Skills and Development

SHOW ME THE MONEY but I want other stuff too!

By Dr Paul Aldrich, senior lecturer at Roehampton Business School, University of Roehampton, and an expert in coaching and behavioural change.

“The more powerful motivating factor is the intrinsic reward we feel for undertaking activities which we enjoy for themselves, things that fill us with a sense of meaning and help us fulfil our perceived purpose in life.”

“Show me the money” is the immortal line from the American football player, Rod Tidwell, played by Cuba Gooding, Jr., in the film Jerry Maguire. In the end it wasn’t just about the money and that is the message of this short article.

For businesses and individuals, the past twelve months has put great strain on cash balances. Therefore, employees will be acutely aware of what is in their pay packets and businesses on the size of their payroll. The good news for both is that once people have enough money to cover the basics in life then, for many, money starts to fade as a source of motivation.

Studies have shown time and time again that we are also motivated by other factors, and that 85% of our satisfaction is derived from aspects of life that are not related to things like titles and financial success. These are extrinsic rewards which have the power to motivate us in different ways depending on our personality and circumstances. They are external rewards for what we do. The more powerful motivating factor is the intrinsic reward we feel for undertaking activities which we enjoy for themselves, things that fill us with a sense of meaning and help us fulfil our perceived purpose in life. Growth of our professional competency, being trusted and having the autonomy to make decisions, and the relationships we have with our colleagues all contribute to this. Therefore, when you are designing your employer value proposition to hire and retain talent, don’t just consider the financial reward. Yes, pay fair market rates as you will not be able to attract the quality of talent you aspire to, but consider providing short online courses to increase areas of expertise, where possible design work to have a degree of flexibility, give people responsibility for giving you innovative ideas and participation in decision-making, and create a collaborative, positive, psychologically safe working environment. Augmenting fair market rates with a thoughtful, and developmental, leadership style will help you to reduce workplace disillusionment and increase the performance of your team without solely focusing on “showing them the money”.