate to go for work because of my friends in workplace, i motivate to go for work because the manager has a great always a great idea on how the employee enjoy the work producing excellent output and management to secure my benefits.. thats all….�
Sabrina

There are some people who will never be happy at work, no matter what. I’ve been in the workforce since 1979, primarily in office and retail jobs, and I’ve enjoyed most of the jobs I held, including the current one I’ve held for ten years. Know how I do it? By keeping in mind your job is NOT your life. Careerism has been one of the biggest problems in society since the 1980s. People get way too emotionally invested in a job/career to the point where they have no life whatsoever. They have no hobbies, no friends in many cases, and abysmal family lives. They’ve abandoned churches which oftentimes can be a social outlet as well as a place to go for spiritual guidance. Heck some don’t even go to bars…preferring to hole up in their apartments to drink alone. Anyway, my point here is that people need more than careers to make ‘em happy, and it’s the person’s own responsibility to find a life outside the 9-5.
Anonymous

The challenge is two-fold:

1)    �
Managers first recognizing it’s as important (if
not more so) to praise employees for making progress towards a big goal as it
is to do so when employees achieve the goal itself.

2)    �
Giving managers the appropriate tools and
process for honoring that progress.

This is critically important to employee productivity and
retention. Globoforce’s latest Workforce
Mood Tracker survey found:

·       �
78% of U.S. workers said being recognized
motivates them in their job

·       �
69% stated they would work harder if they felt
their efforts were better recognized

·       �
Among respondents who stated they plan to search
for a new job this year, only 24% are satisfied with the level of recognition
they receive at work. Conversely, 63% of employees who have no plans of leaving
are satisfied with their level of recognition.
Aswa

Good managers are a rare find. My current manager is a demotivator.
Actually, He’s really not a manager, just has the title. It’s amazing
how many poorly trained managers there in the workforce. Dizi Seyret
Aswa

This is critically important to employee productivity and retention. Globoforce’s latest Workforce Mood Tracker survey found:
Film Seyret
Dead_corre

Definitely unmotivated! Too many people out there with an entitlement
mentality, but then there are some people who will never be happy at
work, no matter what the economic conditions.
film seyret
Dead_corre

1) Managers first recognizing it’s as important (if not more so) to
praise employees for making progress towards a big goal as it
is to do so when employees achieve the goal itself.
film izle

2) Giving managers the appropriate tools and process for honoring that progress.

This is critically important to employee productivity and retention. Globoforce’s latest Workforce Mood Tracker survey found:

yabancı film izle

* 78% of U.S. workers said being recognized motivates them in their job
* 69% stated they would work harder if they felt their efforts were better recognized
*
Among respondents who stated they plan to search for a new job this
year, only 24% are satisfied with the level of recognition they receive
at work. Conversely, 63% of employees who have no plans of leaving are
satisfied with their level of recognition.

hd film izle
Dead_corre

Good managers are a rare find. My current manager is a demotivator. Actually, He’s really not a manager, just has the title. It’s amazing how many poorly trained managers there in the workforce.�
sınav tarihi
Dead_corre

This is critically important to employee productivity and retention. Globoforce’s latest Workforce Mood Tracker survey found:�
çıkmış sorular

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Are Workers Today Unhappy, Or Just Unmotivated?