Motivation
Beyond Money
In the Skillsoft video, “The Three Things We Work For
(Money Isn’t One of Them)”, Andy Mulholland discusses three things that
employees [engineers] work for.
1. Interesting
work.
2. Expansion
of skill sets.
3. Recognition
(Mulholland, 2011)
From
my perspective, having interesting work is very important. Boring and mundane work would drive me to
find new employment. According to David
Whetten and Kim Cameron, “Work design is the process of matching job
characteristics to workers’ skills and interests”. (Whetten and Cameron, 2016)
Skill
training and sustainment training are essential for all employees. I need training to perform my job
effectively. Without it, my skills would
stagnate and eventually I would become bored.
I am of the opinion that most employees desire to expand their skill
sets beyond initial job training. They
want to advance and without appropriate training, they cannot advance.
Recognition
is probably the most important to me. I
work even harder when I am recognized for my achievements and
accomplishments. The U.S. Army is very
good at recognizing not only its Soldiers but also its civilian employees.
When these
three motivational tools are combined, it makes for a great motivational
trifecta.
These
are great motivators but there are other that are important to me. The following are my top three when I was in
the Army:
1. Free
global travel
2. Required
physical fitness (Gyms are free in the military)
3. Free
room and board when I was a single Soldier
The
military allows its members to fly aboard their cargo and personnel aircraft if
there is space available for free. Also,
all official travel is paid for by the US Government along with Per Diem,
ME&I and lodging costs. In 2009, I
travelled to Europe twice, Hawaii twice and multiple states in the US on
official business. What is even more
motivating is that I was able to accumulate and keep all of the frequent flyer
miles and hotel loyalty points.
Physical
fitness is a requirement in the military.
High performance is incentivized by tying it to recognition and
promotion. The military gives their
members a physical fitness test, twice per year and failure brings discipline
and negative performance reports. To
ensure that its members stay physically fit, the military does organized
physical fitness five days per week and has world class gyms on their
installations which is free to the Service Members and their families.
Single
members of the military are provided free accommodations and free meals three
times a day, seven days a week. I only
lived as a single Soldier for a very short time but it was a good
experience. This, in itself, saves single
Service Members thousands of dollars per year.
References
Mulholland, A. (2011). Skillsoft Ireland Limited: The
three things we work for (money isn’t one of them). [Video]. Retrieved on April
13, 2016 from http://library.books24x7.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/toc.aspx?bookid=43753
Whetten, D. A. and Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing
Management Skills. (9th Ed). Boston: Pearson
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