Understanding the Hidden Motivations Behind Job Satisfaction
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Chapter 1: The Intricacies of Job Motivation
Have you ever questioned why individuals choose careers such as medicine or law? Do you think their primary motivation is financial gain? If this is your belief, you might not be entirely accurate. Many fall victim to what's known as the extrinsic incentive bias. So, what exactly does this cognitive bias entail, and how can you steer clear of it? Let’s delve deeper.
What is the Extrinsic Incentive Bias?
The extrinsic incentive bias refers to a widespread tendency where individuals attribute the motivations of their coworkers to external factors like salary or job security, while viewing their own motivations as more virtuous and internal, such as a desire for meaningful work or personal development.
The Foundational Research
The concept of "extrinsic incentive bias" was introduced by Chip Heath, a management researcher at Stanford. He illustrated that people typically assume others are driven by external rewards more than they themselves are. In a notable experiment, Heath asked 25 managers at a Citibank call center to rank various intrinsic and extrinsic rewards based on what they believed the customer service representatives valued.
Upon reviewing the managers' rankings, Heath noticed that they prioritized rewards like “salary” and “job security,” while intrinsic rewards such as “making a meaningful contribution” and “developing skills” were deemed less important. However, when the representatives ranked their motivations, their preferences were almost the opposite of the managers' perceptions. Interestingly, the managers claimed to be primarily driven by meaningful work, but their employees rated this motivation much lower.
Heath wasn’t the first to identify this empathy gap regarding motivations. Kenneth Kovach, a Human Resource Management professor, examined decades of work surveys and found that while employees valued “appreciation for work,” “involvement,” and “interesting tasks” as crucial for job satisfaction, supervisors often believed that “good wages” and “job security” were the main concerns of workers.
This disconnect was noted even earlier by Douglas McGregor, a management professor at MIT, who observed the prevalence of Theory X managers—those who assumed that employees disliked work and primarily sought security—versus Theory Y managers, who believed employees valued work and wanted to contribute to organizational goals.
Understanding the Mechanism
The extrinsic incentive bias arises from two natural inclinations: our tendency for self-enhancement and our inclination to oversimplify others. Because society often frowns upon money-driven choices, we tend to downplay financial motivations in our own careers, while readily attributing them to others.
Additionally, we naturally gravitate towards straightforward explanations for behavior. For example, it’s easier to conclude that an investment banker is motivated solely by financial gain rather than considering a passion for their work.
The implications of the extrinsic incentive bias can be significant. When both managers and employees believe the other is less motivated, it erodes trust, making collaboration challenging. Misunderstandings about what drives employees can lead managers to miss opportunities to enrich their work environments, develop effective reward systems, and acknowledge employees' desires for feedback and involvement.
Moreover, an overemphasis on external rewards can be counterproductive. Research indicates that when extrinsic rewards like money are linked to activities we find intrinsically rewarding, they can actually demotivate us. There's also a viewpoint suggesting that excessively high salaries may attract individuals who are primarily externally motivated, potentially undermining value creation.
The “motivation purity bias” illustrates this issue further: candidates who express monetary interests during job applications may be perceived as less intrinsically motivated, reducing their chances of being hired.
How to Overcome the Bias
To mitigate this bias, it’s crucial to assume that what motivates you also motivates others. In one of Heath’s experiments, students could win $10 for accurately predicting the motivations of others, yet only 12% succeeded. Had they assumed their motivations were similar to others, 84% would have made better predictions, and 62% would have earned the reward.
Discover insights on workplace dynamics and the importance of understanding coworker motivations in the video titled Don't Say These Things To Your Coworker...If You Care About Your Job.
Chapter 2: Recognizing Motivational Biases
Explore the consequences of misjudging your colleagues' motivations in the video Your Coworker is Trying to DESTROY You.