How to find Joy at Work
Powered by Intrinsic Motivation
Do you enjoy your work? Do you wake up in the morning motivated to get the day started? Or are you only focused on the next paycheck, raise, or promotion?
If the latter is the case, you might want to start thinking about why you are not enjoying what you do.
What is missing?
What really motivates you at work?
Today I want to talk about motivation at work.
Money ≠ Motivation
But first, let me tell you a story about a former colleague of mine I used to work with a few years ago. Before he joined Wahl+Case he was working at a nice company, had a 6-figure salary and drove a nice car. He had one kid in college and another about to enter college. College isn’t cheap, and he thought making money was his main objective. But he never felt really satisfied, never felt really happy at work. And he didn’t know why. Everything was going well.
So what was missing? He knew it was connected to the kind of work he was doing but he didn’t know why or how to fix it. Only after taking an Intrinsic Motivation assessment, he discovered that making money wasn’t his main motivating factor. Of course money is important but there are other factors that need to be met as well to feel satisfied and engaged at work.
He found out that what really motivated him was altruism. That’s why he decided to leave his job and join us. We could provide him with a director position at one of our offices and he could build and grow a team. Helping those people around him succeed; that’s what motivated him and he was good at it.
Everyone is motivated by different factors. We are all individuals. Hence it’s important to find out those factors for you. What motivates you at work?
Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivators
When we talk about motivation at work, we have to differentiate between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is connected to outside incentives such as a bonus, a promotion or a day off. You do something to receive something in return.
On the other hand, intrinsic motivation is connected to the work itself. You do something because you enjoy doing it. You enjoy it because your motivating needs are satisfied. These are different for everyone and can include the desire to learn something new, compete with your peers, explore your potential or help others.
Here is an easy to understand example.
Person A works overtime because he/she wants to get overtime pay.
Person B works overtime because he/she enjoys the work.
In general, intrinsic motivation brings more long-term benefits and is linked to employee well-being, enthusiasm and engagement. All of these lead to higher productivity. Everyone’s quality of work benefits if they enjoy what they are doing.
On the other hand extrinsic motivation can be beneficial for standardized, simple and repetitive tasks. For these types of tasks or jobs outside rewards will often lead to higher motivation.
(If you want to dig deeper into the science, read this article.)
Find what motivates you
So, what does this mean for you?
It means that you have to find out what motivates you. Then, you can find the right job that provides you with satisfaction and joy. There are people who are motivated by competition, autonomy, progress or innovation. And usually it’s not only one but a mix of a few motivators with varying importance.
Finding the right job and a matching work environment is key to long-term success and happiness. Keep this in mind, especially if you are currently considering a job change.
At Wahl+Case, we know about the importance of intrinsic motivation at work and provide everyone who registers with us with a free motivator assessment and report by our own in-house developed tool Attuned.
Anju Kajihara
Team Leader | Marketing