MOTIVATION - THE ‘STICK AND CARROT’ WAY

Introduction

All organisations use a variety of motivational tools and techniques to motivate their employees in attempts to
ensure that they perform to the best of their abilities. This can range from tangible benefits like bonuses and
paid holidays to intangible processes like job rotation and the setting of work goals. Sadly, many of these
attempts fail. The question asked is, why is this so? Why are organisations not able to harness the full potential
of their employees? What motivates employees? Why do employees differ in relation to their motivational
needs? These are all perplexing questions, which have got no clear answers. Motivation is a nebulous element
that has been studied and practised throughout history, and yet today, we are still unclear as to how to harness
it effectively.

The relativity of motivation

Motivation is that which energises, directs and sustains a person’s efforts; hence its complexity. The elements
that motivate differ from person to person, from situation to situation and from time to time. Using a simple
illustration, a bottle of water will have more value to a person lost in a desert as compared to a person who is
not. Rescue the person and put him or her in a hospital and the motivational value of the bottle of water will
depreciate. Health then becomes relatively more important.

Another example is in relation to overtime. When doing overtime, employees have a choice between doing
extra work and getting extra money, or less work and less money. Some individuals may find that the idea of
earning more money outweighs the drawback of having to do extra work. On the other hand there will be those
who place more importance on spending time with their families and are thus not amicable to spending more
time at work. The same item may therefore motivate according to the person's circumstances at the time. In
both these instances, it is clearly demonstrated that motivation is relative and has different values to different
people, dependant on circumstances.

The Carrot and Stick Approach to Motivation

A very widely known motivational concept is the ‘Carrot and Stick’ approach. Many managers see motivation in
terms of this notion and so their efforts to motivate is limited to asking the question; should I bribe people or
simply threaten them? However when put into practice, this concept is found to be more complicated than this.
To motivate is to change behaviour. How can you change the behaviour of people, both as individuals and as a
group or team? Using the carrot and stick approach, there are basically two ways; behaviour is changed by
force or by choice through the use of incentives.

The ‘stick’ or fear is a good motivator and when used at the correct times can be very helpful. In that context,
fear has always been the ‘convenient’ choice of Malaysian managers and organisations. When all else fails, the
stick approach is somehow most attractive as it usually produces instantaneous compliance and hence
immediate results. Fear is also attractive as in the short term, an employee’s performance may be improved
without any need for incentives or financial remuneration.

Fear however has its weaknesses in that an organisation motivated by fear is prone to mutiny. It can also be
stressful for employees. It is extrinsic, which means that the motivation only works while the motivator is
present. When the motivator goes, the motivation also usually goes. Fear is also only useful on a short-term
basis, as it needs to be applied in ever-increasing doses. In a worst case scenario, fear motivation can backfire
and could even lead to cases of sabotage.
On the other hand, people contribute or become more productive because they are offered incentives i.e. the
carrot approach. The major advantage with this is that it can work very well as long as the incentive is attractive
enough. A good illustration of this concept is by using the well-known analogy of a donkey with a carrot dangling
in front, and with a cart behind. In this instance the carrot serves as the incentive. However, the carrot will only
serve as an incentive if:

The donkey is hungry enough.

The carrot is sweet enough.

The load is light enough.

A combination of the above.

If any of the above is not satisfied, then the carrot will not serve as an incentive. On the assumption that the
conditions are satisfied, there is still the question of letting the donkey take a bite of the carrot from time to time,
otherwise it is going to get discouraged. A new scenario will then develop in that if the donkey gets to eat the
whole carrot and is now not hungry anymore, putting another carrot in front of it will not serve as an incentive,
until it gets hungry again. This is very often seen in organisations where salesmen on meeting their quota, stop
working as their motivation is only limited to meeting that target.

Once the donkey has eaten the carrot, the next carrot may not be as attractive an incentive as the first. On the
other hand changing the incentive to another vegetable may not necessarily motivate unless the donkey
perceives it as a better incentive than the carrot. This is another very important element in motivation and that is
the reward must be perceived as attractive enough. Otherwise it will not serve its purpose effectively, and may
in fact backfire. For example, if someone is elected the employee of the month and is then given RM 10/ as a
reward, this will serve to de-motivate as it is considered to be below perceived expectations.

