Motivation to achieve
On the one hand, it’s impossible to measure motivation to achieve by use of a personality questionnaire as this kind of motivation depends on a lot of external factors such as salary, relation with the superior, identification with the company, working climate, home situation, and so on.
On the other hand there are certainly motivational aspects we do measure!
1. Intrinsic Motivation
The global results on BasicProfileScreen reflects Intrinsic Motivation, or a mixture of personality aspects that tell us what people like to do by nature. The more job requirements ‘fit’ with the natural attitudes, affinities and drives, the more people are intrinsic motivated to do their job, the happier they are and the less they need external motivators to achieve.
2. AutoDrive
Besides, BasicProfileScreen measures ‘AutoDrive’, or the package of energy someone has to ‘achieve’. Again, people with a lot of AutoDrive can be poor achievers as well, if they’re frustrated by the job-content, instructions, a superior or by colleagues.
AutoDrive is a mixture of the three primal drives in the Dynamic profile: Explore/Experience, Brake/Survive and Steer/Oriëntate.
- When ‘Explore’ is the most important drive, people need a challenge to achieve = positive fear of failure
- When ‘Brake’ is the most important drive, people need structure to achieve = negative fear of failure
- When ‘Steer’ is the most important drive, people need autonomy to achieve = directive fear of failure
Some people are extremely driven by one need, but most by two or all three of them, so there is no such thing as a one saving solution for all kinds of drives/needs.
3. Ambition
BasicProfileScreen measures ambition as well.
Ambitious people can achieve a lot, but ambitious people seldom are loyal (except when it’s their own business). They are in general more driven by their own goals then by those of the company. As soon as they get the impression that it takes too long within a company to achieve their personal goals, they leave the company. Ambitious people are motivated by…own ambition.
Summary
Motivation to achieve is a very complex mixture of
- Intrinsic Motivation = JobMatch
- AutoDrive = Energy Potential
- Ambition = Motivation to achieve with focus on Personal Professional Goals
- External Motivators = Motivating Climate = Company business
In other words, motivation to achieve is NOT an innate competence of an individual but more a responsibility/target in the hands of a company.
Motivating Climate
If a company is able to
- Put the right person on the right spot = JobMatch/Intrinsic Motivation
- Detect and encourage the autodrives = maximize the use of natural energy potential
- Synchronize personal goals with company goals = use motivation from ambition,
then it’s not that difficult to create a Motivating Climate = A working environment that facilitates the intrinsic motivation, the autodrives and the personal ambition.
Working with motivated people is a continuous challenge for a company as the company can optimize a Motivating Climate.
Example: Average Guard
- Intrinsic Motivation = take care in a variety of circumstances (= JobMatch).
- AutoDrive = In general, a guard is a survivor (Brake), needing structure to achieve.
- Ambition = seldom at the expense of loyalty. Only few really want to climb the ladder.
The Motivating Climate for an average guard is proportional to
- Clear instructions
- Procedures
- Good training
- Transparent hierarchy
- Fair planning
- Familiar environment
- Future security
- And all other aspects that make him/her feel at ease…