From Purpose to Performance: Motivating Your Team

In today's business world, where success is often measured by financial metrics and market share, it's easy to lose sight of the fundamental question that underpins every successful venture: why do you do what you do?

Simon Sinek's groundbreaking book, "Start With Why: how great leaders inspire everyone to take action", emphasises the importance of answering this question as a catalyst for inspiring action and driving long-term success. At the heart of this philosophy lies a profound connection to employee motivation, a critical factor for business success.

Inspiration or manipulation?

Sinek proposes the idea that employee motivation comes in the form of either manipulation or inspiration. He draws a clear line between the two, advocating for genuine inspiration. Rather than relying on short-term external forces of motivation such as fear, businesses should aim to authentically inspire their teams. This distinction serves as the cornerstone for cultivating a workplace culture that flourishes through authentic purpose and shared values. By prioritising genuine inspiration over manipulative strategies, organisations lay the foundation for a more meaningful working environment.

The Golden Circle

The 'golden circle'- Sinek's framework for understanding the essence of motivation- proposes three ingredients that underlie accomplishment: why, how, and what. The "why" represents the core purpose and beliefs of the company, the "how" encompasses strategies, and the "what" embodies the services offered.

When applied to employee motivation, the "why" takes center stage. Motivated employees are those who truly align with the company's greater purpose, appreciate the bigger picture, and feel a sense of meaning. Fostering this in your team cultivates a sense of purpose that drives people to go beyond their day-to-day tasks, embodying a deep passion for what they do.

Intrinsically motivated employees exhibit higher levels of engagement, increased job satisfaction, and greater willingness to go above and beyond their roles. Organisations that install inspiration in their employees don't just attract talent, they retain it.

Finding the right people

Whilst your organisation can promote inspirational strategies over manipulative approaches, another approach that can be done in addition to this is to identify employees who share intrinsic motivations with your organisation. This can be done as part of the recruitment process using psychometric assessments.

At GFB, we specialise in finding the right people for your organisation. We have several tools

that measure intrinsic motivation that have been specifically designed to assess the internal drivers of individuals. If you'd like to learn more about how we can assess motivation in your employees then please do get in touch- we'd love to hear from you.