Is money the best ‘carrot’?

There is also the often asked question of what is the best ‘carrot’? The obvious answer to this seems to be
money. People need money to feed, clothe, and house themselves and their families: this being the basic
assumption of Maslow’s theory. Hence, organisations have always based their motivational schemes on this
premise that the more money you give to employees, the harder they will work. But is this true?

In her article ‘Managing People: Lessons from Matsushita Konosuke, “ Professor Etsu Inaba of the Asian
Institute of Management, spoke of a survey that she conducted of middle managers working in well-managed
companies in four Asean countries i.e. Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia. All the respondents
of this survey received salaries slightly higher than the industry average. They could join their company’s
competitors at salaries of between 30 and 50% more. When asked ‘What would make you stay with the
company you are working for now?” their replies were:

Clear growth potential for the company.

A career development plan for employees.

Professionalism in management.
Money was important but it did not appear to be the only concern for the respondents as they were proud of the
company that they were working for. The findings of the above survey were complemented by a survey carried
out by New York based consulting firm Towers Perrin. In that survey one of the main questions asked was
"What is the biggest long-term motivator for you?" The results were different from the survey done in Asia, but
money was still not the number one factor. The responses in ranking were as follows:

1. Working for a leader with vision and values.

2. Pay raises and bonuses.

3. Being given greater responsibility.

4. Developing the respect of subordinates and peers.

5. Being given recognition from supervisors and managers.

Simply put, money is not the reason why these respondents want to work. In that context, a billionaire like Bill
Gates and two generations after him could live very comfortably with all the money that he presently has, and
yet he is known to be a workaholic. Quite clearly, a monthly paycheque is not the main motivation for people
like him or the people mentioned previously, to go to work.

Money is important, but it does not override the fact that there are other factors that may be better motivators at
the appropriate times. In that context, no motivating factor can be looked at in isolation. No factor by itself will
serve to motivate perpetually. There must be a combination of factors which when used together will serve to
achieve the overall objective of increasing or at least sustaining the motivational levels of employees.
Organisations, which recognise this, will be well on their way to having motivated employees.

Conclusion

Organisations and managers who have the knowledge and skills to motivate employees will always be a step
ahead of their competitors; as well motivated and happy employees are invariably easier to manage and thus
more productive. The question is why is this situation so difficult to achieve? Perhaps the answer is that most
organisations, in the process of motivating their employees have paid more attention to the tangibles rather than
the non-tangibles. The trouble with tangibles is that like the carrot, its attractiveness wanes with time and you
have to provide more and more attractive incentives. At the end of the day, a word of praise from the Head of
Department can mean more than tangibles like paid holidays. If only organisations and managers can reconcile
and complement their tangible rewards with the intangibles? That would surely be a winning combination.
Perhaps herein lies the long sought after secret to motivation.
CARROT OR STICK?

What really keeps a salesperson motivated, asks editor Nick de Cent?

There must have been more words expended on the topic of motivation in business – and especially in sales
– than almost any other, along with enough hot air to fuel the Greenhouse Effect well into the next
millennium.
Type in the word ‘motivation’ and Google returns
over 87 million references, a large proportion of which
turn out to be from the usual suspects – self-styled
motivational gurus, peddlers of the latest quick fix and
similar snake-oil salesmen – all intent on earning their
over-inflated consultancy fees.

Complex set of drivers

Sift the wheat from the chaff, however, and you find

What actually motivates: the carrot...

that what motivates humans to perform is a complex
but understandable set of drivers which changes
according to the people involved, their environment,
their upbringing and their own psychology. What, then,
is it that keeps a salesperson motivated? Is it money,
recognition, team spirit, job satisfaction, fear of failure,
carrot or stick?

