Autonomy is nearly always cited when people talk about great experiences at work. Direction and control of our own lives is important and a key feature of intrinsic motivation. A quick exploration of the science of motivation can help us to not only understand why autonomy is so fundamental to brilliant employee experiences, but also why so many EX practices fall short, no matter how well intentioned.
In the early 1900’s, Taylor argued that work involved mostly simple, uninteresting tasks. He wrote that incentivising employees, together with careful monitoring, was the most effective way to get people to fulfil their roles. This approach is still prevalent in many organisations today: reward the behaviours you want to see, and punish those you don’t. A whole billion-dollar industry of rewards and benefits is the result of this approach and there are numerous EX products, services and approaches which are based on the ‘carrot and stick’ approach. It seems intuitive that an EX based on rewards is a good thing, but in fact this approach is flawed, and out of date. We now know that using the reward-punishment approach doesn’t often produce the outcomes we would expect. And we would argue that the reward-punishment approach doesn’t make for a compelling EX.
Research from Dan Pink shows that with the onset of more complex and creative jobs, traditional rewards can actually lead to less of what is wanted and more of what is not wanted. Pink’s research gives evidence to demonstrate that the reward-punishment approach can result in:
- Lower intrinsic motivation
- Lower performance
- Less creativity
- Unethical behaviour
- Short-term thinking
The explanation for this phenomenon is that “rewards, by their very nature, narrow our focus”.
We need to move beyond a model of reward-punishment to consider the role of intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation can be defined as being motivated to do something because it is driven by internal rewards, that is it is naturally satisfying to you. On the flipside to extrinsic motivation, which is all about external reward – for example at work you might decide to mentor a more junior colleague because it feels like the right thing to do, you want to help them out and you find it rewarding. This is an example of intrinsic motivation. A colleague might also mentor a more junior colleague, but they are doing it to earn recognition from their manager and to be seen by others as doing the right thing. This is extrinsic motivation.
Harry F. Harlow first talked about the concept of intrinsic motivation in the 1940s. He originally developed this theory whilst studying primates solving puzzles. What he found was that primates appeared to enjoy solving the puzzles, even in the absence or expectation of a reward. This idea of intrinsic motivation was built on via the work of Deci and Ryan in the 1960s and 1970s. They replicated Harlow’s studies with humans and developed their theory of self-determination (SDT). SDT proposes that we have an innate drive to be autonomous, competent and connected to each other. When these conditions are present, research demonstrates links to a whole range of positive outcomes, including higher levels of positive emotion, wellbeing and employee engagement. Deci concluded that human beings have an “inherent tendency to seek out novelty and challenges, to extend and exercise their capabilities, to explore, and to learn.”
We have already established that great experiences often involve intrinsic motivation, therefore understanding more about the science of motivation is helpful for those of us designing EX. In his book Drive, Dan Pink, builds on SDT, arguing that motivating employees involves three essential elements, including autonomy, which is the desire to direct our own lives ourselves. But how do we go about designing experiences which provide our people with more autonomy? Here are some ideas to get you started:
Consider when work gets done (time) – examples include:
- Focusing the roles on outputs rather than time
- Flexibility over employees completing tasks
- Flexibility over working patterns and hours
Consider how work gets done (technique) – examples include:
- Freedom to figure out the best way to do their jobs
- Involvement in defining how they do their jobs
Consider who work gets done with (team) – examples include:
- Facilitate opportunities for collaboration
- Opportunities to join cross-company projects
Consider what work gets done (task) – examples include:
- Using design thinking tools to enable creativity over the role they do
- Hackathons and open-source projects to enable people to work on different projects
Autonomy brings with it flexibility, and promotes a feeling of respect; respect for individual abilities within the organisation which would otherwise be missed. Autonomy sets employees free from limiting micromanagement and demands good communication within the organisation. This instils freedom for employees and communicates a level of trust, both of which are powerful enablers of great experiences.
If you’re interested in finding out more designing experiences to facilitate autonomy we’d love to hear from you.
