Motivation Theory

Where is the motivation you asked? There isn't any need to motivate; you just have to stop demotivating them according to this article from Harvard. When I lectured friends on this years back, do they listen? NOoo! I, the self-taught management guru, coined the term "BANK ACCOUNT OF MOTIVATION" (*resonated*), only to be met with indifference, not to mention all the scorning and sniggering. Well, I am no intellectual snob you will see. Not convinced? Well, why don't we just lay it all out then?

The article titled "How Management Demotivates" has this to say:

• Many companies treat employees as disposable. At the first sign of business difficulty, employees—who are usually routinely referred to as "our greatest asset"—become expendable.
• Employees generally receive inadequate recognition and reward: About half of the workers in our surveys report receiving little or no credit, and almost two-thirds say management is much more likely to criticize them for poor performance than praise them for good work.
• Management inadvertently makes it difficult for employees to do their jobs. Excessive levels of required approvals, endless paperwork, insufficient training, failure to communicate, infrequent delegation of authority, and a lack of a credible vision contribute to employees' frustration.
  

And so here is my motivation theory I like to call the "Bank Account of Motivation" (applauses please!):

• When an employee first started work, his motivation is like a bank account full of fat zeros. We are all ready to work for our future, our own cubicle or room. In fact, at the very least, work is just like rest and play. But then the short-sighted management makes their entrance, reminding how lucky you are to get probation, that there are hundreds other applicants waiting. Then, to make every single recruitment dollar counts, they will squeeze your every last drop of blood as your work piled up, and multi-tasking becomes common place. At this, you may feel cheated - lured into slavery of some sort, thinking you are overworked and underpaid. Of course, you may also cope with whatever they can throw at you, so you naturally expect a raise and brighter future. Now, this is where a trap door lies. Once they know you can do your work effortlessly, you won't be paid more. For they know the expenses incurred had been more than recovered; that is till your replacement comes in as you look for a change in environment, or rather paycheck. This is a no-brainer and a no-win situation for you, dude. Company loyalty is not worth much the last time I checked.
• Management is concerned only with one thing: result and more result. In order to achieve that, your performance is constantly monitored, reviewed and evaluated. Now, under such scrutiny, there is every chance that your human flaws would be bared for all to see. Thus, you need to be either a bloody crafty liar or bootlicker. Otherwise, you may drown in your self-pity or deceit. There is no room for values like honesty and integrity. In the current corporate environment, a wider range of skills and attributes is necessary for survival. Pure hard work is out. Just reward is in extinction.
• Empowerment is the in-thing: the management advocates and it is supposedly motivating. But when you apply your judgement, and things go wrong, who you think would be the scapegoat? Make a guess, any guess. Don't say I didn't tell you. No wonder one either stays or walks away "bankrupt", cleaning his "bank account" out.