This review is devoted to issues and methods for assessing staff motivation, best practices and methods for assessing the level of staff motivation. We studied the literature and selected the ten most interesting assessment methods.

Every year, companies spend very significant sums on developing motivation systems in order to increase the productivity of their employees. But often their efforts are in vain. After all, in order to increase the level of motivation of employees, you need to understand in which direction this should be done. It is very important to diagnose this very motivation before increasing the level of motivation. In this article you will find the most effective methods for studying motivation levels.

First of all, you need to know that in order to correctly assess staff motivation, we must distinguish between two main types: motivation of candidates and motivation of employees themselves.

Assessing candidate motivation:

1. Motivation card.

A very effective way to diagnose a candidate's motivation is to compare the motivation map with the candidate's answers. This is especially useful to understand and consider during the executive selection process. First you need to develop a candidate motivation map. This will include the following sections:

• power - development
• achieving success - avoiding failure
• security - belonging

In accordance with this motivation card, the candidate is asked questions and the answers are recorded in the table. You can ask both case questions and projective questions:

Examples of cases for assessing staff motivation:

• What are the main criteria that you pay attention to when choosing a future company to work for?
• Given the same financial motivation, which company will you choose?
• Examples of projective questions:
• Why do people work well in some companies and poorly in others?
• Why do people most often quit their jobs?
• What conditions primarily ensure high performance results?

Answers must be entered in the appropriate column of the motivation card and then analyzed which motivation prevails in the candidate and whether it corresponds to the priorities of your company.

2. Testing.

An indispensable, but rather annoying way to diagnose a candidate’s motivation is to test it. It should be remembered that the candidate must be warned that he will be tested.

There are many different specially designed tests for this purpose. Among them is a method for studying Shane’s motivation for career growth. The technique consists of ranking responses to 41 statements on a ten-point scale.

Question and answer forms can be found at this link: http://psylab.info/Methodology_for_study_motivation_of_professional_career_Shane

In my opinion, the questionnaire for identifying sources of motivation by John Barbuto and Richard Skoll is also very successful. The operating principle is the same, but 30 statements are proposed, which are distributed across 5 areas and are rated on a seven-point scale. More details here: https://sites.google.com/site/test300m/msi

3. Questionnaire.

Another softer way than testing to diagnose the level of motivation of candidates is a questionnaire. The undoubted advantage of this method is that you can select exactly the number of factors and exactly the list of them that interests you and is relevant specifically for your company. Invite the candidate to rate each of the motivators with a certain number of points (you determine the scale yourself).

4. Questions about the company.

It is easy to determine how interested a candidate is in working for your company by asking a question about what he knows about your company. If a candidate is motivated to work in your company, he will definitely look at information about the company before the interview. If in response he utters stereotyped phrases, then most likely he was attracted by salary, and as we know, this is the most unreliable motivator.

Employee motivation assessment:

To assess the motivation of existing staff, different survey methods are used, but the approach to conducting them is radically different. Basically, the so-called generalized motivation is assessed. However, the way the data obtained is analyzed allows us to achieve very good results.

1. Thematic questionnaires.

This method includes an oral interview and a written questionnaire. Since a diagnostic interview requires a lot of effort and time, it is most productive to use it to measure the level of motivation of top managers. You can also use the manager's opinion to form an overall impression of employee motivation. For interviews, it is better to use a set of open and closed questions. To make it easier to interpret your answers, you can record the results or enter them into a table.

2. Method of projective questions.

The undoubted advantage of this method is that it significantly reduces the likelihood of receiving socially desirable answers. But be prepared for the fact that processing the results will take considerable time and require certain psychological knowledge from you. It is necessary to include in the conversation not only projective questions, but various types of tasks and cases.

3. Test of humorous phrases.

This method was proposed back in 1982, but nevertheless, HR specialists should pay attention to it, it is easy to process and the procedure itself will undoubtedly cause only positive emotions in the employee being evaluated. The essence of the method is as follows: 80 cards with various funny sayings are offered. 40 of them can definitely be classified into one of the 10 topics, and the remaining 40 are not clearly defined. Accordingly, a person will relate them precisely to those topics that are internally closer to him. The cards are handed to the employee and asked to sort them into 10 piles and only after that the topics are given. The authors proposed the following 10 topics:

• Self-defense
• Gender relations
• Bad habits
• Money
• Career
• Family
• Stupidity
• Mediocrity
• Social unrest

In accordance with the number of cards on each topic, the main and secondary motivators of a person are determined. In order not to embarrass the employee, you can tell him that the test determines his level of sense of humor.

4. Coach questionnaire.

This method is very simple, but gives wonderful results. It consists of several stages. At first it is a regular survey. The questionnaire contains motivation factors (include those that you consider necessary) and two columns: how important this factor is and how much the person is satisfied with it now. After collecting these stages, it is necessary not only to analyze them, but also to enter the data into the summary table. This stage is fundamental in this technique. Because this is what the next discussion is based on. Here you can take either a formal approach or a more creative one.

An example of the first method is to gather everyone, for example, in a conference room; in the second case, to discuss the results while eating delicious pizza somewhere in a cafe. The GROW model is used for discussion. Using this method allows you to ensure that the discussion does not go beyond the intended topic, not to turn the discussion into empty chatter, but to find effective ways to solve the problem. For a discussion, you also need someone to take on the role of a coach (he must lead the discussion) and someone who will record the discussion; alternatively, you can use a voice recorder.

Then everything happens simply, the motivator with which the employees are most dissatisfied is selected, the question is asked who is dissatisfied with them and what they would like to receive as a result. If there is a person present at the discussion who can offer a solution to the problem, you can immediately discuss it, but if not, then the team offers its own solutions, but they must be recorded. After this, it is necessary to sum up the results, including setting a deadline by which the issue will be resolved and when a meeting will be held to discuss the results.

It is very important not to miss this moment, so that it doesn’t work out - they talk and forget, this will very demotivate the team and will only cause irritation among employees. This method can be used both in small teams and in large companies. Of course, it is no longer recommended to conduct a discussion with a large number of respondents, since those who are not close to the factors being discussed will be frankly bored, but the summary table will clearly indicate weaknesses in employee motivation.

5. Essay writing.

This method in its own way allows you to identify the employee’s motivation. The main point is to correctly set the topic of writing. The further it lies from motivation, the more accurate the results can be obtained. But when interpreting the results, basic psychological knowledge is needed, the same as when interpreting projective techniques.

6. Structured observation to assess staff motivation.

It is very effective to use this method when checking such motivation as the desire and desire to adhere to rules and standards, and the correlation of one’s goals with the goals of the company (team). Keeping work diaries can also be used for the same purposes.

7. Sales assessment, improving the quality of work, reducing the number of customer complaints, optimizing the work process, introducing innovations.

These methods are quite labor-intensive, but objective in assessing the level of employee motivation. Moreover, they evaluate not external motivators, but deeper ones - internal ones, and that is why they are considered the most accurate.

Assessing staff motivation is a painstaking task, but rewarding, provided that you are going to use its results to improve the motivation system or build it.

It is important to first correctly identify the general weak points, the so-called critical points of the company’s motivational system. And after that, proceed to a more individual approach. Of course, the newer the team/company, the more often assessments need to be carried out. But as work gets established, there is no need to conduct assessments more often than once every few months.

To effectively manage staff motivation, it must be researched and assessed. At the same time, measuring motivation is a complex methodological problem. The article discusses the methods of its research, and also proposes the author’s model for studying motivation, which identifies three levels of its manifestation. The parameters are both employee assessments and specific measurable results related to work behavior and labor efficiency.

The results achieved by people in the process of work depend not only on the knowledge, skills and abilities of these people; effective activity is possible only if workers have appropriate motivation, i.e., a desire to work.

