We expect that your first reaction to this counter-intuitive suggestion would invariably be a smile. But beyond this, these findings certainly ask larger questions on employee motivation and engagement.

In this book ‘ Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations’ , the renowned psychology professor- Dan Ariely of Duke University suggest that’s when it comes to employee motivation, pizza works better than cash.

 

We expect that your first reaction to this counter-intuitive suggestion would invariably be a smile. But beyond this, these findings certainly ask larger questions on employee motivation and engagement.

In this book ‘ Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations’ , the renowned psychology professor- Dan Ariely of Duke University suggest that’s when it comes to employee motivation, pizza works better than cash.

 

 

 

 

 

As psychology professor Adam Grant told The Wall Street Journal last year:

“Extrinsic motivators can stop having much meaning — your raise in pay feels like your just due, your bonus gets spent, your new title doesn’t sound so important once you have it.

“But the sense that other people appreciate what you do sticks with you.”

But Ariely says gloppy mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce stick with you, too.

Diminishing Marginal Utility of Money

Certainly, we are nowhere suggesting that money as an extrinsic motivator acts as a de-motivator.  But the ones who depend on money as their sole or primary motivator are skating on thin ice, allowing themselves to get eroded on the emotional commitment front.

In our society, money is often assumed to be the default motivator because it is measurable, tangible and fungible. Certainly money is the primary means to acquire basic physiological needs – food, shelter and clothing. Once we meet these, money cannot bring in more happiness and we all experience the diminishing marginal utility of money.

Summing Up

You might write off the study with a smile, but you cannot deny the bigger questions that the findings ask.

They underscore the age-old, yet seldom followed, management wisdom that appreciation and recognition needs to be humane and personal – not only copy-pasted standard email templates or extra cash at the end of the month. I rather feel that emotional sources of motivation are more powerful. One craves for respect/admiration- peers, subordinates, and superiors.

The conventional approach of motivating through pay cheques might have as well outlived its utility.  Thus this leaves HR leaders with a challenge of devising an effective way to meet intrinsic goals of employees like enjoyment, sheer curiosity, learning or personal challenge – one that is a unique amalgam of personalisation, innovation and change.