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Extrinsic Motivation: A Tool to Greater Productivity

Extrinsic motivation is what you have when you are motivated to do something by something external – that is to say, something which is not evoked from an emotional response inside of you (intrinsic motivation). Many employers rely on extrinsic motivation techniques in order to encourage their employees to work more effectively.

One of the most common forms of extrinsic motivation that’s used in the workplace is that of a reward in the form of a financial bonus given to those who exceed a specified level of performance in their job field. This is especially effective in a factory “piece rate” environment where the employees are paid a flat rate for producing x amount of items per day/week/month, and then they are paid a % above this for every x amount over this.

In some places there can even be a tier system so that the extrinsic motivation is appealing to those can find the extra hours for overtime and want to make extra money – at certain times of the year this bonus rate can be increased temporarily so that the extrinsic motivation is more attractive and so greater productivity can be achieved and output targets met.

The sales profession is another sector that has long been associated with offering extrinsic motivation to encourage a better performance by its employees. Sales representatives often work on a basic minimum wage structure and then add to this by getting a commission for each sale they bring into the company, or alternatively they work on a commission only basis where the only money they earn is from the orders they collect from buyers – no orders means no salary, this is a negative motivator but it does work and good sales people can actually use this to their advantage and earn relatively high salaries.

Not all forms of employee extrinsic motivation are financial however; some employers offer other incentives to motivate their workforce to greater productivity. These could in the form of a quality prize offered to the person who brings in the most sales over the course of a month or a quarter. This kind of extrinsic motivation often applies more to management rather than “factory floor” workers and the incentive can take the form of paid additional training, travel or a recreational related activity such as a golfing weekend.

Stores are now also tempting shoppers with extrinsic motivation tools. Many retail outlets are now offering loyalty bonus’ cards where each purchase in store is recorded and when a certain level of expenditure in the store has been reached, the shopper is given a discount voucher or can choose an item from a loyalty gift catalogue. One of the most popular of the loyalty schemes is the frequent flier programs offered by many major airlines. Here travelers get so many “air miles” for each journey they take on the airline and when they have saved enough miles, they can use these to purchase upgraded travel, hotel accommodation or even free flights on that airline.

Although to most people extrinsic motivation rewards are a positive thing, the harder you work, the better you are rewarded etc, there is a downside to this as it allows employers to pay lower basic rate salaries. This means that people who are restricted in how much they can produce for one reason or another (health or family for example) are penalized, as they are unable to make the wages of those who are able bodied or have few personal commitments, but because there are enough of those people on the workforce, the employer feels vindicated in the decision for offering low wages.

Likewise with the store loyalty cards, the prices in the store are often slightly higher than in other stores as the price of the loyalty rewards are passed on to the shoppers. However, for most people, extrinsic motivation works. They accept the terms that the employer or store offer, and are happy to receive whatever reward they achieve and know they can always go elsewhere if they ever feel that the reward is less than the loyalty (to employer or store) is worth.