SHL’s new Motivation Questionnaire Reports have been designed to help HR directors and line managers to effectively identify what motivates their staff.
Most HR directors are now aware that understanding staff motivation plays an important role in a company’s success. In a recent survey carried out at SHL’s International Conference in 2006, the majority of HR professionals (73%) estimated that their employees would be motivated by personal development, while 82% believed that the lack of opportunity to progress in their career would prove to be a de-motivator.
Although the importance of understanding what motivates employees is well recognised, HR Directors remain uncertain how best to identify this. The same survey showed that 80% of HR professionals conduct staff surveys to find out what motivates employees. However, this might not be sufficient. Kevin Kerrigan, Managing Director of SHL, explains: “It is not enough for employers to just listen to their employees, because employees themselves don’t always know what motivates them. Employees tend to think that a high payment is what drives them but, in reality, it usually takes much more to motivate employees than just money.”
SHL’s Motivation Questionnaire has been designed to address this issue. Entirely online, it takes approximately 25 minutes to complete and the key information is presented in a user-friendly manner in a motivation report. Created to help HR professionals and line managers, the report gives a high level summary of the strongest motivators in order of priority for the individual and highlights the factors that are likely to have a strong, moderate, minor or negative impact on individual motivation. The report also includes tips and suggestions for employers on how to motivate the individual and thereby enhance personal performance.
Kerrigan continued: “Talent management and retention are all about understanding people, what drives them and what makes them tick. We can be motivated by different things at different stages of our careers as we progress and develop. This test can help identify those motivators and is of much use to the individual as it is to an organisation and its management.”
As the war for talent increases, so too does the demand for business focused HR practices. Employee motivation is crucial in retaining the best individuals and organisations need to have procedures in place that support and encourage employees in their individual careers.