This is quite likely an academic exercise because most of us do not have the resources to give away money, even if it is viewed by some as a good investment toward motivation of team members. 

The ability to use money as an incentive usually rests with a comparative few within the organization.  So, though in your current position the discussion may be of little practical value to you in the strictest sense, it may be of interest and it may be helpful in understanding and utilizing Maslow’s theory in other situations. 

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You may remember Maslow theorized that physical needs, Safety and Security, aren’t of much use when it comes to motivation, but they could be significant distractors if they were not fulfilled.  In essence then, he theorized that money would not be much of a motivator because it is related to physical needs.  True, money could be a motivator, but only in a limited way.  Let’s see about that.
__________What do you think of money as a motivator?  You do like to have money, don’t you?  And no matter how much you have, it would be nice to have more, correct? 

If your answers are what I think they are, you probably feel that money is an excellent motivator toward excellence.  After all, a sudden infusion of funds into your account would do wonders for your performance, right?

You may be correct, but in the main, money is actually of limited value as a motivator.  Sounds strange, I know, but let’s take a closer look at how most people, including yourself, probably react to money when it is used as a motivator.

__________

The first challenge to Maslow’s view of money as a motivator might be a sales force who is out there pushing for the sale.  They will wear clown suits and stand on their heads if it will close the deal.  Been shopping for a car lately?  OK, maybe a bit of stereotyping here, but not terribly so.

Many sales people are “incentivized” by way of low salaries augmented by commissions.  I’ve always found that word “incentivized” to be interesting when used in the context of such a sales force. 

One might ask, “Incentivized to do what?”  Is the objective to sell enough to meet company goals?  Or perhaps 10% more than the goals?  Or 10% more than personal sales last cycle (an ever-moving goal)? 

Or perhaps the incentive is not tied to the company at all — the salary is so low that the sales person can’t eat unless a commission is earned, and that is a rather basic down-to-Earth incentive of Physical Needs dimension.      

In any case, it would seem that given the pressure some commissioned sales people feel to make the sale, they as a group are an example that says Maslow was wrong — money may indeed be used as an viable motivator toward excellence.

__________

If that is what you are thinking, we need only to look slightly further than the monetary incentive, that which helps fulfill the physical needs.

In the case of the incentivized sales force, if money were truly sufficient to serve as a motivator toward excellence, that would be the only motivator needed.  Once excellence is accomplished, there is no more need for motivation as long as the money keeps flowing.  Give away enough money and everyone becomes a super salesperson and needs no other motivation.

Really?

If that were true there would be no non-monetary awards for exceeding sales goals.  There would be no rah-rah sessions to excite the sales force.  There would be no Salesperson of the Month/Quarter/Year plaques and trophies, pictures with the president or director, or recognition trips to the annual meeting at company headquarters.  There would be no special parking spots for the top seller.   

What is the difference, as Maslow saw it, between all those things and money?

All those things fulfill Social needs, not Physical needs, and are therefore more likely to be motivators toward excellence.

Can you really imagine a sales force without any of those things?  Incentivized only by money?

During one of my seminars on this subject one of the participants commented when we reached this point that she knew of a manager, hers unfortunately for her, who felt I was completely wrong.  Her manager both said and acted as if money were all that was necessary as an incentive. 

She stated that the manager never gave a simple compliment, never wrote a note of encouragement, and didn’t believe in recognition programs of any type, even to the point of resisting higher level recognition program participation by his area.  Reportedly, in that manager’s opinion all those things were a waste of time and effort because money would take care of everything.

A look that afternoon at the past 2 quarters of sales revenue in that manager’s area indicated quite the contrary.  That area held the record for both preceding quarters, at the bottom of the list for average sales per individual and for overall sales as a group. 

This was an “inside sales” group in the company for which I worked, so for the next few days after the session I made it a personal objective to cruise through that area a couple of times a day just to observe.  Interestingly there seemed to be fewer personal items in each person’s cubicle and the energy level of the area seemed somewhat different, lower, than that of the other areas.

A week or so later a brief look at the average on-line time and number of incoming contacts handled revealed anything but stellar performance.  That group was clearly not motivated to the same level as their peers, yet the financial incentives were identical.      

No, money is not the final answer to motivating people toward excellence.  Yes, it can help to a limited degree, but by itself it does not typically do the job.

__________

If it is of limited value, we had better get the most bang for the buck then, right?  (I beg your allowance for the pun — it does seem topical.) 

If money does help a little in motivation, even though not toward excellence, how is it best distributed then?  Do we award it all at the end of the year as a bonus, or do we give it out weekly at a Friday bash?  How about a random dropping of $20’s on people’s desks during the day?

__________

Let’s consider a fairly familiar money dispensing device for a moment, the slot machine, or if you prefer, the one-armed bandit.  Even if you haven’t played one you probably have some idea of how they work.

When you play a typical slot machine, what is its reward system? 

If you knew a machine would pay out only if and when you hit the big jackpot, how long would you continue to put money into it?  It’s all or nothing.  Going to sit there on a stool and keep dropping money in and pressing the button or pulling the handle?  How long will you continue?  5 minutes?  30 minutes?  2 hours?

The odds are you may drop a few coins in, but you really won’t stay long enough to need a stool.  It’s more likely you’ll drop a few and move on.  Yes, there are some who will stay longer, but they are relatively few.

You’ll more likely move on to another machine that will pay off periodically.  You may not win much each time, but you will at least see and hear something coming your way often enough to keep your interest.  You need a stool and you’ve put your beverage down and have settled in.  Meanwhile, you look over to that other machine and watch as people drop a couple of coins in, get no payoff, and move on.

By the way, it may interest you to know there is a certain amount of engineering that goes into not only the delivery of your winnings, but also the sound associated with it.  Even if you are receiving only credits, reward is often accompanied by sound or flashing lights.

Are you getting the idea that how you feel about the reward is just as important as the reward itself?

And apart from how often a payout is made, what do you think about about the relative success of all payoffs being the same versus payoffs being of varying amounts?  Which would create the most interest, the most excitement, the highest level of anticipation or motivation?

Think now about the difference between the Physical needs and the Social needs.  The Social needs, Belonging, Self Esteem, and Self Fulfillment, are all about feelings, aren’t they?  Ah hah!  Maybe we are onto something here!

But back to that periodic payoff, that periodic fulfillment of needs, the periodic shot of feeling good — just wanted to plan a little seed there for a moment.

__________

What would happen if the periodic payoff were regular?  That is, every tenth time you put your money in and pulled the handle, there would be a payoff.  Do you think maybe your feel-good meter, the level of excitement, the level of motivation, would drop after each winning deposit, knowing the sure thing was coming but it was ten more deposits and pulls away? 

And after some time of this, do you think your feel-good meter would fail to rise even as you put your money in on the tenth round?  You know a payoff is coming and you make your deposit, so what’s there to be excited (motivated) about?

Perhaps when we receive a payoff is an important thing.

Could that apply to non-monetary payoff, too?

Not to confuse the issue, but is it possible that a boss who pays you a compliment predictably every Wednesday is just not going to be much of a motivator after you figure out that come rain or shine, here he comes again with another booster shot, not because you deserve it, but because it’s Wednesday?

Maybe we’re onto something here.  Maybe we need to realize more than the fact that money is not all that great an incentive toward excellence.  Maybe we also need to realize that how and when we provide satisfiers, how and when we provide motivators, are important even when we are fulfilling social needs.

Funny, it seems so simple, yet…