For several years the Gallup Organization has tracked employee engagement in the workplace. Their first study in the year 2000 found that 55% of the workforce had no enthusiasm for their work. Gallup described them as “not engaged.” 19% were so negative they poisoned the workforce to the degree that their companies would have been better off if they called in sick.* The research in the years after the initial study show little improvement. This means the overwhelming majority of today's workforce has little to no motivation.

Billions of dollars are being spent to motivate employees but these studies reveal that what passes for personal and organizational development in the workplace is failing miserably. The traditional methods of motivating employees — reward (paychecks, perks, pensions) and punishment (reprimands, the fear of losing a job, intimidation) — may have succeeded to some degree with past generations of employees but have a limited influence today.

It's obvious the traditional carrot and stick approach doesn't work.

People today are searching for two things: 1) the opportunity to fulfill their own unique potential (defined as Self-Actualization by Abraham Maslow) and 2) the opportunity to contribute their potential to something bigger than themselves (what we call Team-Actualization). People want and need to identify with a common purpose that is collectively bigger than the individuals employed there. They don't want to be employees, they want to be partners in a cause. Then they must see how their piece of the puzzle (the individual's own unique purpose) fits into the big picture of the organization's purpose.

So we developed a very nontraditional approach to personal and organizational development. It revolves around this fundamental principle of human behavior: “Without a purpose our only motivation is reward and punishment.” We're in business for the purpose of "transforming lives, leaders and organizations through the power of purpose."

To find, hire and keep good people organizations have to become people magnets. We help organizations become people magnets by developing “purpose-driven” cultures.**

For a blueprint on how to create a purpose-driven organization see Riding for the Brand: The Power of Purposeful Leadership.

Gallup found that if organizations could just get an increase of 3.7% more work per person (the equivalent of 18 more minutes per 8-hour shift) it would result in a $355 billion increase in the Gross Domestic Product. Here's how to get that 3.7% increase plus some.

Humans are the only animals that can choose their behavior. All other animals are merely responding to the extrinsic stimuli of reward and punishment which is, in reality, manipulation not motivation. Humans intuitively despise manipulation because the human spirit does not respond to reward and punishment — it responds to the one motive that is unique to the human species — purpose. This enables us to rise above our baser needs and become intrinsically motivated as opposed to being merely extrinsically manipulated by reward and punishment. Intrinsic motivation can lead to a 40% increase in individual productivity and effectiveness.

To learn more about intrinsic motivation see The Transformational Power of Purpose: Finding & Fulfilling Your Purpose in Life.

To learn how we can help transform lives and leaders in your organization give us a call at 918-494-0009 or email to set up a free consultation.

Jim and Sondra Whitt are the founding partners of Purpose Unlimited, a very nontraditional personal and organizational development firm. They believe that Dilbert is not so much a comic strip but more of a commentary about organizational cultures that are in desperate need of a radical new approach to motivation, leadership and change.

Click here to learn more about the Purpose Unlimited Team.

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* Source:USA Today

**Don't confuse purpose with what is commonly called the organization's mission. We help leaders go beyond the traditional “mission statement” and dig deeper to identify the organization's purpose. It is the role of the leadership to establish and communicate the purpose of the organization in terms that no one can help but understand. The purpose is the cornerstone of the culture. This establishes the “why." When people understand and buy into the why (purpose) they are motivated to accomplish the who, what when, where and how (what most "mission statements" are filled with).