Why you should pay your best people less
Okay, that’s a bit dramatic. But there is a case for saying you should not pay your best people more, or too much anyway [what's too much I hea you ask? good question!]
This is a topic close to my heart – I’m trying to understand what does actually motivate people as I’ve been exposed to a number of different environments including the contrasting worlds of consulting and creativity.
Needless to say, although you always suspect you know what works best, it’s difficult to nail it down exactly with evidence.
Here’s Eric Raymond on the topic of innovation, as quoted in the book “Mavericks at work – why the most original minds in business win” by Taylor/Labarre [a must read!]. This brilliantly puts into words the dilemma faced by so many businesses:
“You cannot motivate the best people with money. Money is just a way to keep score. The best people in any field are motivated by passion. That becomes more true the higher the skill level gets. People do their best work when they are passionately engaged in what they’re doing.”
Great news for startups and young businesses looking for talented people, but very difficult to apply in practice.
And then as you start growing and can afford to pay more the fun really starts – trying to make sure you’re not paying too little or too much, and still providing the opportunities for those stars to “passionately engage” in what they’re doing.
I started writing this a while ago and hit a dead end here, until Matthew Buckland highlighted this TED video [Thanks Matt!]. For business owners, it’s the most important thing you’ll hear all year, if not for the decade. So listen carefully!!!
Dan Pink recently spoke at TED, where he looks at the scientific facts around using money as a motivating factor. Then he offers an alternative framework to the “pay to motivate” scenario that makes a lot of sense and includes the following three components:
- Autonomy – The urge to direct our own lives
- Mastery – The desire to get better and better at something that matters
- Purpose – The yearning to do something that we do in the service of something larger than ourselves.
Unfortunately he only goes into detail on the first one, but it creates space in your mind to generate better solutions for keeping your key talent happy and motivated.
Enjoy. [consider it a 19 minute investment in your future; you won't regret it]
Is this right – is money merely a small component and are there better ways to motivate really outstanding individuals?
What do you think?
Photo – “Winter Camp” by networkcultures via flickr
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