> Date: Sun, 22 Sep 1996 16:37:53 -0400
> From: Carol Sager <sagerent@world.std.com>
> > Bill asks what work cultures -- what characteristics, values,
> >principles ... would encourage people's interior motivation toward their
> >work?
>
> Rol states:
> > I would hypothesize that the organization is a secondary
> >factor compared to the 'relevance' and 'importance' of the work as
> >perceived by the worker.
It is true that some intrinsic motivation could come from the work as
perceived by the worker. And this happens sometimes despite the company
general work environment.
> I agree but have a question: -Many people love what they do despite the
> fact that they may not love the place in which they work. What I have seen
> is that in most of these situations - even in an overall fear-dominated,
> do-it-or-else culture (in answer to Bill) is that immedite supervisors,
> co-workers, etc. provide an environment where basic human needs are met-
> e.g. affiliation, achievement, recognition, a sense of competence, etc.
> which in turn builds & sustains people's intrinsic motivation to come to
> work and do a good job.
Carol, this environment of support does not have to happen exclusively
during the actual working hours.
> My questions: Can intrinsic motivation exist in an organization if the
> relevance and importance of the job is perceived ONLY by the worker? For
> example, I work with many people who go on and on about how they hate
> their jobs. I usually ask why they don't quit? A typical answer is, "How
> can I quit? I need the benefits/ who would hire me..." This then can be
> turned into a positive guiding "purpose" or intrinsic motivation for
> looking at one's job and performing more positively. What I often see
> happening in cases like this is that renewed meaning and purpose for the
> job helps the individual but not the organization in that many people who
> can turn negative energy to positive find another job fairly quickly.
>
> Is there a mix of personal and group support needed to build a culture of
> Intrinsic motivation?
>
> If group support is needed how do we(or should we) help people within the
> organization recognize their power (and perhaps obligation) to develop
> this culture by addressing the needs and desires of their co-workers? As
> they say---Any thought on this?
you may find very interesting the number of what I call extended hours of
work. By this I mean the number of hours that many people spend talking
about their jobs/companies, with coworkers, supervisors, and others
closely related to the work done. These are extended hours of work
because they happened, generally, after hours. Workers form support
groups (this is the name we are giving these groups), and they get
together in softball games, happy hour in the bar down the corner from the
company, etc., where they have the time to share feelings, to recognize
each other for their efforts (including efforts and coping abilities),
etc. Many of those who coplain all day long, then ghet some reinforcement
from these informal groups. A lot of problems are also resolved during
these extended work hours.
-- Ivan,
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