The utopian picture, when a company’s priority is only to develop its own employees, does not correspond to reality. First of all, achieving business results.
One of the tasks of the care department at Yandex.Practicum is to organize and maintain an environment within the company that is optimal both for achieving business results and for employees to realize their potential.
The Care Department is the internal name; it performs two groups of tasks: operations and human, providing “care” for business processes and teams so that users, clients, and the company itself prosper.
Adele Shadrina , shared what the department’s work is based on and what it looks like in practice .
Let’s focus on three questions, the answers to which will provide a number of ideas on how to develop the environment in the company:
- What motivation helps you achieve results and feel satisfaction?
- Why start a conversation about values in the team and company?
- How to create an inspiring environment for strong employees?
We will cover all these three tricks not only from the point of view of setting up processes. Not only from the position of a team lead who constantly interacts with his team. But also from the point of view of applied social psychology, of which Adele is a master. Today's conclusions from experiments and approaches determine the logic of what is being built at Yandex. Workshop.
Financial motivation
Let's start the conversation about motivation with a rather provocative statement:
Financial incentives can negatively impact overall job performance.
This is not a headline from the tabloid press, but one of the conclusions of a fairly large-scale study by the London School of Economics, which was conducted in 2009. It involved 51 companies that paid only for labor productivity.
The British found out that in fact, finances do not always have a positive impact on how a person works, with what desire and passion he does it, and what results he achieves. Passion and desire are one thing - I can be very passionate about my task - but if the result is not very good, then it is only so-so involvement.
The basis was the candle experiment conducted by Karl Duncker in the 1940s to show the difference between solving a creative problem and mechanically executing an order. Since then, this experiment has been carried out and modified for many years in a row. For example, in the 1960s, Princeton University psychologist Sam Glucksberg took this case to study financial motivation. And I found out that in the group with research motivation the results are better than in the group with financial motivation.
Why did this happen? One of the conclusions that was made: in tasks where everything is clear (pipeline types of tasks), finance really helps to stimulate greater productivity. But if a non-standard approach is required, then the financial incentive, if it is the only and leading one, will most likely slow down the solution of the problem. A person’s focus narrows, causing him to try to “get money” rather than “find a solution.”
Main thoughts
A system of material rewards and punishments alone will not ensure the maximum possible productivity of employees involved in working with creative elements.
It narrows the focus of employees' attention, which negatively affects their ability to invent new things and make decisions. And this already affects the company’s results.
Currently, in most companies, work is not uniform and not conveyor belt. For example, the activities of developers, and many office employees, require an integrated approach to solving problems.
The good news is that a team leader can always cultivate a different culture in his team.
For a deeper understanding, let’s move on to an analysis of the types of motivation and their impact on employee activity and engagement.
Formation of self-determination mechanisms
The formation of self-determination mechanisms can act as a special, highest level of development. This is typical for all living organisms that have self-regulation. It is judged by the degree of development and the nature of the structural organization of the individual’s potential.
Definition 2
Self-determination is the ability of a person to choose and have his own choice. It is contrasted with determination, which is the influence of external forces on human behavior.
Self-determination is also considered the ability to independently choose the direction of self-development. It was postulated that a person has the abilities and opportunities for a healthy and fulfilling life. If, from childhood, the conditions of a child’s existence have contributed to providing him with freedom to choose activities and areas of interest, then he grows up to be a healthy and full-fledged person with a wide range of opportunities without imposing unnecessary restrictions.
The purpose of the concept of self-determination is to identify the factors that nourish a person's innate potential. They are able to determine growth, integration and health. It also involves the process of exploring the conditions that support the healthy development and effective functioning of individuals, groups and communities.
Motivation to solve complex problems
Ryan-Deci self-determination theory
Each approach is a kind of framework to understand: “Why is this?”, so there is no single correct approach. If the approach works for you, then it's okay to use it. If it doesn’t work, forget about it - there are hundreds and thousands of theories, and without practice they have no value.
One of many approaches to understanding motivation is the Ryan-Deci theory of self-determination. American researchers Ryan and Deci after World War II became interested in why some people, without or with minimal resources, achieve goals, while others, who at first glance, have much better initial data, give up halfway.
In developing their concept, Ryan and Deci conceptualized motivation as a continuum.
Ryan-Deci self-determination theory
On one side is external motivation, which everyone knows very well about. These are awards, punishments, incentives, rules, norms, social recognition, a portrait on the honor board - everything that in a company can be attributed to an external motivation system.
The other side is intrinsic motivation. This includes interest, curiosity, satisfaction or happiness in the process. However, if an employee is driven only by this, this can also negatively affect his work activities. Because it is impossible to maintain a constant level of inspiration, interest and focus.
The third type of motivation - autonomous - lies between internal and external motivation. This includes a person’s internal beliefs, his values and the meanings that guide his activities. These are seemingly internalized elements of “external motivation” - those rules, norms and motivators that have become personally and deeply important to a person. Which he follows even without external pressure and which, most likely, he is not even aware of.
Such employees can achieve more in their work because they are more involved in their activities. They come from internal meanings, which helps them not to be distracted by external stimuli and at the same time not to simply depend on changes in mood.
It is important to understand that there is no manifestation of a “pure” type of motivation. It can change for each person, and we are talking more about patterns in activity.
Main thoughts
Employees who have predominant autonomous motivation are more independent in making decisions and getting things done.
They do not run to the team lead for confirmation on every unimportant issue, but come only in case of really serious obstacles. They also have external motivation and are supported by the very format of the “employer-employee” relationship - a person is paid money, he can be fired.
A mature team leader, in addition to managing external incentives, helps the employee to update and maintain autonomous and internal motivation - to create an optimal environment and mood for activity.
