Top Motivation Insights Every HR Leader Should Know in 2023

Are you aware of the top motivation insights that impact your bottom line? 

You would be astonished to know that the word “motivation” did not exist in the English dictionary until about 1854 –almost 100 years after the start of the first Industrial Revolution. But, in less than 150 years, motivation became a key area of social study among human resources philosophers and economists who began associating motivation with industrial output and sustenance. It was soon established that any kind of motivation could be linked to individual traits, outlook and perception toward the society, environment and companionship. From an HR perspective, a lot has been done to establish relationship between organizational development and employee motivation, and how these can be shaped to build a great organization.

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Today, as the world struggles with uncertain outcomes due to pandemic, economic slowdown, and geo-political influences, employee motivation has become a key area of research to actively hire and retain people that show highest levels of engagement and motivation at workplace.

In this HRTech article, we have analyzed HR research articles and resources to come up with top motivation insights that every CHRO and business operations leader should know. Here are the top 30 motivation insights from recent times.

1. Incentive programs influence employee performance. There was a 22% increase in performance when incentive programs were implemented across all work settings. [Source]
2. Disengaged and demotivated employees are 97% more likely to quit the organization within 3 months compared to motivated employees.
3. It costs businesses 33% more to train and retain a demotivated employee than what it takes to retain a motivated employee.
4. Motivated employees are more likely to participate in employee feedback surveys and help organizations improve their current management of talent and employee experience management.
5. Only 13% of the worldwide workforce are engaged at workplace. US-based employees do better than their global counterparts. 30% of US employees are engaged. [Gallup]
6. Employee experience is critical to fulfilling an employee’s potential. Positive employee experience translates to higher motivation levels at the workplace.
7. According to Randstad, happy employees are 31% more productive than unhappier ones; they bring in more sales and create a positive workplace environment.
8. Managers influence employee motivation. Managers influence 70% variance in employee engagement. Only 10% of the workforce have the inherent traits to lead and manage a team in their organization. [Source]
9. Only 13.9% of total US workforce is passionate about their work. These passionate workers are confident about facing any kind of technological disruption that could change the nature of work and organization structure. [Deloitte]
10. Identifying functional talent can improve motivation levels at workplace. Two in ten non-managerial staff can be trained to manage a team if they are provided with the right kind of coaching and leadership developmental plans. [Gallup]
11. Instilling the feeling of a familial bond between workers and inspiring pride at workplace could help employees stay motivated for a very long time. These also drive a cross-functional and collaborative approach among motivated employees who are likely to show their loyalty through better problem-solving techniques and creativity at workplace.
12. Good onboarding is key to setting the benchmark in motivation levels.
13. Employee recognition is important factor in talent retention. Employees often feel neglected at workplace and seldom praised for good work they put in for the organization. Continued indifference and neglect force employees to quit the organization within a year. In most cases, employees are twice as likely to quit in the next year if they are not adequately praised and rewarded. [Gallup 2016 study]
14. Low engagement teams have to endure higher turnover rates compared to highly engaged teams. Actively engaged employees are less likely to look out for a new role or job in the coming weeks.
15. Workforce productivity per hour decreases once employees exceed 5o hours during the week. Fatigue, stress and lack of focus at workplace begins to take a toll on the employee’s motivation levels if this overworked trend continues for more than 2 weeks at a stretch. [Stanford]
16. Men and women demonstrate different perception toward motivation and rewards at workplace. For instance, men give more importance to promotion opportunities compared to women workers. Women, on the other hand, are more positively influenced than men when it comes to staying motivated when employers offer learning and development opportunities, and work-life balance.
17. Men are more likely to quit their current jobs due to societal pressures and a decline in social status. Female professionals, on the other hand, agree that they are paid lesser in remuneration compared to their male counterparts for the same role in the same organization, continue with their employment if work-life environment is healthy and flourishing for growth.
18. 65% of the US-based professionals quit their roles and never returned to the same industry!
19. Motivated employees bring more profits and they influence churn rate within the organization by convincing dis-engaged workers to do better.
20. Motivated employees show higher levels of empathy and customer-centricity while dealing with disgruntled customers. The highly motivated employees working in contact centers and call service agencies help in increasing customer loyalty, reducing churn rate and ultimately driving more profits through good customer support services.
21. Compensation and monetary rewards are not the only incentives that drive employee’s motivation at workplace. Respect, trust and status are other significant factors that align with personal growth within the organization and in the industry.
22. According to PwC, organizations that take more effort and consideration in knowing about each of their employees are more likely to build an organization of highly motivated individuals.
23. According to the World Economic Forum, good work is a key differentiator for organizations during turbulent times looking to hire and retain great talent. By focusing on good work, organizations can acquire and retain engaged, motivated and healthy employees.
24. Investing in workforce upskilling and reskilling initiatives could reap huge benefits in terms of productivity and employee motivation in the next 2-3 years. [World Economic Forum May 2022]
25. Leadership at all levels of engagement is critical to good work environment. Human-centric leadership shape workers’ perceptions toward psychological safety at the workplace.
26. The future of work will depend on creating a clear and concise EX persona for every worker engaged at the workplace. This can be done by utilizing data and creating nine boxes of EX categorized into three sections: Social Experience, Work Experience, and Organization Experience. [McKinsey]
27. Employees who are avoiding painful experiences at work are likely to be disengaged and absent from workplace. This behavior is studied as part of pain-avoidance models and mal-adjustment models.
28. Motivated employees welcome changes in their workplace and adjust to new structure faster than demotivated peers. The inability to cope with new demands of work and structure ultimately results in drop in performance and exit from the company.
29. Allowing employees to build their own work-life balance and pace can improve employee motivation. Employee motivation insights focus on digitizing employee communication with managers and peers using Business Intelligence apps, real-time communication and meeting management tools.
30. Maintaining and coaching a synchronized talent hub to keep your remote workforce motivated at all times is also a great asset in your organizational development strategy. According to McKinsey,  if critical talent cannot be secured in one location, maintaining talent hubs can be a better approach.

Conclusion

Employee motivation insights show that workers are eager to perform and get rewarded for the good work they do consistently for their organization. As a business owner, it’s a mandate on you to improve employee experience that rewards behaviors and attitudes that go beyond the traditional norms of professionalism. If you can leverage performance management tools for understanding relationship with each employee, their reaction to rewards and monetary incentives, and company-wide recognition, you would be working with highly motivated people that are 59% less likely to face burn out and 27% more driven to grow your business opportunities and profits in the next 6-8 months.

So, are you using HR Technology and employee listening tools to understand how your best people prefer to communicate their pains and fears?

[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]