IN YOUR DAILY DOSE today you’ll discover something researchers never expected to find about motivation in the workplace. Your boss has a significant amount of control over your perceived enjoyment of and motivation to complete your tasks. However, how that control is exerted will surprise you.

IN FACT OR FICTION you’ll discover a small town in Alaska where the mayor of the town is not quite as mayoral as you should expect.

In The News

From the University of Greenwich, London, England, comes some interesting research which ties workplace motivation to the completion of both mundane and complex tasks.  However, the results of the study showed workers motivation to complete complex tasks after praise from their boss actually REDUCED their motivation and possibly can rob the staff of their intrinsic drive to complete the task.

The rewards that people receive at work on a daily basis are mostly verbal and not financial. Unless you’re getting bonuses based on the work you do, your paycheck remains the same regardless  - until you’re fired for not doing your job!

However, in this study researchers found that people who received the verbal equivalent of “good job” after completing a complex task enjoyed the task less and had a reduced desire to do it. In other words it reduced their internal motivation to complete the task. When those same words of encouragement were used after repetitive or mundane tasks it was found the encouragement was helpful.

Researchers believe this might be because the boring tasks in the day need a bit more extrinsic motivation to keep us going than the more complex tasks and projects from which we get our own reward by completing them well.

SOURCE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150928082418.htm

Daily Health Tip

If you are managing others it’s good to note that verbal rewards for complex tasks may well backfire and reduce the motivation of your staff to continue to strive and push forward. On the other hand, simple tasks need a bit of recognition to keep the employees motivated.

But, whether we are managing someone else or not, unless you are the owner of the company, someone is managing you. Now that you understand the risks behind verbal praise for complex tasks you can guard against the reduction in motivation and keep yourself on track.

Making Changes

1. Be sure to recognize the efforts of others around you when they complete repetitive or mundane tasks.

2. Don’t use a lot of praise to congratulate an employee for the work done to complete a big project. Recognition of good work done is different from praise for just completing the task.

3. If you find that you’re not as motivated to complete a large project at work, ask yourself why. Determine if your boss is giving you lots of praise or if you aren’t recognized at all for the work you do. While it is great to get recognition, you also must develop your own internal motivation to complete the job and do it well.

My Daily Affirmation

It also helps others to know that I am approachable and easy to talk to. My question and answer sessions are successful because I start with that openness.

Fact Or Fiction?

Video games and surgeons . . .

While many parents are prodding their students to get off the video games, a new study has found that surgeons who spend 3 hours a week on video games perform surgeries 27% faster with 37% fewer errors. The surgeons were using laparoscopic surgery techniques which employ methods similar to those used in video games.

Have a wonderful day! 
Your Healthy Life America Team