Interest is important. You just need something else along with the interest. Then a person will be able to both enjoy work and achieve the company’s goals - efficiently, independently and creatively.
Development of self-determination in adults
Self-determination is the basic innate tendency that leads an organism to engage in behavior of interest. The latter most often has advantages for developing the ability to carry out flexible interaction with social actors and the environment.
The empirical criteria for self-determination are:
- spontaneity,
- creativity,
- interest and personal significance as reasons for action,
- feelings and feeling free,
- certain psycholinguistic indicators (for example, the verbs “should” and “want” that predominate in speech).
The need for self-determination begins to develop from the first days of life. From the moment of birth, a child has natural tendencies to explore, manipulate, and be curious. All these signs are inherent at the end of the 6th month as a free “I”. By 9 months, their expression occurs through an absolute preference for novelty; at one year, this leads to persistent attempts to be able to do something. Already in older years, the characteristics differentiate into various specific interests.
In such tendencies, internal motivation occurs, so the signs cannot require external stimulus or pressure, arising spontaneously. This occurs in the absence of obstacles from the social context.
An internally motivated form of activity is capable of providing its own rewards such as excitement, interest and pleasure (that accompany it). It is an end in itself and does not include means to achieve more distant consequences.
Note 1
The concept of “self-determination” was proposed and developed in detail by American scientists Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan. They formulated the basic provisions of the concept in relation to the problem of motivation of individual behavior in the 80s. 20th century.
Explaining the reasons for human behavior, this theory took into account not only the influences exerted by the environment, but also his own aspirations and ability to coordinate external requirements and available potential opportunities to achieve his goals.
Values in the team and in the company
If a company has formulated values and posted them on the website, but they remember them only once a year at a corporate party, in toasts at events or in company presentations - this is the same Cargo cult, these are dead values. They are not about the team and the internal environment; they do not in any way affect how the environment within the company works.
But there are companies in which values live. At what moments can we understand that they are truly “alive”, that they exist?
Firstly, “living” values actually determine the decisions and style of communication within the team. If the majority of the team makes decisions based on an unspoken internal principle, most likely it is one of the values of the company and the team.
Secondly, “living” values evoke an emotional response and active consent in people. They say: “Yes, I really want everything to be done humanely (or honestly, or on time).” The style of communication at the organizational level, for example, reflects these same unspoken principles.
The first place to start understanding values is to explore what the team itself thinks about it.
Where to start:
- Start a dialogue about what kind of team you would like to work for;
- Choose common principles for the team on which you want to build work;
- Ground values into company processes by answering the question “What would a process look like if it reflected all values?”
In February 2022, at one of the strategic sessions at Yandex.Workshop, these issues were discussed. It was important to understand why the employees came together in this particular team? What do they want to achieve? As a result of an open dialogue, about 10 “living” principles were obtained, to which there was both an emotional response and active consent.
After this, the values were grounded in the company’s processes, answering the question: what would, for example, the process of creating a product or recruitment look like if it reflected all (or some) values?
An example of a Miro board from one of the brainstorming sessions. Now the description of this particular process is already outdated, as is the naming of individual values; this is something that lives and is constantly updated by the team
A process passed through the prism of team values becomes not only effective, but also understandable and shared by employees.
Main thoughts
Values are “living”; they can and should be talked about regularly.
Then they can evolve, develop together with the team, with the growth and change in the company's goals.
If the company doesn’t even have a conversation about values, you can start it in your team or even with your employee.
You don’t even need to mention the word “values” so as not to scare anyone away with the hackneyed word. Just find out what is important to a person in his work, how he would like to be treated, what he values in his interactions with other people. When a person feels that he is working not just in a group of people, but among like-minded people, this helps to actualize internal and autonomous motivation. And this allows you to solve problems deeper and more creatively.
Let's move on to the third focus.
Challenge & Support theory, N.Sanford
This theory originally described how students learn: when they are successful and when they are not so successful. Later it was transferred to business.
On the matrix you see two axes: the first is the axis of complexity or, rather, challenge, and the second is support. The resulting squares describe the typical environment in a particular company, and this determines how employees feel in the company and how they tend to act:
Challenge & Support theory, N.Sanford
Support is not just words: “You can do it! Well done!" This is about an integrated approach. there is little support in a team or company , employees develop a fear of mistakes, mistrust and a desire to avoid responsibility. Because a mistake will most likely be punished.
If the level of support is high, but the complexity is low , the person becomes bored because he has no development. If he sees tasks and projects that interest him on the market, he will most likely go there. Situations with low levels of support and complexity are rare. However, they lead to frustration, complete indifference to results, lack of responsibility and involvement.
The sector where both support and complexity are high enough . Employees become willing to take risks and take responsibility for results; they are ready to take it upon themselves. Here the story about creative solutions is fully revealed, because there is no fear of making a mistake. Creative search assumes that the desired solution will not be obtained immediately, it is a process.
This matrix can be used as a guide both in personal dialogue and in working with a team. Ask yourself questions: “What level of task complexity are we offering? How challenging is this? How much support and resources do we provide?”
Main thoughts
Ask yourself: “What kind of environment am I, as a leader, likely to create for my employees in individual (1:1) and team interactions?
I can feel that I support my employees and provide them with everything they need. But my employees may not think so because support may mean something else to them.
Find out from your employees what the best support is for them.
When you, as a team leader, ask your employees questions: “What keeps you going? What do I need to provide on my part for you to achieve your goal?”, then the actions of your entire team will be co-directed. You'll provide exactly the resources your employees need to do their jobs, rather than wasting them.
Involve employees in goal setting to jointly manage the level of challenge.
There are cases when employees say: “I can do more! Give me a cooler task! I am capable of this! If the team lead does not take such requests into account, boredom, a desire to look around, and a low level of results may arise.
