Activate Employees' Seeking Systems

​Dan Cable’s article, Why People Lose Motivation – and What Managers Can Do to Help, gets to the heart of motivation in the workplace and reflects what we know to be true: people are hard-wired to seek learning opportunities and purpose, and embrace challenging, meaningful tasks. When employees encounter consistent roadblocks to satisfy these needs, they become less motivated and engaged. 

Here’s an excerpt from Cable’s article:

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In order to get at the crux of the problem, it’s crucial to understand that as humans we want to feel motivated and to find meaning in the things that we do. It’s part of our biology. In fact, there’s a part of our brains called the seeking system that creates the natural impulses to learn new skills and take on challenging but meaningful tasks. When we follow these urges, we receive a jolt of dopamine — a neurotransmitter linked to motivation and pleasure — which make us want to engage in these activities even more. And, when our seeking systems are activated, we feel more motivated, purposeful, and zestful. We feel more alive.
Exploring, experimenting, learning — this is the way we’re supposed to live and work. The problem is, too many workers aren’t able to partake in these activities because the way our organizations are run is preventing them from doing so.

​An organizational shift such as this might seem overwhelming, but as Cable notes, there are three things leaders and managers can do with minimal effort to activate employees’ seeking systems and reap the benefits:

Despite these difficulties, it is possible for leaders to activate their employees’ seeking systems without a large overhaul to organization-wide policies and culture. And, in my experience working with leaders across the globe, you can reach business objectives while improving the lives of employees. There are three small but consequential nudges that trigger employees’ seeking systems: encourage them to play to their strengths, creating opportunities to experiment, and helping them personalize the purpose of the work.
For example, in a study I conducted with colleagues, we found that asking new hires to write down and share stories about times they were at their best made them feel more comfortable about being themselves around co-workers, and that their unique strengths were valued. Results showed that newcomers onboarded this way made customers happier and were much less likely to quit in the future

In our work with clients, we’ve seen the same thing. Employees who are encouraged to apply their skills and find purpose in their work are more motivated and engaged. And, the result often leads to more innovation in the workplace.
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Check out Cable’s full article at the link above and feel free to share your thoughts here or on our Solutions Arts Facebook page.