An organized and controlled process of motivating an employee to work determines his work behavior, and the productive use of human resources largely determines the company’s competitive advantages.

The issues of forming motivation to work are dealt with by specialists in the field of economics, sociology, psychology, etc., as evidenced, first of all, by the emergence of many theories. However, the joint efforts of researchers bring to mind the parable of the three blind men who could not come to a common opinion about what kind of animal was in front of them. At the same time, they completely correctly described the elephant, feeling its different parts.

At the same time, each of the approaches assumes that in order to manage motivation, it must be examined and assessed. Despite theoretical research, measuring motivation is a complex methodological problem. Practitioners are forced to admit that they are measuring the “immeasurable.” . In the personality structure, theorists have identified stable “generalized motives”; it is these variables that, as tendencies, are diagnosed and taken into account when developing motivational measures. In reality, there are no motives. “Firstly, motives are not directly observable and in this sense they cannot be presented as facts of reality. Secondly, they are not facts in the sense of real objects accessible to our direct observation. They are conditional, facilitating understanding, auxiliary constructs of our thinking, or, in the language of empiricism, hypothetical constructs.”

Motivation is the main link in the motivational sphere of the individual. All definitions of motivation can be attributed to two directions. The first considers motivation from a structural perspective, as a set of factors or motives. For example, according to the scheme of V.D. Shadrikov (1982), motivation is determined by the needs and goals of the individual, the level of aspirations and ideals, conditions of activity (both objective, external and subjective, internal - knowledge, skills, abilities, character) and worldview, beliefs and orientation of the individual, etc. Taking these factors into account, a decision is made and an intention is formed. The second direction considers motivation not as a static, but as a dynamic formation, as a process, a mechanism. V. A. Ivannikov believes that the process of motivation begins with the actualization of the motive. This interpretation of motivation is due to the fact that a motive is understood as an object of satisfying a need, i.e. a motive is given to a person as if ready. It does not need to be formed, but simply updated (to evoke its image in a person’s mind).

The motivational process begins with a physiological or psychological need that activates behavior or creates an impulse (motive) aimed at achieving a specific goal or reward (unsatisfied need). All this comes down to a more concise definition: need is an internal stimulator of activity.

Motives are actually formed based on needs. Since needs have a complex structure, are diverse and vary in degree of expression, the motives that are formed on their basis are also complex in structure. Any action is based on not one, but several motives. Therefore, behavior itself is sometimes called multimotivated.

Needs give rise to desires, aspirations, emotions, feelings, and encourage the subject to activity. There are several classifications of needs for different reasons. It was proposed to divide needs into material (for food, clothing, procreation, etc.) and spiritual (for music, friendship, work, reading books, etc.). The structure of the motivation mechanism is shown in Figure 1.

A. Maslow developed the concept of a hierarchy of motives, in which all needs are divided into 5 classes (5 hierarchical levels). V. McDuggal proposed increasing the set of needs to 18, and the Polish psychologist K. Obukhovsky - to 120. Some psychologists reduce all needs to 7 main types: 1) physiological (nutrition, sleep, breathing, etc.), 2) procreation (birth, upbringing, protection), 3) obtaining a livelihood (housing, food, clothing), 4) spiritual needs (requests), 5) communication (responsibilities, rights, sympathies, etc.), 6) self-expression (in religion, sports, art, science, etc.), 7) self-affirmation (respect, vocation, power, etc.).

Motives considered as dispositions can be divided into types, the names of which are similar to the names of needs: organic, material, social and spiritual (Figure 2).

In a situational disposition, incentives act as external motivators. In management activities, this is the area of ​​motivation and stimulation. In the process of motivation, performers develop internal, psychological motivations for work: interest in work, satisfaction with it. Interest in work is achieved by a number of administrative measures (monetary compensation, various benefit systems, bonuses).

Job satisfaction can be ensured only on the basis of achieved labor results. This means that the manager’s efforts to create job satisfaction among employees should be aimed not at instilling this personality trait in them, but at creating conditions for employees to achieve efficiency and high performance results.

When building a system of motivation for employees, an enterprise identifies motivational factors that can be self-generated (internal) and created by management (external). At the strategic level, taking these factors into account, it is possible to distinguish three types of motivational personnel management policies:

1) the predominance of external (stimulating) influences on personnel. In this case, the management of the enterprise focuses on the use of various incentives (material and moral encouragement) to increase the interest of the organization's employees in the final results of their work (establishing a relationship between work results with increased wages, bonuses, bonuses, promotions, praise (social psychological encouragement of employees);

2) the predominance of internal (motivational) influences on personnel. In this case, the management of the enterprise focuses on the use of various management motives (responsibility, freedom of action, the opportunity to use and develop the necessary skills and abilities, personal development, interesting work). In practice, this approach often prevails in emerging (forming) organizations due to their lack of a material base as a basis for incentives;

3) a harmonious combination of a complex of stimulating influences and motivational personnel management (with basic internal (motivational)). This approach can be considered the most optimal, removing the extremes of the first two approaches. As a rule, such a motivational policy is implemented by organizations that are developed in all respects, in which a value-based corporate culture has already been formed, and this culture is supported by an effective mechanism for distributing material incentives to the organization’s employees;

When developing and building a balanced motivational program for an organization, it is extremely important to take into account the stage of the organization’s life cycle (formation, functioning, development) and the typology of motivational orientation of employees (needs, motives, expectation systems, value systems, external conditions and incentives, etc.).

Main focuses of motivation:

– with individual-subjective orientation of employees - stability of material incentives; prospects for increasing wages and social status;

– with subjective orientation of employees - guaranteed stability; organizational support; setting specific tasks; approval of positive results in the presence of the team; openness of communication and trust;

– with personal orientation of employees - stimulation of creative activity; delegation of responsibility when solving problems; support for initiatives; assignment of a new unknown front of work; showing confidence in professionalism; collegial decision making; support in communicating effective ideas and ways to implement them to the team.

We can identify general strategic guidelines in building a motivational program at various stages of an organization’s existence:

1) at the stage of formation of an organization, the following strategic motivational guidelines are inherent:

– leadership qualities, personal example and “infecting” employees with optimism and team spirit;

– leader’s activity in resolving conflicts and contradictions in the team;

– encouraging an active personal position of the organization’s employees;

– construction and broadcast by the leader of the picture of the organization’s “Development Prospects”;

– moral (if possible, material) incentives for efficiency, etc.;

– distribution of tasks and functions, taking into account people’s predispositions (give employees work that is interesting to them).

2) at the operating stage, the following motivational guidelines can be distinguished:

– stimulating clear compliance with one’s functional tasks and norms of positional interaction (for subjective orientation);

– stable material incentives and salary increases in accordance with work results and skill level (for all employees, especially for individual-subject orientation);

– encouraging the improvement of employee skills (an incentive for an individual focus is an increase in wages, for an individual - an increase in professionalism, for a personal focus - the opportunity for self-development and a greater contribution to the organization’s activities);

– providing initiative in improving ways to solve complex problems (for the subject) and problems (for personal orientation);

– introduction of a system of incentives that allows employees to “manage” their wages while increasing the volume and quality of their work and receive more (for an individual focus).

3) at the stage of development of the organization, a significant motivational guideline is:

– moral and material incentives for employees to search for new, promising, original ideas to improve their activities and the organization as a whole (mainly for personal purposes);

– creation of a reward system for informal leaders who have realized the need for organizational changes and explain this need to others (mainly for personal orientation);

– explanatory work among staff aimed at confirming the stability of the organization’s activities (for a subjective focus).

In organizations, there should be a direct relationship between employee satisfaction and the system for achieving agreement on goals. The more consistent this relationship is, the more positive the dynamics of employee satisfaction. Recognition of individual results is reflected in the employee’s remuneration depending on the level of his responsibility through the level of achievement of goals.

