Motivation in the Civil Service

Before we begin exploring ways to tackle motivational problems, let us first discuss some of the telling signs of an unmotivated staff:

Telling Signs

It is clear that unmotivated staff are more than just lazy staff. They are not proactive and are afraid to make decisions. The following are some remarks that typically reflect these symptoms:

"The more you work, the more mistakes you make. So don't do anything unless you have to. And even then, do as little as possible."

"We just do our job, play it safe. We are not paid to make our own judgement. It is perfectly alright to seek and follow the boss's instructions every time."

"Why bother making suggestions? Let's check how the job was done last time and follow suit."

Are these symptoms common place in the civil service? If so, how can we turn them around? Let us reflect on the following questions:

What prevents us from becoming motivated?
What motivates staff?
What are the characteristics of motivated staff ?

What Prevents Government Employees from Becoming Motivated Employees?

The common responses are the following:

Office politics
Repetitive, simple tasks all the time
Unclear instruction
Organisational vision, mission and values not clearly communicated
Vague and contradicting instructions
Unnecessary rules
Unproductive meetings
Unfairness
Lack of information
Discouraging responses
Tolerance of poor performance
Over-control
No recognition of achievements by the community

Fallacies of Motivation

While the above "de-motivators" can adversely affect staff motivation, fallacies of motivation will put us on the wrong track and turn to waste our efforts to motivate.

Some people are motivated and some are not.
"That guy is dead wood. He is on maxi. Nothing we can do about him."

But the truth is everybody can be motivated, the question is how.

Threat is the only motivation that some people understand.
"Do it right next time or you'll see the consequence."

But the widespread use of threat leads to negativity, fear and avoidance behavior - such is not conducive to sustaining high performance.

Rewards will do it all.
"You're paid to do the job."

But real motivation is not for sale - buying allegiance is not an effective long-term motivational strategy.

What Motivates Staff ?

Is money the magic solution to motivation? There are many other effective tools to motivate staff. When junior and middle managers attending management training programmes are asked about their civil service career, they remember vividly the times when:

they are assigned a challenging job which gives them a sense of achievement, responsibility, growth, enjoyment and a promising promotion prospect;
their efforts are recognized and appreciated by the management and the public;
they receive the trust and full support of supervisors;
they can complete a job by themselves; and
they are placed in a harmonious working environment.

Characteristics of a Motivated Staff

Reflected through their actions are some of the following behaviors:

Energetic and full of initiative
Committed to serving the community
Practise the mission of the organisation
Want to think for themselves
Appreciate recognition and challenges
Seek opportunities to improve their capabilities
Take proactive and positive actions to solve problems
Believe that they could contribute to make a difference
Set their own challenging and achievable work targets

Purpose

Why Do We Need Motivation?

Motivation in the Civil Service

Within Our Own Boundary

At the Organisational Level

Motivation and HRM

Your Own Staff Motivation Plan

Motivation and You