If we dealt only with animals life would be great. Every veterinarian has said that at some point in their career. From clients to employees people tend to be our biggest challenges. In veterinary practice human resource costs are generally the biggest expense. In these economically challenging times reducing the expense of employee turnover and getting the most of the staff you have are necessary. The problem is that we always feel that we cannot afford to pay them what they want to stay in a job or produce more. But is money all that is needed to motivate staff?
I have just finished reading the new book by Daniel Pink called “Drive”. In it he explains how the typical way we pay and motivate people may be doing us more harm.
To give you an insight into the book I took the following from his web page.
“The secret to high performance and satisfaction—at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.
Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He demonstrates that while carrots and sticks worked successfully in the twentieth century, that’s precisely the wrong way to motivate people for today’s challenges. In Drive, he examines the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose—and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action. Along the way, he takes us to companies that are enlisting new approaches to motivation and introduces us to the scientists and entrepreneurs who are pointing a bold way forward.”
Like all things that are good for us the premises in this book will require some work from you. Cultures will have to change, people will have to adjust. If the end result is a happy, motivated and engaged work force it is a no-brainer to me.
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