John Sullivan, a world-recognized consultant in the field of human resources and professor of management at San Francisco State University, estimates that managers have to spend half of their working time motivating employees. "Ask a few of your managers if they enjoy trying to motivate and if they are good at it, because you’re likely to find that they dread every minute of it," he writes in an article on ere.net. So if you want to help your managers with employee motivation, hire self-motivated employees. Finding and retaining them may not be as difficult as it seems at first glance.
Intrinsically motivated employees are not only doing their jobs well, but also looking for new ways to work better. Managers do not have to push them constantly to act or offer bigger rewards. They do not even have to find out why these employees are so motivated. Their character simply does not need incentives or threats. Try to get your managers' support for hiring self-motivated employees and you will see that you will get it. If they were skeptical, Sullivan recommends emphasizing the following arguments:
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the opportunity to get something that can't be learned - motivation is not a skill you can train,
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long-term benefits for the company - character traits do not change,
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productive use of time - self-motivated employees work at maximum and there is no compensation waste,
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higher performance and success - there is a direct correlation between intrinsic motivation and higher performance,
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cost savings and higher return on investment - motivated employees do not need higher rewards than others on the same level,
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inspiration to others - internally motivated employees have a positive impact on their surroundings.
So how can you hire employees with natural motivation?
1. Use recommendations by current employees
Build an employee referral program. Ask your current self-motivated and top-performing employees who they would recommend. Read more in this article.
2. Look for keywords
When you browse CVs or LinkedIn profiles, consider phrases that may show high internal motivation. Start from what the motivated employees who you already employ write about themselves.
3. Be direct, say you are looking for motivated people
Put the requirement of self-motivation in your job advertisements or even directly in job titles. Feel free to ask job seekers to include specific examples of self-motivation in their cover letters.
4. Verify self-motivation at job interviews and on the Internet
Provide applicants with a list of requirements to perform the job and ask them to select the five they fulfill the best. Self-motivation should be among them. Continue by asking questions on specific examples of their motivation in practice. Do not forget to check how they present themselves on social networks.
5. Check references
Talk to the candidates' former colleagues and superiors. However, you should not ask them directly whether they would characterize the candidate as self-motivated. Instead, ask them to chose from a list of characteristics which include a high level of intrinsic motivation.
6. Try to hire former employees
Reach out to highly motivated people who worked for you in the past and achieved great results. You can read more about recruiting "boomerangs" here.
Do you find this approach to recruitment useful? How important do you think it is for job seekers to be self-motivated?
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