10 Things That Motivate Us At Work

It’s a question that plagues managers the world over. Well, the managers who care. What really motivates us worker bees?

The first thing we assume makes a difference is money. Interestingly, however, this isn’t top of our list, in fact it’s seventh. According to Forbes, American employee engagement firm TINYpulse sought to uncover the various key factors that affect how well we’re bothered to perform at work.

What do you think makes the cut? Choosing from a selection of 10 answers, 200,000 people across 500 organisations were asked what motivates them to give 100% at work. The results were as follows

– Camaraderie, peer motivation (20%)
– Intrinsic desire to a good job (17%)
– Feeling encouraged and recognized (13%)
– Having a real impact (10%)
– Growing professionally (8%)
– Meeting client/customer needs (8%)
– Money and benefits (7%)
– Positive supervisor/senior management (4%)
– Believe in the company/product (4%)
– Other (9%)

We assume ‘other’ refers to how much birthday cake gets eaten per week at work. And maybe how many toilet cubicles there are. That always counts.

So there you have it, you may be earning the big bucks but if you’re working with folk who you fantasize about punching on the daily, it’s unlikely you’ll care enough to do your best. Furthermore, you could be paid to watch paint dry, but if you’re doing it with likeminded people who are generally sound, you’ll be the best darned paint dryer there is.

So we have a clear idea of what makes us work harder, but what are the things that put you off? Do you love your work, get on with your colleagues but dread the sound of your boss’s footsteps? Or do you feel unmotivated by the lack of, say, free stationary? Share your thoughts below.

@CarolineForan