In the Mazars 2017 External Employee Motivation Survey, it's reported that employee motivation is up 6% - what are employers suddenly getting right?
It is less likely that employers are suddenly getting everything right and more likely that it’s an indirect result of the improvement in the economy. We started to conduct these studies in 2013 and, at that point, only 58% of employees told us they were motivated. That has increased every year since. Motivation levels are now at 87%.
The improvement in motivation levels across all sectors and ages of employee appears to be due to the fact that the organisations they work for have recovered – or started to recover, at least – and are growing. With growth comes opportunities and also the reversal of a number of measures that were implemented during the recession like salary cuts, training and development budgets, team days, company social events etc. However, employers need to continue to create working environments that provide challenging opportunities for their staff.
What are the benefits of a motivated staff?
The benefits are considerable. Apart from the obvious cost savings associated with not having to replace demotivated staff when they leave, the negative impact a demotivated staff member has on their colleagues is huge. Having a deeper understanding of what motivates employees is crucial to leaders and managers of all organisations. Employee motivation is linked to customer satisfaction, organisational performance, the achievement of organisational goals and the level of attrition within businesses.
Is there a difference between what is motivating millennials vs what is motivating Gen X?
Yes. This is a very interesting aspect of the study and an important piece of information for employers as millennials (i.e. people born between 1980 and 2000) now make up a significant proportion of the Irish workforce. While motivation levels have generally increased for all age groups, the greatest increase and change is seen in the millennial group. Millennials have grown up in a culture of immediacy, surrounded by stimuli. They are eager for their next experiences and they thrive in short-term goals with visible results. They are keen to progress and like to identify development opportunities, opportunities for them to develop existing and new skills. Whereas older employees (those in Gen X and older) tend to be more established in their careers and, whilst they are motivated by challenging roles and financial benefits, they are notably more motivated by the achievement of business goals. It should be said, though, that employees of all age groups value a job that rewards them well, provides them with challenging work but that affords them a healthy work-life balance.
An interesting stat in the survey results: 0-3 years with a company shows 91% of respondents are motivated or very motivated. That drops significantly to 78% when someone reaches 8-12 years with a company, but then pops back up to 91% when they get over the 12th year - what changes?
It seems that when you join an organisation everything tends to be new and interesting and challenging. As you get to know the organisation a bit more, this new shine wears off a bit and you discover things that you may not like that much. However when an employee stays in an organisation for a long time - 12 years or more they appear to be more committed to it, more invested in its success and perhaps, in many cases, they have progressed through the organisation and are now in a position to influence its strategy and direction.
What demotivates employees and how can employers make a change?
The top four factors that demotivate employees across all age groups are a lack of praise and recognition; demotivating management style (especially for younger employees); unchallenging work and a poor working environment.
I think its interesting to note that financial reward does not feature in the main factors which demotivate employees. Interestingly, praise and recognition are more important in motivating employees than promotion or financial reward. So, I think employers should really listen to that - employees want engagement, they want to be involved in decisions, they value consultative rather than autocratic management and interesting work, and the environment in which they work, where they spend so much of their time, really makes a difference.
What one change, based on survey results, do you think managers need to make to keep their offices productive?
I think that managers should examine their management style - is it autocratic, is it consultative, is it chaotic, is it laissez faire? What effect does it have on individual staff members? Does it need to change? We focus on technical skills a lot and people tend to be promoted to management based on them, but we don’t teach managers how to manage and motivate staff. People leave their manager, after all, not their organisation.
A copy of the full survey is available
here.
Dera McLoughlin FCA is a partner in Mazars. She has worked for the Mazars group in the UK, US, France and Ireland and is Head of Consulting in Mazars.