Improving the motivation system is one of the most important areas of personnel work. If we take into account the ratio of costs to results obtained, the return on investment in projects to improve motivation is one of the highest.

Studying motivation helps you save significant money. Thus, young and ambitious specialists are often willing to work for a small salary just to gain the necessary experience, and changing the material incentive system for sales employees makes it possible to make a noticeable profit.

Despite all the advantages of studying staff motivation, in Russia only foreign companies do this on a regular basis. True, recently large Russian organizations have joined them, adopting the Western style of work.

A manager for whom career growth and salary are important is usually confident that these factors are also an incentive for his subordinates. In addition, often the employee himself cannot accurately answer the question of what exactly motivates him. Therefore, it is better for management to trust not their own intuition, but the methods developed and tested by practice. They allow you to understand what employees really expect from the organization.

Methods for studying motivation have been used in the West for decades. According to experts, with the advent of the computer and the Internet, the cost of their development has decreased, and it has become easy and fast. However, fundamentally new technologies have not appeared for a long time.

Let's consider methods for studying motivation that are offered to managers to analyze these stable personality attributes, “generalized motives”:

Polls— used to assess the degree of staff satisfaction. Survey forms can be different: interviews, questionnaires. As a rule, the subject is asked to select (and evaluate) from the proposed list of motives, interests, needs those that most accurately describe him, relatively direct questions are asked about how much the employee likes the work itself, its conditions, relationships in the team, leadership style, etc. .P.

A diagnostic interview requires a significant investment of time and effort, therefore it is used to assess the level of motivation of managers. In addition, based on the opinion of department heads, it is possible to create a generalized description of the situation by department, assessing the overall level of employee motivation.

Despite the obvious accessibility of this method, it has disadvantages: not all motives are conscious, since understanding complex deep motivational formations requires developed reflection; answers are often insincere due to the factor of “social desirability” (the desire to look the best, to meet certain social “norms” and “standards”). However, surveys allow you to quickly collect mass material, find out how a person perceives his actions and actions, what he declares to the “world.”

Psychological tests. The test questionnaire contains a series of questions, the answers to which are used to judge the psychological qualities of the subject. A test task is a special kind of test, based on the results of which the presence or absence and degree of development of characterological traits (personality properties) are determined, for example, orientation towards achieving success.

With the help of standardized tests, quantitative assessments are obtained, which can be used to compare the severity of an individual’s psychological properties with their expression in popularization.

The disadvantage of standardized tests is the certain possibility of the test subject influencing the test results in accordance with the approved characterological personality traits. These possibilities increase if the test takers know the content of the test, or the criteria for assessing the behavior and personality traits being studied.

Projective techniques. The main emphasis is on diagnosing the employee’s hidden motivation, which is hidden, including for the employee himself. Often, projective methods include combinations of all kinds of methods - cases (situations), specific tasks, interviews, including questions that at first glance have nothing to do with the respondent (for example, “Why, in your opinion, do people work well in one company, but not so much in another? are they trying?”). It is assumed that the subject identifies key indicators for him.

Information obtained using such methods is less structured and standardized, and is more difficult to process. These methods require skilled interpretation of the collected data.

Knowledge of the motivational components allows the manager to draw up a “motivational map” for the employee. Information about the identified driving motives and needs of an employee is used when developing a set of measures to motivate employees.

However, often, motivational programs in organizations lead to only short-term changes and have almost no impact on production and financial performance. The reason is that “generalized motives” are subject to diagnosis - dynamic formations that are actualized under the influence of situational determinants, and “situational determinants” can potentially be a huge number of variables in a real situation, so it is impossible to take into account and measure them all.”

Managers, focusing on employees’ subjective assessment of their motives and “generalized motives” (without taking into account “situational determinants”), use a set of incentives that, despite their attractiveness, have virtually no effect on business success.

The activities in question are often carried out as part of the development of a remuneration system, or to satisfy identified motivational factors. Some of these programs are focused on analyzing what has been achieved: comparing employee satisfaction before and after the implementation of a motivational project.

Managers welcome such initiatives in their companies, believing that their “correct” implementation will certainly allow them to achieve efficiency. All these programs are based on a fundamentally erroneous logic based on managers’ belief that if you compare the subjective assessment of employees before and after the introduction of a motivational program, then in the event of positive changes you can be sure that sales will increase and product quality will improve.

Consultants and HR specialists actively support the myth that in this case there is no need to worry about the growth of indicators, since the results are optimized “by themselves.” As a result, top managers are confident that after some time these programs will pay off and that they made the right choice.

However, since there is no clear connection between subjective assessments employees and work efficiency – improvements rarely occur.

In addition, statements about changes in the level of motivation based only on self-assessment of employees are not substantiated. To obtain an adequate picture, it is necessary to take into account the labor behavior in which it is reflected. Note that in the domestic and foreign literature there is numerous scientific data stating the fact of the significant influence of motivation on the success and efficiency of performing a specific activity, therefore, it is important to take into account the results for the company, for which, in fact, incentive measures were initiated.

In large companies with tens of thousands of employees, a series of focus groups are conducted in addition to surveys. To do this, groups are formed of several people representing different levels of management of the organization (top management, management, ordinary employees, etc.) and different professional interests. They are asked the same topics for discussion as in the questionnaires. When used skillfully, this method allows you to clarify all the subtleties of staff motivation.

Another method, a diagnostic interview, requires a significant investment of time and effort, and is therefore used to assess the level of motivation of managers. Also in this case, assessment centers are used.

To assess the overall level of motivation of employees, it is not necessary to talk with each of them. You can select experts, for example, heads of departments, who are able to draw up a generalized description of the situation for their departments. Also, to study motivation, you can resort to organizational diagnostics, when conclusions about the degree of staff interest are made based on such indicators as staff turnover, average length of service in the company, attendance at corporate events, tardiness, etc.

There are psychological tests that allow you to study the basic needs of a person. – All employees can be divided into “professionals”, “neutrals” and “organizationists”. Each group requires a special approach. Thus, delegation of authority is important for “professionals”. “Organizationists” should be given the opportunity to preserve the traditions of the company, feel like old-timers and mentors, and take an active part in public events. “Neutrals” especially value the comfort of work. For them, a motivating factor may be, for example, the possibility of an after-hours day off or the timely end of a work shift.

Currently, many experts prefer innovative projective techniques, which are implemented through interviews with employees at all levels.

Projective techniques have proven themselves to be the most effective tool for obtaining reliable results, competent systematization and adaptation of changes in the company. High reliability is achieved through a combination of various interview methods - case situations, specific tasks and questions that at first glance are not related to the respondent (for example, “Why, in your opinion, do people work well in one company, but not in another? trying too hard?"). A person involuntarily gives answers with key indicators for him, so “fake” is practically excluded. In addition, such techniques are simple from the point of view of development and application; even the head of a department can use them.

The use of methods often depends on the goals set by management, and is largely determined in practice by the price-quality ratio.

If we want to develop motivation for top managers, then it is better not to rely only on a questionnaire or survey, but to conduct a diagnostic interview or an individual assessment that allows us to understand what motivates these people. If we are talking about broader layers of workers, then surveys or focus groups, which provide less accurate information, but in a shorter period of time, will be more effective.

After conducting a survey and obtaining a more or less reliable picture of staff satisfaction, it is necessary to correctly analyze the data obtained. This requires knowledge of survey results from other companies.

A person is always characterized by a certain dissatisfaction, and this is manifested in the survey results, so some general universal psychological characteristics should be taken into account. For example, questions about satisfaction with pay levels always have lower ratings than other items. There are statistics according to which, even in well-known Western companies, almost half of the employees are not sufficiently satisfied with this indicator, although their remuneration system is well balanced. If you don’t know these statistics, then, based on the survey results, you can start changing something in the payment system, while this is simply a reflection of the general trend. But if the difference in this indicator compared to other companies is significant, then it’s worth thinking about.

