Meaningful work – the power of Intrinsic Motivation

Catherine Bailey and Adrian Madden define meaningful work as “when an individual perceives an authentic connection between work and a broader transcendent life purpose beyond the self.” They came to this conclusion after interviewing 135 people from different professional backgrounds about when they experienced their work as meaningful.

In general people would perceive their work as meaningful when they felt a sense of pride or achievement for their work. Furthermore the researchers discovered 5 specific features of meaningful work: Self-Transcendent, Poignant, Episodic, Reflective and Personal.

Self-Transcendent means the work matters not only to the employee but for other people as well. If one’s work has a positive impact on your co-worker, your customer, your community, the environment or greater society it is perceived as meaningful. This can be something small like a bug fix that increases positive user experience of an app or something grand like constructing an airport to improve the infrastructure and economy of a region.

Contrary to what some might think, meaningful work is not always connected to feelings of happiness or euphoria but it is poignant. Oftentimes when work was experienced as meaningful, it was connected to uncomfortable or even painful feelings and thoughts. Overcoming a difficult or challenging situation has more meaning than simply being happy and engaged at work. This holds true for all occupations from being an author who finally finds a publisher after being rejected 50 times to being an professional athlete who puts the championship ring on his finger after a long season of losses and injuries.

Meaningful work is usually episodic. It’s not like every second or day is meaningful. Meaningfulness is not a constant feeling. It only arises in some situations. These situations however have a tremendous impact and are highly memorable. Maybe it’s the first time a musician hears her song on the radio or a designer sees his clothes in the store. These are very personal and emotional moments and can shape the future of your work life.

Meaningfulness at work is also rather reflective and seldomly experienced in the moment. People think back and reflect on a project or process and then they truly understand the impact and develop an awareness of what they have achieved. Someone might volunteer to collect garbage on a beach and after a long and tedious day of picking up plastic bottles he sees the clean beach and realizes the significance of his actions.

Last but not least, meaningfulness is personal, meaning everyone has a different understanding of what is meaningful to them. It is highly subjective and undividedly connected to one’s personal life experiences and values. What is meaningful to me, might not mean anything to you. This has also been emphasized by researchers Jing Hu and Jacob Hirsh. That’s why it is so hard to find meaning in work for all your employees with one approach.

But you should.

Thomas Malone and Mark Lepper describe intrinsic motivation as occurring when “people engage in it for its own sake, rather than in order to receive some external reward or avoid some external punishment. We use the words fun, interesting, captivating, enjoyable, and intrinsically motivating all more or less interchangeably to describe such activities.”

Seeking to challenge oneself; the desire to control one’s own path or choose for oneself; the satisfaction gained from cooperating; the enjoyment of competition; curiosity, whether sensory or cognitive; tasks that spark the imagination; and the need for recognition can all function as drivers for intrinsic motivation.

Moreover, intrinsic motivation has been linked to higher energy levels, persistence, enthusiasm, engagement and well-being. It also drives creativity because people are most creative when they are motivated by the work itself rather than an external reward or to avoid punishment.

In more simple words, intrinsic motivation at work occurs when an employee enjoys the work itself; for any of the above reasons; whereas extrinsic motivation means that employees are motivated by external rewards like paychecks, bonuses or avoidance of punishment. We just have to keep in mind that everyone is intrinsically motivated by different factors, so there is no one size fits it all approach.

All of this shows that intrinsic motivation is superior in motivating employees than extrinsic motivation. There are a few exceptions though. For simple and standardized tasks, extrinsic motivation has been shown to lead to higher performance. But in general most organizations should increase their focus on intrinsic motivation for higher employee engagement which will directly lead to better business performance.

For more in-depth information, you can read our white paper about intrinsic motivation vs extrinsic motivation.

If you haven’t watched Dan Pink’s Ted Talk about motivation yet, I highly recommend you to do so.

We know that meaningful work is very subjective and everyone has a different understanding of it. We also know that meaningful work is highly important for both the employee and the company. So how can we ensure to make work as meaningful as possible for our employees?

The first step is to see each employee on an individual level. We need to discover their values and what drives them. We have to understand their intrinsic motivators. Only then can we tailor an approach that will actually work and provide the environment necessary to fulfill those motivators.

There are different quantitative and qualitative services out there to measure employees’s motivation but Attuned came up with a unique, data-driven approach to measure intrinsic motivation. For several years Attuned has worked with a team of psychologists to isolate 11 key intrinsic motivators that make up an individual’s motivational profile.

In alphabetical order, these motivations are:

• Altruism: The endeavor to help, support and maintain the wellbeing of others, as well as the expectation that others will help us if we need it.

• Autonomy: The need to develop and preserve personal freedom.

• Competition: An attraction to challenges, struggles and competitive situations.

• Feedback: The need for feedback, evaluation and recognition.

• Financial Needs: The desire for financial security and wellbeing.

• Innovation: An attraction to varied and novel approaches, tasks and solutions.

• Progress: The drive to acquire new capabilities or skills and to expand knowledge.

• Rationality: An attraction to logical, objective and scientific methods.

• Security: The desire for planning and predictability, and the need for precisely defined rules, clear frameworks and spheres of responsibility.

• Social Relationships: A fondness for belonging to a group and for developing quality human relationships and a good social atmosphere.

• Status: The desire for elevated reputation, recognition, respect and continuous progress through the ranks, including social status and work title.

However this is not a one way street. Knowing someone’s motivation is crucial for both the employee and the organization. It is fairly normal that employees don’t fully know what they are motivated by. They usually have an idea of some sorts but don’t have the complete picture of how each motivator is important to what degree. So knowing their own motivational profile will help them to reflect and analyze themselves. This way they might begin to understand why they experience their work as meaningful or meaningless.

For organizations it is vital to take the time to understand their employees’ internal motivators before deciding how best to incentivize them. Only if a manager is aware of what motivates their team members, can they personalize their management approach and select specific areas of focus. A personalized management approach is inevitable to create meaningful work for your employees.

For concrete examples, you can read our article about 5 Ways to Cultivate Intrinsic Motivation on Your Team.

“The quest for meaning is an innate human need and our work is the principal environment for fulfilling that need. Our work can satisfy the need for significance by allowing both the expression of personal uniqueness and the opportunity to make a purposeful contribution while connecting with others.” (J. Lee Whittington)

Making work meaningful is not only important for the employee but also has significant impacts on organizations. Talent is the most important resource a company has and therefore deserves a big portion of management’s attention. Creating a work environment where employees are motivated and engaged should be a top priority for every manager and team leader.

The key feature of meaningful work is that it is personal. It is subjective and has different meanings for each of us. In order to create a better work environment, organizations have to recognize this and tailor their management approach accordingly. They must understand what their employees value on an individual level and discover their intrinsic motivators. Only if the organization succeeds in doing so will they be able to make work more meaningful.