Show me the money...why our current management practices often fail to motivate us

As an organizational behaviorist I tend to ask a lot of questions at happy hours or dinner parties around people's perceptions of work. Yes, sometimes I am that person who prefers to skip the "how is the weather or kids" type of conversations and get right to the heart of the matter. For example, I often ask people as they are getting ready to take their first bite of the appetizer, "So, what motivates you to get out of bed each morning and go to work?" I get the blank stare as they wonder how I could have a PhD and also be asking such an obvious question. Nine of out ten times I get some version of "I need to pay the bills".

For many of us, our initial gut reaction to that question for why we work day in and day out is we need the money. It's as simple as that. In fact, if we didn't need the money we would likely be doing something very different - such as island hoping, saving more puppies or volunteering at a local charity. And so we end up spending the majority of our waking hours striving towards something that so quickly disappears during a shopping spree or Friday night out.

Yes, money motivates us to work. But, its usually not our primary motivator.

Many of us reading this post are #blessed living in an age of abundance. (Note: I completely understand this applies only to those who are living from a position of privilege and opportunity). But, nonetheless many of us are climbing up Maslow's hierarchy of needs turning to work to give us something more intrinsic. We have our most basic needs met and are looking to contribute more to our communities and workplaces. Yet, our current workplace thinking hasn't caught up. Whether we realize it or not, work is so much more than a paycheck. Management is so much more than motivating people through rewards.

Check out my latest post on @ThriveGlobal and let me know what you think. Are you motivated beyond a paycheck? Are you finding meaning in your work? 

Full article found at: https://www.thriveglobal.com/stories/36286-why-meaning-motivates-us-more-than-a-paycheck

Dr. Kelly Monahan, is an organizational behaviorist, and leads the global future of work research agenda at Deloitte Services, LP. She completed her PhD in Organizational Leadership at Regent University and studies the interplay between human behavior and organizational environments. Her research has been recognized and published in both applied and academic journals, including MIT Sloan Management Review and Journal of Strategic Management.