At the same time, the data obtained cannot be interpreted literally. Surveys are more helpful in assessing employee satisfaction, and research shows that there is no clear linear relationship between employee satisfaction and productivity. That is, questioning makes it possible to solve the problem of retaining an employee, but not increasing his ability to work. Experts recognize that training programs that contain information on methods of assessing and motivating personnel are in greatest demand today. This suggests that HR managers want to be more competent in these issues and independently use existing techniques. The main thing is that the use of these methods is competent and timely.

2 Practical part

Develop a program and tools, conduct research and formalize the findings on this topic.

Expert assessment method

In the course of the development of social production, not only the complexity of management increases, but also the requirements for the quality and efficiency of decisions made. In order to increase the validity of decisions and take into account numerous factors, a comprehensive analysis is required, based both on calculations and on reasoned judgments of specialists familiar with the state of affairs and development prospects in various areas of practical activity.

A significant increase in the level of management efficiency is the use of mathematical methods and models when preparing decisions. However, complete mathematical formalization of technical, economic and social problems is often impracticable due to their qualitative novelty and complexity. In this regard, expert methods are increasingly used.

The use of mathematical programming and computer technology allows decisions to be made based on more complete and reliable information. However, choosing a rational (optimal) solution requires more than a good mathematical model.

Modern economic facilities are developing rapidly. Planning and management of such objects are always carried out in conditions of insufficient information about the future. In addition to the impacts provided for by the plan, various random factors influence economic objects. As a result, the economic patterns of development of such objects are mainly random, stochastic in nature.

When making decisions, we typically assume that the information used to support them is accurate and reliable. However, for many economic, scientific and technical problems that are qualitatively new and non-repetitive in nature, this is far from the case.

Main “information” difficulties:

Firstly, the initial statistical information is often not reliable enough. However, even if reliable data about the past is available, it cannot always serve as a reliable basis for making decisions aimed at the future, since existing conditions and circumstances may subsequently change.

Secondly, some of the information is qualitative in nature and cannot be quantified. Thus, it is impossible to accurately calculate the degree of influence of social and political factors on the implementation of plans, or to develop formulas for assessing the behavior of people in production teams. But, since all these factors and phenomena have a significant impact on the results of decisions, they cannot be ignored.

Thirdly, in the practice of preparing decisions, situations often arise when, in principle, it is possible to obtain the necessary information, but at the time of making a decision it is not available, since this is associated with a large investment of time or money.

Fourthly, there is a large group of factors that may affect the implementation of the decision in the future; but they cannot be predicted accurately.

Fifthly, one of the most significant difficulties in choosing solutions is that any scientific or technical idea contains the potential for various schemes for its implementation, and any economic action can lead to multiple outcomes. The problem of choosing the best solution may also arise because there are usually resource limitations, and therefore, the adoption of one option is always associated with the rejection of other (often quite effective) solutions.

And finally, when choosing the best solution, we are often faced with the ambiguity of a generalized criterion, on the basis of which we can compare possible outcomes. The polysemy, multidimensionality, and qualitative differences of indicators are a serious obstacle to obtaining a generalized assessment of the relative effectiveness, importance, value, or usefulness of each of the possible solutions.

In this regard, one of the main features of solving complex scientific, technical and economic-social problems is that the use of calculations here is always intertwined with the use of judgments of managers, scientists, and specialists. These judgments make it possible to at least partially compensate for the lack of information, make fuller use of individual and collective experience, and take into account specialists’ assumptions about the future states of objects.

The pattern of development of science and technology is that new knowledge and scientific and technical information accumulate over a long period of time. Often in a hidden form, “latently”, in the minds of scientists and developers. They, like no one else, are able to assess the prospects of the field in which they work and foresee the characteristics of those systems in the creation of which they are directly involved.

It is clear that the more streamlined and formalized the procedure for using expert judgments is, the more reliable the information obtained is.

Thus, the approach to making decisions depends both on the amount of available information and on the extent to which all available information is formalized.

The impossibility of complete formalization does not exclude, however, the possibility and necessity of using mathematical and statistical apparatus and logical analysis of the processes of making rational decisions.

When solving many control problems, the simplicity of the mathematical apparatus is often more important than the expected accuracy of the results. Since the structure and process of solving such problems in many cases cannot be determined reliably, the accuracy of the solution results cannot be greater than that contained in the problem itself, and therefore, the use of a more complex mathematical apparatus does not guarantee a more accurate result.

Rational use of information received from experts is possible provided that it is converted into a form convenient for further analysis aimed at preparing and making decisions.

The possibilities of formalizing information depend on the specific features of the object under study, the reliability and completeness of the available data, and the level of decision-making.

When the objects under study can be arranged in a certain sequence as a result of comparison, taking into account any significant factor (factors), ordinal scales are used to establish the equivalence or dominance of objects.

The use of ordinal scales allows us to distinguish between objects in cases where the factor (criterion) is not given explicitly, that is, when we do not know the sign of comparison, but can partially or completely order the objects on. based on the system of preferences possessed by the expert(s).

When solving many practical problems, it often turns out that the factors that determine the final results cannot be directly measured. The arrangement of these factors in ascending (or descending) order of any inherent property is called ranking. Ranking allows you to select the most significant of them from the studied set of factors.

It happens that phenomena have a different nature and, as a result, are incommensurable, that is, they do not have a common standard of comparison. And in these cases, establishing relative importance with the help of experts makes it easier to choose the most preferable solution.

The accuracy and reliability of the ranking procedure largely depends on the number of objects. In principle, the fewer such objects, the higher their “discernibility” from the point of view of an expert, and therefore, the more reliably the rank of the object can be established. In any case, the number of ranked objects P should not be more than 20, and this procedure is most reliable when P< 10.

Research program and description

Number of problem areas (yi) – 6;

Number of experts (k) – 19.

Number of factors influencing the problem area (n) – 6.

The main task. Analyze the state of a (given) problem in an enterprise, industry, etc.

Diagnostic area - features of motivation for the work of personnel in modern conditions

Diagnosis of the problem consists in assigning the real state of the system, described by the vector of values ​​of characteristic variables Y = (y 1 y 2, y 3 ... y m) to one of the known classes of states S m using a certain rule R.

1. The state space of the problem in which the diagnostics will be carried out is introduced:

S+ is a developing system expanding the field of its activities;

S 0 - stable state;

S- is a state in which the system is at the stage of decay.

For our task, with m = 6, the diagnostic area of ​​the problem “Features of motivation for the work activity of personnel in modern conditions” may look like this

Table 1a Diagnostic areas “Features of motivation for the work activity of personnel in modern conditions”

	Regions	Designation
	Labor productivity	at 1
	Psychological comfort	at 2
	Material satisfaction	at 3
	Working conditions	at 4
	Fluidity	at 5
	Creative level	at 6

Thus, through the introduced set of states, the real state of the system can be determined.

2. The state of the system is assessed using the method of expert assessments. The number of experts (k) is 19. Highly qualified employees of the enterprise with at least 5 years of work experience can act as experts. For educational purposes, students who understand the problem can be recruited as experts.

Expert opinion (assessment of the state of the system) is realized by ranking elements on an m-point scale. The results are entered in Table 2.

Table 2a - Rank matrix

Experts	at 1	at 2	at 3	at 4	at 5	at 6		R
∑Ri
Ranks

3. For the rank matrix, the coefficient of expert agreement will be calculated:

,

Where: To– number of experts;

m– number of elements.

,

Where: t– number of regions that received the same rank;

R– the number of such cases.

T– calculated for cases where there are several elements that have received the same rank.

.

