Creating A Self-Motivated Culture Within Your Organisation

In every travel industry boardroom, regardless of the sector you service, a crucial question arises: How can we ensure that our employees stay motivated? What's the secret sauce that transforms an ordinary employee, into a top performer, consistently exceeding targets and overcoming challenges? As leaders, it's our responsibility to create an environment where individuals can tap into their internal motivations, thereby driving a culture of self-motivation within your organisation.

In reflecting on what drives my own motivation in the workplace, I've discovered recognition rewards play a crucial role in keeping myself self-motivated and engaged. Recognition rewards stem from the appreciation expressed by both leadership and colleagues, either within team settings or across the entire company. These can include verbal praises, written acknowledgments, or formal recognition awards.

Recognition awards not only makes individuals feel valued and appreciated but also inject a profound sense of purpose and drive, all at limited dollar cost to the company. I distinctly remember my reporting manager emphasising the significance of my contributions in driving overall business growth. This acknowledgment gave me an extra boost of motivation to continue excelling in my role.

As leaders, there are three simple principles to remember to cultivate a self-motivated culture within your organisation:

1. Feeling of Equity: Address any factors contributing to a sense of unfairness or disadvantage amongst your team. Without a perception of equal opportunity, motivation can decline, leading to decreased performance.

2. Positive Reinforcement: The faster the delivery of a reward after the occurrence of a desirable behaviour, the greater the reinforcing value the reward achieves. Sounds straightforward, doesn't it? But it's not always that simple. I've seen situations where individuals met all the requirements and displayed the right behaviours, but rewards were delayed because the manager didn't secure the necessary approvals beforehand. This delay diluted the positive reinforcement the reward was set to achieve.

3. Primary Focus Always Wins: Understand what truly matters to each individual in your team is crucial. Simply offering a reward without addressing individual fundamental needs may not fully engage employees in meaningful work performance. Imagine you have a team member who highly values career progression. As their manager, instead of offering a generic reward to boost their motivation, you may align a recognition reward with its primary focus on professional development. This could involve offering access to mentorship opportunities within the travel industry through TIME - Travel Industry Mentor Experience , which addresses their fundamental need for career development, thus enhancing their motivation to perform at a high level. This targeted approach not only increases engagement and satisfaction but also benefits the company by retaining top talent and creating a culture of self-motivation within your organisation.

By prioritising these three principles, managers can create a workplace environment where a culture of self-motivation can flourish, resulting in enhanced performance, engagement, and overall organisational success.