Why Motivation Fails

(Adopted by Dr Paul H Chung, Dec 2009) 1. Failed to change the attitude as the root for motivation. The motivator has to understand the true nature of a human being. He must realize that there is no set pattern to get someone off his comfortable couch and into the to-do mode. Motives are the ultimate drivers that make a person act. And motives come from attitudes. Also the behaviour of a person is reflected by his or her attitude. Hence you have to help a person change the attitude to get to the next level. This, in fact, is the first step to motivation. 2. Extrinsic motivation usually not sustainable. Extrinsic motivation is often provided through means of reward and punishment. It is usually easy to give; but difficult to withdraw. In most of the cases, motivation disappears as soon as these extrinsic motivators are withdrawn. 3. Diminishing returns for extrinsic motivation if stay at the same levels. It is a common phenomenon that the effects of extrinsic motivation through means of reward and punishment slowly diminish by time, environment and many other factors if they stay at the same levels. The motivator has no alternative but to keep on increasing to maintain their impacts. 4. Extrinsic motivation hurts the intrinsic motivation. Reward and punishment means of extrinsic motivate people for doing something removes their own innate desire to do it on their own. From now on you must punish/reward every time to get them to do it. From the Equity Theory, people may also be drawn back (from being motivated) in comparing their extrinsic returns and thus become de-motivated. 5. Negative motivation usually fails. It is commonly known that carrot often works better than stick. It is because most of the motivators believe if people are not inherently motivated, they would prefer someone to light their fire everyday whenever they go to work. Negative motivation usually fails to work after some time when their people become de-sensitized and its impact has lost effect. 6. Motivation is homogenization, overlook for the diverse needs of people. Motivators often neglect the principle of individual differences. They often have mistaken to subordinate the abstract of their people as a whole and without taking into account the differentiated needs of different employees. There is no single motivation tools that could motivate all people.
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Always expect staff to give twelve hours of output for eight hours time and pay. It is not uncommon that motivators expect their staff to work more than their compensated rewards. Instead, they consider their staff is overpay and they should what they are supposed to pay for and even more, particularly in corporations managed with traditional approach. The motivators work hard, they expect their staff to follow the same example without considering the fact that their compensation is inconsistent to their superiors.

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Motivation system has structural flaws. Over the years, in order to enhance motivation and enthusiasm of the staff, company managements shareholding and staff efficiency salary distribution reform, hope to inspire through stock management, through the allocation of bonuses to motivate employees, but overall the role of measures are often only unclear and the allocation is often non-proportional.

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Fail to work on the job itself. Managers are either too busy or considering that once a job has been structured; it works alright. Thus, the job itself is seldom reviewed to suit the situation, not even to mention the individual. They often count on extrinsic motivation rather than spending effects to work on intrinsic factors, particularly on the job itself which is, strictly speaking, one of key means of motivation.

10. Fail to provide performance feedback. It is recognized that performance feedback is a critical motivator. Often managers find that it does not work or too busy to provide their subordinates with constant and continuous performance feedback. Furthermore, they may find difficulty to face-to-face challenge their staff with adverse performance or areas for improvement. They consider that their staff have already got their feedback during their half-yearly and annual appraisal assessment and ignoring the importance of continuous feedback and appraisal interview. 11. The effect of Attribution Theory. Blaming others is also as old as time. Motivators often blame their staff that despite all efforts contributed by them in promoting motivation of the latter, they fail to positively respond. The motivators fail to realize the effect of Attribution Theory, i.e. attributing all adverse results to external factors not controllable by oneself.