The rate of expert agreement must exceed 0.7. In this case, the expert opinion is considered consistent, and the survey data can be trusted. For educational purposes, when g > 0.7, it is necessary to draw a conclusion and further calculation can be continued.

S = (35-19*(6+1)/2) 2 + (31-19*(6+1)/2) 2 +(52 – 19*(6+1)/2) 2 + (91– 19*(6+1)/2) 2 + =

+ (93-19*(6+1)/2) 2 + (97-19*(6+1)/2) 2 = 306,25 + 462,25+0,25+110,25+1482,25+1640,25+1980,25 = =5981,75,

T = 1/12 *((2 3 – 2) + (2 3 – 2)+ (2 3 – 2)+ (2 3 – 2)+ (2 3 – 2)+ (2 3 – 2)+ ( 2 3 – 2)+

+(2 3 – 2)+ (2 3 – 2)+ (2 3 – 2)) =5,0.

The rate of expert agreement is

g = 12*5981.75 / (19 2 *(6 3 - 6) – 12* 19* 5) =71781/(75810 – 1140) = 0.961.

In this case, the expert opinion is considered agreed, the resulting agreement coefficient (g = 0.961), since it exceeds the minimum required (g = 0.7).

4. Having analyzed the data from expert assessments of the state of the main aspects of the system, its diagnostic profile is constructed (for clarity). State S0 (zero axis) is determined by the expression:

S 0 = ∑∑Ri /m.

For our example, the calculation of S 0 is shown below, as is the diagnostic profile in Fig. 1.

∑∑R i = 35+31+52+91+93+97= 150

S0 = 399 / 6 = 66.5

Based on the constructed diagnostic profile, a conclusion is made about the presence of favorable areas and problem areas of the system.

5. An extended description of the shortcomings in the problem areas is carried out, i.e. factors are identified whose changes will reduce the problem (Table 3). Number of factors (n=6).

In our example, as established as a result of the above analysis, the most problematic area of ​​“Peculiarities of motivation for the work of personnel in modern conditions” is “Psychological comfort”. Let's consider the factors influencing the provision of psychological comfort of personnel in order to motivate them to work (Table 3).

Table 3 - Factors influencing the problem area

Problem area	Factors
Psychological comfort	1. Increase in wages 2. Increasing interest in the final result 3. Satisfaction with incentives used in the organization 4. Level of consciousness of workers 5. Employee job satisfaction 6. Interaction of employees in the organization

6. A study is carried out of the influence of the identified factors on the problem area. “We will highlight the main problems using the method of paired comparisons” using a scale of relative importance. To assess the influence of factors, a scale of relative importance is introduced:

Table 4 Relative importance scale

Relative importance	Definition
	Minor Importance
	Moderate superiority
	Significant superiority
	Significant superiority
	Very strong superiority
2, 4, 6, 8	Intermediate

Comparison of the influence of factors on the problem area is carried out in a matrix of paired comparisons (Table 5).

Table.5 Paired comparison matrix

					5		∑Ni
							24,0
							12,07
							3,13
							5,97

In order to determine the relative importance of problems, we will calculate weighting coefficients

wi = dсрi / ∑dсрi,

dсрi = ∑Ni / n.

where ∑Ni is the sum of the rows of Table 5.

n– number of compared factors.

The results of calculations of weight coefficients are presented in table. 6.
0,469

0,667

0,078

2,012

0,236

0,522

0,061

0,333

0,039

0,995

0,117

8,529

dср1 = 24 / 6 = 4

w1 = 4 / 5.29 = 0.11.

The remaining results are in table. 6.

7. Conclusions. Thus, employees of one of the enterprises in Krasnodar with more than 5 years of experience were selected as experts. The maximum length of service was 7 years and 6 months at this enterprise continuously. During the diagnostics, the features of motivation for work activity in modern conditions were studied in the areas of labor productivity, psychological comfort, material satisfaction, and working conditions. In the course of assessing the opinions of experts, it was found that the coefficient of agreement is greater than 0.7, therefore, the opinions of experts do not differ much. The most problematic areas are the problems of ensuring psychological comfort and the problem of material satisfaction of employees. To a greater extent, the problematic system is to ensure psychological comfort; management needs to provide a favorable psychological climate, influence the growth of workers’ consciousness, increase their psychological satisfaction with work, introduce a mechanism for interaction between workers in the organization, introduce the “principle of participation” of workers in the activities of the enterprise, and apply measures more widely not only material incentives, but ways of psychological stimulation of workers.

Bibliography

Dundar M. Psychodiagnostic techniques for studying human motivation // Personnel Manager. 2008. No. 6,7.


Klochkov A.K. KPI and staff motivation. A complete collection of practical tools. - Eksmo, 2010. - 160 p.


Motivation and remuneration. – 2007. – No. 4. – Page. 276-286 Methodology for diagnosing the labor motivation of organization personnel Ozernikova T. G. Doctor of Economics. sciences


Heckhausen H. Motivation and activity. vol. 1. M., Pedagogy, 1986.


1. Motivation Sources Inventory: Development and Validation of New Scales to Measure an Integrative Taxonomy of Motivation / John E. Barbuto, Richard W. Scholl // Psychological Reports.
   Personnel control as a functional element of organization management What is personnel adaptation? Organizing interviews for personnel selection

   2014-02-06

The main ways of influencing an employee on the part of the organization's management in order to increase the efficiency of the work performed by him are currently incentives and motivation. These methods, despite the unity of purpose they are intended to serve and the overlap of content, are fundamentally different from each other due to the fact of the need for in-depth acquaintance with the employee’s personality. Incentive, as an impersonal measure of increasing efficiency, is universal in nature; it is aimed at a certain average model of an employee, at a typical, average person. Incentive measures most often include monetary incentives: bonuses, bonuses, etc. However, sometimes non-material methods of stimulation can also be used: issuing letters of gratitude, placing on the company’s honor board, etc. Motivation implies the maximum possible individualized stimulating effect on the employee.

Employee performance assessment

In the ideal model that any enterprise strives for, each employee demonstrates maximum production efficiency, due to which the entire enterprise as a whole achieves the highest possible productivity and profit.

The totality of indicators of employees’ personal performance is usually included in the indicator of the organization’s social effect.

Comparing the current situation with the ideal is within the scope of the manager’s activities and serves the purpose of finding means and implementing methods to increase the labor efficiency of each individual employee. It should be taken into account that, due to the social nature of human nature, a decrease in the labor effort and productivity of one of the employees may cause a corresponding decrease in the effort and productivity of those in contact with him.

Objectives of labor efficiency assessment:

• Identification and reduction of the number of employees who are not working efficiently;
• Increasing the efficiency of the entire organization as a whole;
• Stimulating and strengthening the organization’s core personnel, working steadily with a sufficient level of efficiency;
• Determination of adequate individual rewards for high labor efficiency (bonuses).

In the procedure for assessing labor efficiency, three key aspects can be roughly distinguished.

Aspects of assessing labor efficiency are presented:

• administrative aspect;
• information aspect;
• motivating aspect.

These aspects should be considered in more detail:

• As part of the administrative aspect of the manager’s assessment of the employee’s work efficiency, personnel changes can be made: dismissals, promotions, transfers of the employee to a new workplace, to the staff of another department (both more and less prestigious; both higher and lower low wages);
• The information aspect serves to create motivation among those employees who are not affected by the administrative aspect: seeing adequate administrative measures in relation to their colleagues, the employee seeks to increase the efficiency of his own activities in order to achieve or prevent the use of such measures by management in relation to himself;
• The actual motivating aspect is created by the complex influence of the previous two. If, for a number of reasons, it does not arise, the measures considered within the administrative aspect are applied to employees who work insufficiently efficiently.

