Meaning and motivation

Standard economic theory suggests that workers respond to wages. At higher wages, people work longer and harder. At lower wages, they work fewer hours and expend less effort on the job.

Dan Ariely in his book, The Upside of Irrationality, suggests that motivating workers involves much more than manipulating their wages.

He argues that people will only work hard when they think their work is meaningful. To illustrate consider the following example: A lawyer is in charge of preparing documents to get his firm ready for trial. Initially, the lawyer puts a lot of effort into the projects; his boss sees his work and is happy with it; he gets raises based on his superior performance.

However, our lawyer becomes dishearten because the firm settles all of his cases and they never go to trial; consequently, his work is never used. Eventually, the lawyer will stop exerting so much effort when he comes to believe his work is not meaningful. The law firm would do well to assign a lawyer to at least a few cases that the partners know will definitely go to trial.

The lawyer will see that his work is useful and continue to operate at a high level. Many firms and organizations will benefit if they can ensure that their employees view their jobs as important. The firm will earn more profit since their employees will put extra work into projects, produce more output, and be less likely to leave their jobs due to better offers from rival companies.

In certain jobs it is easy for employees to find meaning. To provide an example, a tax accountant who meets with a customer can say, “I saved you $1,300 dollars on your tax bill.”

Seeing the people who benefit and the exact amount of the benefits should allow many accountants to find meaning in their work.

In some professions, it is difficult for employees to see the value in their work. Teaching is an extreme example, and my own experience can illustrate this point. Like most teachers, I have run into students, years after they have taken my class, who have told me how instrumental my class was to their education. I just know of these instances because I happen to run into some former students.

I suspect there are other success stories that are never conveyed to me. College professors would be well served to make a point to keep in touch with some students.

Knowing how these former students progress through their careers will help professors see meaning in their work. While this will help the students by giving them a sounding board for some of their tough professional decisions, it will probably help the professors more by allowing them to see the value of their work, which, in turn, will allow them to stay motivated.

College administrators may want to consider requiring professors to keep up with a certain number of former students. The college will benefit because these contacts can lead to opportunities for current students such as internships and job interviews.

The professors themselves will probably benefit even more. The requirement may help these teachers see more meaning in their work. At a time when budgets are tight, administrators should look for nonfinancial ways to motivate their employees.

Setting up ways for teachers to realize the value of their work is one nonfinancial way to motivate employees that is worthy of consideration.

Of course, teachers are not the only profession whose workers would benefit from a structure that allows them to realize the significance of their work. Any boss can motivate her workers if she sets up a process that allows employees to see their work as valuable.

Joe McGarrity is a Professor of Economics at UCA. He can be reached at joem@uca.edu.