Competent manager
... or stick?
One answer, of course, is that it is all of these and
more, depending on the individuals involved, their personal circumstances, age and the particular stage their
career has reached. Another answer is that it’s the hard work of a competent manager working within an
effective system that keeps the team fired up. So, at the risk of adding to the Global Warming problem, let’s
take a look at what really motivates people in business and salespeople in particular.

Maslow
Serious psychological and sociological studies of motivation at work have been carried out since the 1920s,
but the discipline really took off after World War II. I guess everyone has heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs.
In his 1954 publication Motivation and Personality, Abraham Maslow described individuals’ motivational
imperatives as defined by five levels of need – physiological (the most basic), safety, social, esteem and
self-actualisation (at the top) – with higher levels like esteem and self-actualisation only playing a part once
lower levels of need have been satisfied.
In booming 21st century Britain, backed by a
comprehensive welfare system, the lowest physiological
level seems largely irrelevant, in that most of us take
for granted a minimum standard of living; however the
thousands of economic migrants currently flocking to
our shores bear testament to what a strong incentive a
living wage and the chance of a better life remains for
those without.
Safety, too, we tend to take for granted though, once
again, the importance the electorate attaches to law-
and-order issues underlines the point that this need
remains deeply engrained within our psyche.

Social drivers
Snakeoil salesmen: beware quick fixes.
It’s at the social levels and above that the interest for
sales managers lies. Salespeople tend to be social people. To be successful they need to mingle, to
empathise with customers and relate to buyers, even if some field-based jobs are, in many ways, isolated
roles cut off from the support of the company mainstream.
Salespeople need to feel supported and then they need to feel valued….

Esteem
Esteem is, of course, hugely important when
considering how to motivate salespeople. Wanting to be
the best – or at least a fear of being the worst – is
often a driving force. Personal reputation, social status,
appreciation from management and recognition in front
of one’s peers are all strong motivators. Exploiting this
characteristic is a staple of most company incentive and
recognition schemes.
Beyond esteem lies self-actualisation or self-fulfilment.
At these heady heights, the individual is seeking self-
development, creativity and job satisfaction. The elite –
the most successful performers and the truly self-
motivated – tend to operate on this level.
Abraham Maslow: motivational theory.
Other theories
Clearly, different people are motivated at various levels depending on individual circumstances, and
Maslow’s is not the only model worth exploring.
Douglas McGregor presented his Theory X and Theory Y in the 1960 work, The Human Side of Enterprise,
while Frederick Herzberg’s 1966 Hygiene Factor theory is described in Work and the Nature of Man.
Herzberg set out a series of factors – achievement,
recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement
and growth – which all contribute to an individual’s
motivation at work.

Demotivators
At the same time, he listed other factors which actually
demotivate if they are inadequate or poorly
implemented: supervision, company policy, working
conditions, salary, peer relationships and security.

High fliers
Harvard professor David C McClelland has been
concerned with what motivates top achievers – the
Maslow’s classic hierarchy of needs pyramid. consistently over-performing salesperson, the high-
flying manager, the completely focused director. His
seminal 1961 Three Needs Theory described in The Achieving Society looks at top-performers’ need for:

• achievement (with achievement, personal responsibility, feedback and moderate risk as drivers);
• power (influence and competitiveness as drivers); and
• affiliation (acceptance, friendship and co-operation as drivers).

Take in goal-setting theory and one or two others and we can start to move towards a universal theory of
motivation at work.

Motivation checklist
Here is a checklist for motivating sales staff and other employees:

1. lead by example, wherever possible, but it’s not a manager’s role to try to outsell or make all the
sales for the team;
2. recognise individual differences – one-size-does-not-fit-all either with customers or
employees;
3. match people to jobs – for instance, business development and account management are highly
distinct sales roles;
4. set achievable but challenging goals and involve employees in the process;
5. tailor rewards to the individual;
6. link rewards directly to performance;
7. check the system for equity by eliminating unfairness;
8. don’t ignore the basic issue of money; and, above all,

9. communicate – be clear and concise; tell your team what’s going on, what needs doing, what
you expect, and accept feedback.