WE MADE IT MEANINGFUL BECAUSE WE HAD TO

One of the main points of a book I’m reading for my Leadership class is that leaders must learn to appeal to intrinsic motivations to inspire their workers. In other words, extrinsic motivators such as bonuses and related perks will only lead to minimum exertion of effort and maximum need for supervision. The authors suggest, “Treat your employees as if they were volunteers.”

I had to laugh at that suggestion, since we’ve been doing that at our small non-profit for years. Our budget is so small and our work so hard that hiring and retaining employees necessitates that we offer substantial intrinsic motivators. I am blunt with applicants that we don’t pay well and we work long hours. Many times, I am outright embarrassed that we have the audacity to recruit people who could enjoy much better compensation and many more comforts elsewhere.

A funny thing has happened on the way to apologizing to applicants and employees, though: our office has become a great place to work. By having no resources to offer the usual extrinsic motivators, we have had to follow up on our word that we would compensate people in other ways. Our lofty mission, to assist minority entrepreneurs, motivates staff to extraordinary levels of effort. We have created a work setting that is familial AND professional, fostering autonomy AND collaboration. We give people significant responsibilities and cheer them on as they accomplish things they didn’t know they had the skills to accomplish.

I believe that the desire to change the world is not just in twentysomethings and granola crunchers. We’ve found staff, interns, and volunteers, who seek to engage in meaningful work in a dynamic setting where they are respected and valued. And we’ve worked long and hard to make our office that kind of place. We made work meaningful because we had to. And so far, it’s worked for us and for those who work with us.