4.1 Motivation
The intellectual stimulation provided by research is intrinsically interesting, especially if you are aware of the results, analyses, and impact. However, tasks that are required within the project may not be so motivating, and individuals vary in what they find motivating. Motivated and engaged staff produce high quality results, and as research leader you have an opportunity to create rewarding roles and build motivators that will encourage people to do their best.
Considerable work has been done to identify what motivates people's behaviour (Maslow 1943) and performance at work. One of the most representative studies covering career aspirations is that of Herzberg (1987) (see References in Topic 3).
Herzberg’s theory of staff motivation
Herzberg found there were 2 kinds of influences on staff motivations: ‘satisfiers’ (or ‘hygiene factors’) and ‘dissatisfiers’. Hygiene factors include "policy, supervision, interpersonal relations, working conditions, and salary". If the hygiene factors are not addressed, people will be dissatisfied? however, it is the presence of satisfiers that motivates high performance.
Sources of satisfaction include:
- Achievement – satisfactory completion of a project
- Recognition – within the research team and beyond for the results of good work
- Nature of the work – the inherent interest of the work, particularly when it serves as professional development for the researcher
- Responsibility – recognition through receiving important work and being given authority over how it is completed
- Advancement – scope for career growth and development.
Herzberg's research identified that motivators, such as money and good working conditions, were necessary for staff to come to work ("hygiene factors"), but had to be substantial in order to make a difference in performance outcomes. Other factors, such as interest in the work or social attitudes in relation to colleagues or clients, were more likely to make a difference to the quality and quantity of a staff member's performance. Job satisfaction, intellectual curiosity, good co-workers, and job security were often higher motivators than salary.
However, there are considerable individual differences between people, and what is motivating to one person (such as having their effort publicly recognised) can feel like punishment to another. So it is important to know what your team members appreciate when you want to reward them. Priorities change at different times of people's lives. For instance, job security becomes more important when staff settle down to start a family, and friendly co-workers may be more relevant at times of career plateaus or stagnation. Being aware of staff aspirations means you can look for opportunities to support your staff while they are working with you.
Informal or formal motivators
Informal motivators are powerful and can be delivered through an expression of interest in an unexpected result, a simple "thank you", or the opportunity to engage with others in discussion about the project (or related ideas). Such informal motivators can have a significant impact on staff attention to, and engagement with, your project. Delivering informal motivators is like making a deposit into an 'emotional bank account': you can make a ‘withdrawal’ from it later when a deadline is close or when future involvement is being negotiated. This is best done by recognising people, by being respectful, by being reliable, and not saying negative things about them behind their back.
Senior researchers focus on building a body of work to win grants, so being the first-named author on a paper is very important for them; however, more junior researchers and PhD students are more focused trying to establish a research presence that will enable them to apply for grants in the future, and so co-authorship is very helpful. For external consultants and visiting fellows the quality of their relationships with you and other members of the team, and the interesting discussions which unfold, may be significant motivators. For technical support and administrative staff, respect, sharing stories of progress, acknowledging their contribution, and including them as members of the team are important ways of recognising them.
Universities also have more formal reward programs ranging from promotion to recognition schemes, and it is useful to consider how you might use these. When applying for funding you should budget for promotions within your group. By being aware of an individual’s career aspirations, and using this to guide the work you allocate to them, you are likely to get a higher level of commitment and output, now and in the future. Recognition of their contribution, both within the group and in the discipline, is a strong reward for most researchers.
Researchers tend to be more strongly motivated by achievement, so acknowledging milestones and outcomes is important. Structure the project plan and identify milestones, and when these key markers are met your team can celebrate. This helps keep the project on track and maintains staff motivation. Having an outline of the objectives for each stage also makes it possible to check progress against agreed time-frames without over-supervising an individual's activities. The achievement of the milestone can be formally recognised in performance review records, and outcomes are already acknowledged through authorship of papers.
For staff who are at an early stage in their career, like PhD students, being named as first author on a paper adds enormously to their career record. Many teams have agreements that those junior staff who have contributed much to the project are named as first author, while the chief investigator is listed as last author. Such a practice contributes to building a body of researchers who will be recognised by the funding bodies as an excellent team for developing future research leaders. It is important to remember that the creation of an idea can feel like a very personal, and sometimes risky, event. Acknowledging an idea's possibilities at inception, rather than immediately analysing it critically, may help to sustain a researcher's willingness to give new form to emerging data.
Job security
Job security is one of Herzberg's ‘hygiene’ factors. If job security is absent there is potential for dissatisfaction. With many research staff on fixed-term contracts, the terms of their employment has a significant effect on their engagement with the project. At the beginning of their contract, these staff may be as excited and motivated as the rest of the group, but when the project or their term draws to an end they are likely to be more concerned about where their next job will come from than the quality of their work. As a supervisor your challenge is to keep their attention on the objectives, and retain them if new work arises. By swiftly signing casuals' payment forms, or new contracts if they are available, you can reduce the anxiety that staff on less secure employment arrangements feel.
Building good relationships with staff early in the project will help maintain their commitment, as will the quality of your reference at the end of the project. However, it would be counterproductive to stand in the way if these team members are searching for jobs; your university will also have a policy that stipulates that fixed term contract staff must be allowed time to attend job interviews.
Student expectations
The motivation of Higher Degree by Research students working on a project is to get useful research results upon which their thesis can be based. They have a schedule to meet, and the university has obligations to provide them with appropriate supervision. Your role also includes ensuring they receive support and that the project plan is timed to take their requirements into account. It is important they get the opportunity to gain proper recognition of their efforts through the publication of papers, since this is the key to developing a future career path.
Make sure you provide them with enough challenges through giving open-ended tasks rather than just predictable and repetitious ones. Many students also need to balance their studies with work to support themselves financially. This puts a constraint on their flexibility, and conflicting demands between the project and their employer can cause stress. Providing paid work can help reduce pressure, as can making sure they are included as full members of the team.
Modules
