Motivation, Incentives and the Complexity of the Complexity of Human Behaviour

Abstract

Employee motivation is key for the long term upkeeping of high performance in all companies. Unfortunately, innumerable fully fledged managers are in misunderstanding about what motivation means and how it works. Many of them confuse motivation with incentives and thus commit grave HR blunders. By doing so, they involuntarily damage shareholder value whilst they intentionally try to enhance it. This article highlights the difference between incentives and motivation. It also gives some insight into the mysterious world of human motivation. It deals with not only well-known drives of motivation but also less known ones which still influence us on each day of our lives.