Activities to assess personnel performance

• The management of the enterprise develops certain standards of work activity;
• Clear and understandable requirements regarding the productivity of his work and the efficiency of his activities are determined and formulated for each employee of the enterprise;
• A holistic, comprehensive system for assessing the effectiveness of personal work is being developed;
• A clear connection is established between the employee’s labor efficiency and the remuneration received for him, material or otherwise;
• Measures are being determined to improve the professional level and qualifications of employees;
• Compliance of the content of the work with the position held is monitored;
• A unique mechanism for influencing employees is created for each specific enterprise in order to maximize the efficiency of their work.

The basic stage in the formation of methodological support for motivation of professional and official promotion of personnel in modern production systems is the assessment (measurement, diagnosis) of the level of motivation for professional and official promotion of personnel in the organization. It is necessary for company management to make decisions about « orientation” of management actions in the system of material and non-material incentives for the organization’s personnel.

Assessing (diagnosis, measuring) the level of motivation is a complex methodological problem. The issues of forming motivation to work are dealt with by specialists in the field of economics, sociology, psychology, etc., as evidenced, first of all, by the emergence of many theories and methods. Each approach assumes that in order to manage motivation, it must be examined and assessed. Despite theoretical research, measuring motivation is a complex methodological problem.

Knowledge of methods for assessing motivation and their competent use allows not only to increase the performance of subordinates, but also gives the manager the opportunity to better understand his subordinates. This is the art of managing people: the ability to accurately choose the most effective method of influence, knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of a subordinate, the ability to inspire and charge different people for selfless work.

Speaking about diagnosing the personnel incentive system, it is necessary to determine the goals and objectives of the planned procedure (setting targets, priorities). Here it is very important to understand what caused the need for this procedure and determine the goals of the diagnosis. It depends on the current situation in the company. For example, there is a high staff turnover in a company or some of its divisions. Another option for the need to diagnose the motivational system is the presence of some hidden processes in the company’s divisions (sabotage, weak work activity, decreased performance indicators). In most cases, diagnosing the personnel motivation system will be a component of deeper work related to the correction of the personnel management system.

Diagnostics of staff motivation is measured by qualitative and quantitative indicators.

The values ​​of quantitative indicators are expressed in the form of a certain real number that has a certain physical or economic meaning. Such indicators include all financial indicators (revenue, net profit, fixed and variable costs, profitability indicators, turnover, liquidity, etc.), as well as part of the market indicators (sales volume, market share, size/growth of the customer base, etc. .) and indicators characterizing the effectiveness of business processes and activities for training and development of the enterprise (for example, labor productivity, production cycle, order lead time, staff turnover, number of employees who have completed training), etc. But most of the characteristics and results of the organization’s work, divisions and employees cannot be measured strictly quantitatively. Qualitative indicators are used to evaluate them.

Qualitative indicators are measured using expert assessments, i.e. subjectively, by observing the process and results of work. These, for example, include such indicators as the relative competitive position of the enterprise, customer satisfaction index, staff satisfaction index, teamwork, level of labor and performance discipline, quality and timeliness of document submission, compliance with standards and regulations, fulfillment of instructions from the manager and many others . Qualitative indicators, as a rule, are leading, as they influence the final results of the organization’s work and “warn” about possible deviations in quantitative indicators.

Monitoring quality indicators leads to improved quantitative indicators. Quality indicators are the reason. Quantitative indicators are a consequence. If we want to get the desired effect, it is necessary to control and measure its cause. This is the meaning of quality indicators. If we measure qualitative indicators, we are more likely to obtain the required quantitative result.

Assessment based on qualitative indicators makes it possible to assess the manager’s potential and possible ways of his professional and career development. In addition, there are also relationships within the team, with colleagues in the department and employees of other departments. It also makes sense to evaluate this, since the effectiveness of communications, loyalty to the company, the desire to solve problems and not look for excuses also directly affects the activities of the entire company as a whole.

Managers often resort to the help of experts to evaluate quality indicators. Sometimes qualitative indicators can be presented in numerical form indirectly by measuring some other indicator. For example, an employee’s qualifications can be indirectly judged by the length of time he has worked in a given position. But in most cases, certain numbers (points) are artificially assigned to different values ​​of qualitative indicators, as if transferring them to the category of quantitative ones. However, this approach does not assess the degree of difference between alternatives, and its injudicious use can lead to unfounded conclusions.

The inability to express qualitative indicators directly in quantitative form should not serve as an excuse (which is often the case in practice) for refusing to establish standards and control these indicators. Even subjective assessments in this case are much better than nothing. Organizational leaders cannot effectively manage their subordinates by refusing to control quality indicators. The inevitable consequence of this is management on a whim, which in fact is no longer management, but is simply a spontaneous reaction to a situation that has gotten out of control.

The most frequently used methods for assessing qualitative indicators of staff motivation are:

2. Testing.

3. Expert assessments.

4. Diagnostic interview.

Survey (questionnaire) is one of the most widely used methods for assessing employee motivation. It allows you to obtain important information about the motivation of a significant number of employees in a short time. The survey may cover employees of one or more divisions of the company, or any category of employees, or all employees of the company. The survey allows us to identify the characteristics of the motivation of various categories of personnel (specific professional, seniority groups, groups of different ages, gender, educational level, etc.), as well as assess the factors influencing their work motivation.

To conduct the survey, a questionnaire is being developed containing questions designed to find out to what extent the organization meets the most important needs of employees, and to what extent employees are satisfied with the most important aspects of their work.

Questioning has a number of advantages: information is obtained quickly, the survey does not require large financial costs. However, this method is open to possible distortions of information, both conscious (socially desirable responses) and unintentional. There may also be errors in the development of the questionnaire, miscalculations in the procedure for preparing and conducting the survey, leading to low reliability of the information received. Therefore, it is advisable to combine questionnaires with other methods of collecting information (analysis of documents, observation, interviews with experts) that can confirm the results obtained.

Tests in psychology are understood as standardized tests for identifying or assessing certain psychological characteristics of a person. The test questionnaire contains a series of questions, the answers to which are used to judge the psychological qualities of the subject. A test task is a special kind of test, based on the results of which the presence or absence and degree of development of characterological traits (personality properties) are determined.

Test materials usually include question booklets and separate answer sheets. When using projective methods, that is, methods of indirect assessment of motivation, unfinished sentences, sets of photographs, drawings or pictures may be presented. By interpreting according to certain rules for assessing the presented stimulus material, which involves multiple interpretations, psychologists give a conclusion about the characteristics of the motivation of the person being tested.

It is important to note that psychological testing is only an auxiliary tool that provides additional information about the employee’s motivation. Administrative or other decisions should not be made solely on the basis of psychological testing.

The method of expert assessments is based on the fact that only people who know them well can accurately assess the motivation of employees. First of all, these are managers and colleagues. Sometimes business partners or clients are brought in as experts. As a rule, an expert assessment of motivation is one of the elements of a comprehensive assessment of an employee.

The expert’s main tool for assessing employee motivation is a specially prepared questionnaire. The accuracy of the expert’s assessment of the employee’s motivation largely depends on the quality of this questionnaire. In order to use the method of expert assessments, a number of issues must first be resolved. First, it is necessary to clearly define what requirements the persons included in the experts must meet. In any case, it is necessary to count not only on their awareness and ability to make informed assessments, but also on sufficient impartiality and honesty. It is advisable that before experts are asked to express their opinions, they should receive at least a short training session designed to improve their ability to make accurate and unbiased assessments of employee motivation.

Sometimes, when studying the characteristics of employee motivation, it is important to identify the most important demotivators, that is, factors that have a negative effect on the work spirit of staff.

If there is a need to quickly obtain this type of data, then expert assessment in this case can be especially useful.
Managers, knowing their subordinates well, can become a source of valuable information about the peculiarities of motivation of the organization's employees.

