Motivation that works at the Workplace – Positive or Negative?

What are the Negative and Positive factors that affect motivation at workplace?

One of the Negative factors is Fear. Our protective, survival instinct, based on avoidance of harm and the inevitable consequences of consistently poor performance.

All of us wake up each morning,  with some hope, some motivation to show up.

There are two types of  motivation  systems.

Positive Motivation fuels the passion and drive of the employee to give of her best, even to ‘walk the extra mile’

Positive – Nurturing instinct, based on personal and career growth and developing supporting and nurturing relationships. The idea being to nurture talent and empower people to perform at their best potential.

Both of these are at play at the workplace

Each of us has a fundamental need for significance – to find meaning & purpose in the work that we do. To know that our efforts serve a higher purpose, beyond just the monthly check to pay the bills, despite the critical importance of the latter.

Being acknowledged & recognised by the organization the boss, our peers and colleagues is a great motivator to improve productivity, upgrade knowledge and skills, put in hard work, take on additional Responsibilities, mentor others, lend a helping hand to the laggards – in short, to ‘walk the extra Mile’
Positive Motivation creates Opportunities for learning & growing- especially today when shelf life of jobs, as well as skills is reducing.

Gen Zees place a lot of importance on their career growth trajectory and whether there’s a good runway ahead for them in the organization

A culture of Compassion among the leadership is another important motivator for today’s young employees.

A compassionate, Serving, and Spiritual CEO attracts potentially great talent. This aspect of leaderships has come to the fore during the traumatic times of the pandemic.

Employees are also looking for a Clear path of career progression, though this is more difficult to predict in the uncertain times in which we live.

An Inclusive Culture where failure is acceptable and innovation encouraged has a magnetic pull for potential employees to join an organization.

The compensation factor can be a Positive as well as Negative. An HBR study done in 2020
showed, that 9 in 10 employees would be willing to earn less, for more meaningful work.

✔️Negative Motivation:

I’m a difficult job market, with high unemployment rate, there is always the lurking fear of adverse consequences of underperforming. There are no longer any permanent and life long jobs..

Rising inflation and cost of living has also exacerbated the Fear of getting a lower rating & less pay rise
Excessive supervision is also scoffed at when employees are looking for more independence and greater say in decision making.

Employees may tend to Focus on incentives rather than customer satisfaction.

The traditional control type of leadership, authoritarian approach and centralised decision making is also seen as outdated.

Can Negative Motivation have some Positive Impact at the workplace, in certain situations?

Would love to hear your views. And experiences in the comments section below.