Employee Recognition & Engagement Resources

I’m going to tell you a true story with an important lesson—it is OK to bring your humanity to work and treat people decently. The best leaders, what Jim Collins called “Level-5 leaders” in his book, Good to Great, are humble, respectful, and deeply connected to their people.

In my last blog article I described a flawed system of management called “scientific management” that is harmful to everyone involved: shareholders, executives, managers, employees, customers, and society as a whole.

In my previous blog article I defined intrinsic motivation as the, “five, natural pleasures of work.” I then made an outrageous claim, “Companies can double employee motivation, productivity and profits by simply activating the natural, productive pleasures wired into the human brain. I can almost feel your skepticism, “If it were that simple, wouldn’t everybody already pay employees this “magical,” free, intrinsic-reward bonus?

Hurray, it’s a beautiful day! I’ve been studying intrinsic motivation for 40 years and I’ve FINALLY been asked to write a blog post about it. Thank you Scott Russell, and C.A. Short Company, for this wonderful opportunity. Blog posts are short, and I’ve been known to drone on, so here is a BRIEF definition of intrinsic motivation.