The 12-Week MBA Chapter 14: Engagement and Motivation - What Actually Makes People Care About Their Work

Only 20 percent of workers worldwide actually care about their jobs. That is what Gallup tells us every single year. The other 80 percent are either going through the motions or actively trying to make things worse. Sounds like a crisis. Or does it?

This is post 16 in my 12-Week MBA retelling series.

Chapter 14 asks a question that every manager eventually faces: can you actually motivate people? The answer is more complicated and more honest than most business books are willing to admit.

The Gallup Numbers

Every year, the Gallup organization publishes its State of the Global Workplace report. The findings are remarkably consistent:

• About 20 percent of employees are “engaged” – they bring enthusiasm, ownership, and drive to their work.
• About 60 percent are “not engaged” – they show up, do the minimum required, and go home.
• About 20 percent are “actively disengaged” – they are resentful and their attitude undermines what the engaged people accomplish.

Companies with more engaged workers perform better on almost every metric. Higher profits, lower turnover, fewer accidents, more loyal customers. So if engagement is that important, why has the number barely moved in two decades of measuring it?

The authors offer two very different stories about what these numbers mean.

Story One: The Crisis Opportunity

This is the manager’s story. The heroic version. Look at all those disengaged people. Imagine the potential. If we could just move even a fraction of the unenthusiastic middle into the engaged column, think what we could achieve. And those actively disengaged people – should we not rescue them from a life of bitterness?

Gallup itself pushes this narrative. And it makes sense from a business perspective. More engaged workers mean better results. There is solid data behind that claim. The authors lean this way too, since they run a management training company.

But they are honest enough to present the other side.

Story Two: What Crisis?

The word “crisis” comes from Greek and means a turning point. Something that cannot stay the same. But Gallup’s numbers have barely changed in over twenty years. That is not a crisis. That is just how things are.

The authors introduce a character named Patrick, an individual contributor with twenty years of experience. Patrick’s perspective is the most refreshing thing in this chapter. Here is his argument, in my words:

Life has cycles. Sometimes you have extra energy and mental bandwidth to give 110 percent at work. Other times your attention is on your kids, your aging parents, your health, your marriage. During those times, you can still do your job competently – that is what makes you a professional. But no amount of inspirational speeches, overtime pay, or motivational perks will squeeze more out of you.

Organizations have cycles too. Sometimes your team is critical. Other times, the action is somewhere else and the best thing your team can do is stay out of the way. Patrick had five managers in three years, each one arriving with a “mission-critical” initiative that died the moment they got promoted. How mission-critical was it really?

And here is the ironic part: Patrick says his best ideas for work come when the workload is light and he is building a porch at home. Rest and disengagement are not always the enemy of productivity. Sometimes they are the source of creativity.

Patrick also has thoughts on actively disengaged people. He says they come in three types. Some are just unhappy people who would be unhappy anywhere. Some are in the wrong job and do fine once they leave. But the heartbreaking group? Those are the people who gave everything, again and again, until they realized the company would never sacrifice anything in return. They burned out into bitterness.

So Which Story Is Right?

Both. That is the honest answer.

The authors admit that as managers and management consultants, they naturally prefer the heroic story. In that story, managers can save the day. But Patrick’s story is real too. People’s engagement levels cycle up and down for reasons that have nothing to do with management. Expecting and demanding total engagement from everyone at all times is unrealistic and counterproductive.

So where does that leave a manager? Two things.

First, do no harm. This is the manager’s Hippocratic oath. Before you try to inspire and motivate people, make sure you are not the one killing their motivation. Jan Jenisch, CEO of cement manufacturer Holcim, puts it well: “The management gurus talk about motivating people. But actually, first of all, you should not de-motivate people.”

One of the fastest ways to destroy motivation is to violate fairness. If someone sees a colleague getting better treatment with no explanation, their motivation tanks. This is why managers need to be transparent about how compensation, perks, and promotions work.

Second, understand intrinsic motivators. You cannot create motivation from the outside. But you can understand what drives people from the inside and then try not to step on those drivers.

The Eight Intrinsic Motivators

The authors list common motivators with example characters that make each one memorable. These are not permanent labels. A person’s motivators shift as their life changes.

Achievement (Angie)

Angie lives for task lists. She crosses things off and feels great. If she finishes something that was not on the list, she adds it retroactively just to cross it out. As her manager, you need to make sure she always has clear next steps. When the goal is too big and abstract, Angie gets lost. Break it into smaller pieces and she will fly.

Companionship (Colin and Colleen)

Humans are social animals, but some more than others. Colin needs people around him. During the Covid lockdowns, his productivity cratered while his colleagues thrived at home. He needs social connection at work.

But equally social Colleen has deep roots in her community – family nearby, a choir she sings in. She gets companionship outside work. The mandatory-but-not-really-mandatory happy hour? She does not need it and might resent it.

Recognition (Randy and Renata)

Randy loves awards, badges, and being called onstage at company meetings. Renata prefers a quiet one-on-one acknowledgment. Both are motivated by recognition, but in completely different ways.

