Individual motivation

If the objectives are reasonably realistic then the motivation of each individual or team becomes critical. Motivation is a very personal thing and will, to a degree be influenced by the context and timing of the requirement. If someone is lacking in motivation or commitment, it can be assumed that they must be getting some greater benefit from what they are actually doing, compared to what they perceive they’d get from striving towards, or achieving, the goal.

There are several possible causes of poor individual motivation:

• The goal is not connected to the personal drivers or motivational patterns of the individual or team.
• The goal is considered to be to be unrealistic because the market just isn’t there, the resources are not available or, simply, it is too much, too many or too soon.
• There is no urgency or adverse consequences from inactivity, therefore no particular need to do anything.
• A feeling of not knowing how to achieve the goal. This can be a competence issue, or related to personal beliefs about what is (isn’t) possible.
• When setting sales targets, control can be a major issue because an individual cannot actually make the client sign the deal
  • common sense suggests that if you are not in control of a goal you are less likely to be motivated to achieve it.

Lack of motivation is likely to be the most difficult factor to be addressed because it is not that easy to “prove”. So what can be done? Ideally the corporate goals incorporate some degree of personal satisfaction and fulfilment for the individual or team although this is not always easy to achieve. The NLP process of Outcome Thinking makes this more likely because it links the target to our senses and emotional state and provides a way to test commitment.