This information came from a session during the 2024 ELEVATE conference and expo. Don’t miss ELEVATE in Phoenix, Arizona, on Nov. 2-5, 2025.
When it comes to motivation, a lot of conversations revolve around carrots and sticks, but the animal in between these two objects is a donkey, not a human.
“Carrots and sticks don’t actually motivate people,” says Sean Martin, Donald and Lauren Morel Associate Professor of Business Administration at UVA Darden School of Business.
Martin says that motivation involves the direction of effort, the intensity of effort and the persistence of effort.
Why Motivation Matters
Finding out how to truly motivate your employees matters because people who are more engaged are absent less, have less turnover, have fewer safety incidents and are more productive.
Motivated employees produce higher quality work and give higher quality customer service.
Martin says that organizations with an average of 9.3:1 engagement ratio have 147% earning per share (EPS) relative to competition. Meanwhile, companies with only 2.6:1 engagement ratio have a -2% relative EPS.
Yet no matter what position employees are in from field staff to executive roles, typically only 30% of employees are engaged. Martin says that employees’ education level also doesn’t impact their engagement at work.
Motivation Rubric
When it comes to motivating team members, you can divide them up into a very simple rubric based on their willingness and their abilities. Martin says leaders should start with questions and find out where the disconnect is.
If you have a scenario where an employee is capable but isn’t trying, they fall into the Can/Won’t section of the rubric. For those putting out mediocre work, ask them what they want out of the job.
Employers often assume pay is the number one motivator for their staff but social surveys have found meaningful work is the number one priority for employees both in 1973 and in 2000.
Martin says you can tap into this feeling by giving your employees a feeling of autonomy, mastery and purpose. Emphasize the importance of working together and needing one another.
“A lot of purpose and meaning can come from the people around you,” Martin says.
When dealing with an employee who has the will to perform and is skilled, but he/she feels stuck, this person falls on the Can/Will section of the rubric. Martin says you should recognize, reward or grow this individual.
In some cases, this could simply mean offering them more rewards for the current job they do or promoting them into a new role. When faced with limited upward mobility or payscale, consider their extrinsic versus intrinsic motivations.
For team members who are motivated but struggling, these employees fall in the Can’t/Will category. The simple solution here is to train them. Martin says training is a win-win-win because the employee will enjoy their job more, the company benefits from their added contribution and the employee’s manager will also enjoy their job more.
Many managers report the “most satisfying thing about being a manager” is the joy of coaching, mentoring, teaching, sharing what they know with others and watching others grow.
As for individuals who have low skill and low will and fall in the Can’t/Won’t section, Martin says you should give them one last chance and then exit them. Keeping these team members like this is a lose-lose-lose as the employee is not engaged, the business is not maximizing its potential and the manager is wasting their time.
“People differ in their skill and their will,” Martin says. “Knowing where employees are on both is critical for addressing performance issues.”
For more content like this, register for next year’s ELEVATE in Phoenix, Arizona, on Nov. 2-5.