A diagnostic interview requires a significant investment of time and effort, therefore it is used to assess the level of motivation of managers. In addition, based on the opinion of department heads, it is possible to create a generalized description of the situation by department, assessing the overall level of employee motivation.

Speaking about diagnosing staff motivation with measurable quantitative results, we can conclude that such assessment methods are related to the effectiveness (efficiency) of the work of a particular employee and the organization as a whole. An assessment of the economic efficiency of stimulating labor resources shows to what extent the costs of material and moral incentives for workers are justified, whether there has been an increase in production, whether the cost has decreased, etc.

It is obvious that for different industries and categories of workers, indicators of the effectiveness of stimulating labor resources will be different. For example, production standards are compared in production, while for accounting employees this indicator is unacceptable, since accounting at an enterprise does not perform a production, but a supporting function.

It is considered not entirely correct in diagnosing (evaluating) the process of personnel motivation in an organization to evaluate all employees using identical indicators. This requires an individual approach to both assessment and analysis of the results obtained, and to the introduction or improvement of material and non-material incentives.

Differences in the assessment of motivation depend on the following characteristics: gender; employee age; profession; territorial and others (Table 1.).

Table 1.1.

Distinctive features in assessing the level of motivation for professional and career advancement of personnel

Gender of the employee. Currently, managers are required to take into account the individual characteristics of each individual employee in their activities. Assessment of the motivation of women's and men's work is different. For example, women are more emotional, touchy, more often take sick leave, and go on maternity leave. All these features affect the level of motivation. For example, during the period when women are diverted from the real sector of the economy to the reproductive sector, most women for a long period of time (approximately one and a half to three years) do not think about the desire (motivation) for professional advancement. Meanwhile, the man is actively building his career.

Let's turn to A. Maslow's pyramid of needs. Satisfying the basic needs of the pyramid – i.e. satisfaction of the basic needs of life, it seems, is of equal importance for both men and women. However, differences may appear already at the second stage, where we are talking about ensuring the means of subsistence. Are all working women equally concerned about maintaining their jobs? This affects to a greater extent those women who make a significant contribution or even the only contribution to their budget or the budget of the family, compared to those employees who work not out of economic necessity, but rather in order to realize their professional knowledge.

The next characteristic is the employee’s age. Young specialists are more motivated for professional and job advancement than employees with extensive experience in the organization, but on the other hand, it is difficult to keep young specialists in the organization without the following additional measures:

1. regular discussion with employees of the company’s development plans (situation, growth rates, directions of movement, etc.);

2. setting clear goals and highlighting stages of development;

3. providing the opportunity for wide participation of young specialists in rationalization activities, in making proposals for improving their own work and the work of the organization as a whole;

4. participation of young professionals in the distribution of benefits received as a result of the development of the organization;

5. explaining to the young specialist the significance of his work not only within the organization, but also on a more global scale.

The prestige and image of the company influence the self-expression and involvement of its employees in the company's activities.

So, in management, employee motivation plays an important role, so management should periodically carry out activities to assess the level of staff motivation. Assessing the level of motivation may show that employees receive insufficient job satisfaction and have low motivation. Achieving an optimal level of motivation increases labor productivity, production efficiency, increases the qualifications of workers, and “improves” relationships in the team.

Assessing the level of motivation for professional and official advancement is a very difficult task, since it is carried out by measuring what is generally immeasurable - the motives of an individual, which in reality are, in scientific terms, hypothetical constructs. Nevertheless, assessing the level of motivation is a quite common and necessary event that any self-respecting company carries out both at the stage of selecting a candidate for a vacant position, and periodically over a certain period of time.

Why does a promising candidate leave the company without completing the probationary period? What factors motivate him to do this? Many HR managers face similar problems...

One of the most common reasons for a new employee leaving before the end of the probationary period is an inaccurate or erroneous diagnosis of the “motivators” of a particular person when hiring. Meanwhile, every HR person understands: a good candidate is a motivated candidate, and the higher the level of motivation of a newcomer, the sooner he acquires the skills necessary in the workplace.

To predict the “survival rate” of a new employee, the HR manager should consider the entire range of motivators, without stopping only at material incentives. In addition, you need to remember that the same factor (money or Internet access) satisfies different needs of different people. Therefore, it is important to be able to correctly identify (and use) the features of motivation of a future employee. In addition, an accurate assessment of motivators is the basis for planning a person’s development and career advancement.

Identifying the dominant motivators of an applicant for a particular position will allow HR to save effort and time when communicating with many candidates - and as a result, hire an active person focused on achieving goals that do not run counter to the company’s goals.

The end result of HR’s work in assessing a candidate’s motivators when applying for a job should be clear answers to the following questions:

1. What are the dominant motives (and, accordingly, motivators) of this person?

2. Does he have motivation for development?

3. What motives can be used for further development of the candidate?

Methods for assessing motivation

A person is driven by his needs and motives; they determine behavior and are the basis for making management decisions when working with personnel. However, their influence is manifested “non-linearly”. Many scientists have studied the process of motivation (in particular, A. Maslow, F. Herzberg, D. McGregor, K. Alderfer, D. McClelland, etc.), but none of the theories has given a comprehensive answer to the question: “How to control human motives?”

To understand the system of assessment and management of motivation within the framework of personnel management, it is necessary to distinguish between the following concepts:

• need;
• motive;
• motivator;
• intrinsic motivation;
• staff motivation system.

Need is the need experienced by a person for what is necessary for his existence and development.

Motive is a subjective reflection of a need that encourages a person to act.

Intrinsic motivation is an individual set of motives that motivate a person to activity.

Motivator is a factor of job satisfaction that affects its effectiveness. Changing the motivator increases (or decreases) a person’s job satisfaction.

The personnel motivation system is a system of management influences on the motives of employees, aimed at achieving maximum efficiency of a particular organization.

One of the main tasks of an HR manager when diagnosing a candidate’s motivation is to identify the dominant motives (and, accordingly, motivators) during this period of his life. The information obtained allows you to make a decision about inviting a person to work. In the future, you can use it to develop a development plan for a future employee.

It is important for HR to have a clear understanding of the business development strategy. Then he will be able to:

Correctly build a “company motivator profile” by distinguishing between the motivational factors used;

Compare the “ideal profile of the organization’s motivators” with the profile of motivators that are important to the actual candidate.

We must remember: over time, human needs and motives change, which means that the subjective significance of motivators also changes. Therefore, it is necessary to periodically re-evaluate motives. In particular, such an audit can be carried out at the end of the probationary period, when the candidate is especially sensitive to the influence of various corporate factors. The result of assessing the applicant is a map of motivators, with which you can analyze this person’s compliance with the requirements of the position and the corporate culture of the company.

Rice. Scheme of a candidate's motivational profile

As a standard (for comparative analysis), it is advisable to use a specially developed corporate motivator map. It is formed based on the diagnostic results of key employees (on whom the company “rests”). When constructing it, not just any one motivator factor is taken into account, but their entire set, appropriately ranked. For example, I evaluate candidates based on the following factors:

• belonging;
• power;
• achieving success;
• security;
• development;
• avoiding failures.

Such a map of motivators will help HR when recruiting personnel in the future.

It is also very important that the HR manager regularly communicates with the heads of departments. Many of them tend to attribute their own motivation to employees, which leads to management mistakes. HR should convince line managers of the great practical benefits that predictive assessment of motivation brings, teach them to identify the leading motives of a candidate during a selection interview and actively use this knowledge in further work.

The most common methods of identifying a candidate's motives include interviews, testing and questionnaires.

Interview

In our company, interviews with candidates are conducted using the S.T.A.R. method. (Situation. Task. Action. Result). In accordance with this approach, the candidate is asked open-ended questions, the answers to which help determine:

• How does a person understand the situation?
• What tasks does he face?
• what actions does he take?
• what results did he get?