And like money, recognition can be devalued. If you give Randy a public award for screwing in a lightbulb, you cheapen the recognition that Renata earned for saving the company $100,000.

Status (Sara and Sam)

Status is a zero-sum game. When Sara gets promoted to senior associate, Sam’s relative position drops, even if nothing about his job changed. He might say he does not care about titles. Until someone else gets promoted before him.

Promotions are always a tricky event. Motivating one person with a title bump can demotivate several others.

Security (Steven)

Steven worries about the future. Money is not really about money for him – it buys peace of mind. He values long-term contracts and stability. Rumors about mergers and layoffs destroy his ability to focus.

If you manage Steven, avoid idle speculation about big changes. When rumors are in the air, check in with him. You cannot guarantee stability – remember, do not make promises you cannot keep. But just giving Steven a chance to talk through his anxieties often helps.

Security needs change over time too. It is a lot easier to be carefree before you have a mortgage and kids.

Mastery (Maria)

Maria is motivated by getting better at her craft. She loves working at the edge of her abilities. The process of improving is its own reward, even when nobody is watching.

This is easy for a manager to support – just keep giving her challenging work. But it is also easy to destroy. Give Maria tasks far below her skill level and she will get bored. Promote her into management and take her away from the work she loves? Her resignation letter arrives fast.

Autonomy (Andy)

Andy loved working from home during the pandemic. He is a night owl. The old 8-to-5 office hours never matched his work rhythm or his unpredictable home life. Give him control over when and how he works, and he delivers great results. Force him into a rigid schedule and his output drops.

Purpose (Bjorn and Nathan)

The authors speak from personal experience here. They have stuck with management training for over twenty years because they believe their work helps make the world better. Purpose keeps them going.

But they make an honest point: not everyone finds purpose in their job, and that is fine. Some people use work to fund their real purpose – like giving their children better opportunities. They can be just as productive. And not every company has a purpose worth rallying around. Companies that contort themselves trying to make their product sound world-changing usually come across as fake.

The Danger of Playing Piano Keys

Here is the most important warning in the chapter. If your takeaway is that management is about identifying each person’s top motivators and then playing them like piano keys, you have missed the point.

People do not walk around with their engagement level and motivators branded on their foreheads. Even if you ask them, they might not be self-aware enough to give you an accurate picture. And they will only be honest about what drives them if they trust you. Which brings us back to everything the previous chapters said about trust.

The line between understanding someone’s motivators and manipulating them is thin. Cross it and you destroy everything.

What You Can Actually Do

The authors offer practical advice that respects both the heroic and the realistic views of engagement:

Think of engagement as a state that cycles, not a permanent trait. A person might move through engaged, not engaged, and actively disengaged in a single day. That is normal.

Recognize that sometimes phoning it in is fine. People can give 130 percent precisely because they sometimes have permission to coast. Those two states enable each other.

Do not assume people move through engagement levels one step at a time. Someone can jump from cheerful to actively disengaged in a heartbeat if they feel their trust was betrayed. And the longer they stay in that pit, the harder it is to get out without leaving the company entirely.

Be present. Keep regular one-on-one contact even when there is no urgent business reason. That is how you notice shifts before they become crises.

When you notice a shift, use motivators as a hypothesis, not a diagnosis. Maybe Angie is unmotivated because her project has no clear milestones. Maybe Steven is anxious because of merger rumors. Test your theory. Do not assume.

Above all, do no harm. This keeps coming back because it is the most important rule.

On Presence

The authors end with something that sounds simple but is not. Being truly present with another person – giving them your full attention, not half-listening while checking your phone – is maybe the most powerful thing a manager can do.

They admit you cannot learn presence from a book. It is an attitude you cultivate through practice. But they make a beautiful observation: the most precious moments in our lives tend to overlap with the moments when we were truly present with someone.

If you can be that kind of manager – one who is genuinely present with their people – you will have achieved something more important than good management. And that is saying a lot.

On Quiet Quitting

The authors briefly address the 2022 buzzword “quiet quitting.” Their take: it is just Gallup’s “not engaged” category rebranded for social media. Half the workforce has been in that state since the year 2000 according to the surveys. Patrick, our philosopher-employee, sees it as another natural cycle. The pandemic forced everyone to rethink their relationship with work. Some renegotiated their contracts in the Great Resignation. And maybe we are all collectively renegotiating what work means – where it happens, when it happens, and what purpose it serves in our short time on this earth.

Key Takeaway

You cannot create motivation from the outside. Motivation comes from within people. What you can do as a manager is understand what drives each person – achievement, companionship, recognition, status, security, mastery, autonomy, purpose – and then create conditions that support those drivers instead of crushing them.

But the most important thing is even simpler: do not demotivate people. Do not violate fairness. Do not ignore them. Do not treat them as instruments to be played. Be present with them. And accept that engagement ebbs and flows – in their lives, in your organization, and in your own heart. That acceptance, more than any motivational technique, is what makes a good manager.

Book: The 12-Week MBA by Nathan Kracklauer & Bjorn Billhardt | ISBN: 978-0-306-83236-9

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Next up: Chapter 15 - Leadership - What leadership really means.

Part of the 12-Week MBA retelling series