by Reiner Lomb, published on SmartBrief Dec. 15, 2022

When I first met Jennifer, vice president of a large telecom company, her team was underperforming, and she confided that she feared she wouldn’t reach the ambitious goals her manager had set for her department. She was afraid of failing and blamed it on her team’s lack of motivation. When I asked what it was that made her team demotivated, she declared, “They are all lazy!” As I was probing deeper, Jennifer revealed that she believed that the people on her team should give their best because they were paid well, which is a rational reason for showing up at work.  

Jennifer wasn’t aware that the primary driver of employee engagement is not rational, but emotional. Research conducted by The Corporate Leadership Council shows that emotions are 400% more powerful than rational reasons in motivating people to give their very best. This means that an employee who is emotionally engaged puts in four times the effort of one motivated only by rational reasons, such as pay or benefits.

For more from the article: https://corp.smartbrief.com/original/2022/12/avert-quiet-quitting-by-inspiring-your-employees