During an interview, you can also use case questions: the candidate must tell how he will behave in the proposed situation and suggest a way to solve the problem. The main emphasis when building cases is on clarifying the motives that prompt a person to act in a certain way. For example:

“You found an interesting offer on the labor market, passed an interview and decided to work in this company. On the same day you receive an offer from another employer with more attractive conditions. What are your actions?

“You have received several offers from different companies. What criteria will you use to make your final choice?”

Often, recruiters use projective questions that allow you to understand how the candidate explains the actions of other people (based on his life experience). The answers to these questions help to correlate the applicant’s expectations with the real situation in the company and analyze the map of the future employee’s motivators.

Projective questions should be open-ended (requiring a detailed answer). They need to be asked at a fast pace, grouped into thematic blocks. Correctly wording questions will help avoid socially desirable answers. For example:

• “What do you think motivates people to work more effectively?”
• “Why do you think people choose this or that profession?”
• “What motivates people to change careers?”

When drawing up a map of the motivators of a future employee, it is convenient to use a table in which each motivational factor is associated with the corresponding words that the candidate can use (example Table 1).

Table 1. Match keywords and main motivators

Motivators	Keywords
Affiliation	People, trust, equal relationships, interaction, contact, communication, good team, good leader
Power	Fame, honor, need for respect, recognition, career, status, prestige, desire to influence, material factor, competition
Security	Order, timeliness, stability, convenience, calm, regularity, certainty
Development	Self-realization, mastery, development, professional growth, desire for new things, creativity, freedom, creativity, activity, passion, competitiveness

Special attention should be paid to identifying more general personality characteristics, such as orientation, for example, the desire to achieve success or avoid failure. In this case, it is necessary to identify and evaluate the intensity of manifestation of these motives. Psychologists T. Ellers, D. McClelland, D. Atkinson, who studied achievement/avoidance motives, came to the conclusion that people have both motives (but, as a rule, one of them is more pronounced). To understand the true reasons for changing jobs, you should ask the candidate the following questions:

• “Why did you quit your previous job?”
• “Why did you choose our company?”
• “What is most important to you in your work?”

To identify the most significant motivators for a candidate, the following blocks of questions can be used during an interview (Table 2).

Table 2. Interview Questions

Motivators	Keywords
Power	Why do you think people make a career? . Tell us about your career. . What opportunities for vertical career growth did you have in your previous jobs? . Which applicants do you think are more willing to hire for worthy positions?
Development	What does career development mean to you? (It is important to note whether the candidate is talking about vertical or horizontal growth.) . What is your “ideal job”? . What did you like/dislike most about your previous job? . What gives you energy at work? . How would you determine what a successful specialist in your profile should be? . What professional/career goals do you set for yourself in the near future? . What do you think motivates people to be more effective? . What do you think people enjoy most about their job? . Why does a person choose this or that profession? . What is needed to successfully complete the probationary period?
Interaction	Were you satisfied with the relationships in the team at your previous place of work? . What kind of team would you like to work in? . What satisfied/dissatisfied you in your relationship with your immediate supervisor at your previous place of work? . What qualities should a good leader have? . Which services/departments did you interact with most closely? On what issues?
Material factor	How did your salary change at your previous job? . Do you think her growth has matched her increased responsibilities? If not, how big was the gap? . What compensation package were you provided at your previous job? . How do you determine the minimum and maximum salary thresholds?
Achieving success/ avoiding failure	How important is it for you to achieve success in your professional field? . Are you ready to work hard and persistently to achieve your goal? How is it shown? . What successes did you achieve in your previous job? . What abilities are important to you for success? . What helped you effectively solve professional problems? . What difficulties have you encountered while performing professional tasks? Did you manage to overcome them? If so, how?

Testing and questionnaires

Among personnel management specialists, there are ongoing discussions about the advisability of using tests. What is beyond doubt is that testing should be carried out by a professional psychologist, a specialist in this field. If the company does not have such a specialist on staff, it is better to resort to the help of certified organizations.

Generally speaking, an experienced HR manager should have a system of criteria for selecting candidates for each vacancy, and whether this or that test will be included in it depends on his professionalism. Of course, testing should not be overused. When selecting people for the position of warehouse manager or programmer, it is hardly worth going deep into determining their personal qualities, such as openness or compassion. It is better to check their professional knowledge and skills.

Testing can help HR when it is necessary to select one of several candidates with approximately the same abilities. In domestic practice, when selecting candidates for vacancies, the following tests are most often used:

• method for assessing the professional orientation of Smeikle - Kuchera;
• E. Shane’s “Career Anchor” method;
• methodology for diagnosing work motives by V. I. Gerchikov;
• method for diagnosing the motivational personality profile of S. Ritchie and P. Martin;
• test of humorous phrases by A. G. Shmelev and V. S. Boldyreva;
• test “Unfinished Sentences” by J. M. Sachs and S. Levy (modified by A. M. Gurevich);
• methodology for measuring achievement motivation by A. A. Mehrabyan;
• method for assessing motivation to achieve success/avoid failure by T. Ehlers;
• methodology for assessing the level of claims of V. K. Gerbachevsky;
• methodology for diagnosing sources of motivation by D. Barbuto and R. Skoll.

Questioning involves softer, “non-medical” tools for assessing the candidate’s motivational sphere. For example, offer the applicant a list of motivating factors and ask them to rank them (or rate them on a 10-point scale). Thus, it is possible to obtain a visual “illustration” of a person’s motivational priorities at a given point in time.

You can determine how interested a candidate is in the job by asking what they know about your organization. If a person really wants to work here, he could make inquiries about the company in advance, so such a question will not put him in an awkward position.

Feedback

Based on the results of the interview, the candidate must be given feedback. It is useful to prepare a “Feedback Form” in which the HR person can enter the applicant’s questions. Questions are classified according to the motivator map. An example of a completed form is shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Feedback form

Motivators	Questions
Development	I'm wondering if your company has a professional development program? . Do you have training programs? . What level of responsibility does this position require?
Power	What will my position be called? . Do you have a gradation of the social package depending on the position? . What are my career prospects? . Can I see the full list of my functional responsibilities? Is this described in the job description? . Are there any accepted criteria for evaluating work?
Material factor	How often are salaries reviewed? . How can I earn more? . What is included in the compensation package?
Interaction	Tell us about your company's corporate culture. . What corporate holidays do you celebrate? . Tell us about your immediate supervisor? . What are the traditions in your team?
Security	Are the working hours set by the company? . What work schedule is accepted in your company? . Is my future workplace well equipped? . What is the procedure for obtaining leave? What determines its duration?

The interview will be as informative as possible if the HR prepares questionnaire forms in advance, in which, during communication with the candidate, he will record the answers and characteristics of the person’s reaction to the questions posed.

Conclusion

After analyzing the candidate’s answers, HR can identify the person’s motivational priorities, and after ranking them, create a “motivational profile.”

When building a “motivational profile” of a candidate, it is especially important to find out:

• Why does a candidate want to work for your company?
• What motivates him to do a better or worse job?
• Under what circumstances can he resign?

This data is subsequently used when planning the employee’s career development.

During the interview, you should find out both the person’s motivators and the factors influencing the level of his loyalty/disloyalty to the employer. It is important to understand that only an integrated approach to selection gives reliable results and increases the efficiency of personnel management as a whole.

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1 Ryutaryu Hashimoto was Prime Minister of Japan from 1996 to 1998. He also served as Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Minister of Transport, and Minister of Finance. He gained a reputation as a tough politician, in particular in negotiations with the United States on the issue of military presence in Okinawa.

2 Rainer Niermeyer is a modern German psychologist, author of many business publications, including the book “Motivation”, translated into Russian.