“But meet them halfway with love, peace and persuasion and expect them to rise for the occasion” - Van Morrison from his song “Glad Tidings”

One of the issues I confront frequently as a manager is whether someone is being compensated fairly for their work. Unfortunately, this important issue can be confused with the issue of how we can help provide, help people find, and honor motivation. I agree with those who believe that money is not a motivator. Instead, I believe that money is a satisfier. By contrast, motivators can include things like interesting work, opportunities to grow, and making a tangible positive difference for others. Today, I reflect on how both of these issues are important, and separate, in supporting people’s productivity. Both must be addressed if employees are to be engaged in their work with energy, dedication, and creativity.

There are many aspects to understanding what is fair. We ask if the person’s salary is equitable when compared to the salaries of others with similar duties, skill, and experience in the organization. We also ask this question about equity with others within the university system and those doing similar work for other organizations. We also consider the specific value of a person’s contributions and performance. It is also important to remember that a person’s perception that they are paid fairly is only one potential source of satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

Demands for IT service are very often greater than the budget available. This means that there are are trade-offs between what services can be provided and what we can invest in salaries, software licenses, hardware, training, support, and other costs. We can face difficult choices between hiring additional staff to help deliver results, and manage workloads, and spending more to provide satisfactory salaries for existing staff. These trade-offs can mean that we must plan to address some expectations when budgets improve and leave these unsatisfied until then.

I believe that having an adequate and appropriate salary can satisfy some of a person’s needs and I have found Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs a useful tool for looking at these. An adequate salary and benefits package helps a person meet their needs, and their family’s need, for food, shelter, health and security. It can also contribute to meeting their need for esteem, and provide resources that support their efforts to meet higher-level needs like love and belonging, and self-actualization. It is clear to me that having these needs met is very important and that an employer’s failure to provide adequate and appropriate compensation will contribute to employees feeling dissatisfied.

While I don’t believe money is a motivator, I am convinced that dissatisfaction with salary, and the insecurity associated with a person being less able to meet their needs, can be a demotivator. A dissatisfied employee will have a harder time being productive, engaged, energetic and creative. I think this is especially true where employees believe they are being treated unfairly. Perceiving that you are paid unfairly is even more discouraging than feeling that all colleagues salaries are too low. While the common burden of dealing with budget or economic challenges can be difficult, the individual burden of being paid unfairly for their work alienates a person from colleagues and the organization.

It is also important to remember that what is adequate and appropriate is subjective. In many cases the end result of an increase will be that the employee feels they have received an increase that is “good enough” while still not providing all the compensation they believe they deserve.

I think that temporary increases in productivity resulting from salary increases that eliminate or reduce dissatisfaction may contribute to the incorrect notion that money is a motivator. Another source of confusion is the fact that recognition is a powerful motivator. I think there is genuine motivation in action as an employee seeks recognition in the form of promotions and more meaningful assignments that are associated with salary increases. Even in these cases, I believe that employees with soon consider their increased salary in terms of whether it is fair compensation for their new duties. It is the opportunity for recognition and advancement to more meaningful roles and contributions that provides the motivation.

So, I believe that money will not motivate people to make greater and more meaningful contributions to the work of an organization. Instead, I think that what motivates people is opportunity. This can be the opportunity to do interesting work, to take on new challenges that allow them to grow and experience the pride of mastering new skills and knowledge, to make a difference, and to take on a more significant roles that free them to make a greater difference over time.

We need to work with the people we lead and support to understand what opportunities they will each find most motivating. Often this will require us to help them see and understand opportunities they have not considered. We need to use this knowledge as we plan changes in assignments and organizations that will help us contribute to the missions of the companies and institutions we serve. We will face challenges as the opportunities that will motivate our employees will not always fit with their current capabilities and with the immediate needs of our organizations.

With training and appropriate assignments, we can help people gain the capabilities they need. Sometimes, their aspirations and abilities will not be well matched. Mentoring and coaching can be valuable in helping people recognize when this is the case and what steps they need to take to address these challenges. Sometimes, that will include the difficult process of adjusting their goals. We also need to consider how we can identify career paths, and opportunities for advancement and how we can communicate clearly about these opportunities and the requirements for pursuing them.

We also need to consider these issues as we complete our strategic and tactical planning. This can help us plan with the people in our organizations to make good use of their capabilities and potential. With good planning and communication, we will be better able to provide opportunities that motivate people and help us achieve our goals together.

I think it is crucial that IT leaders and managers keep these issues of satisfaction and motivation separate so that they can effectively address both challenges. When we successfully satisfy and provide motivation for people in ways that help us work together in service of our mission, we create an engaging and exciting environment that helps us attract and retain the talented people we need.