How much do you enjoy your job? Some folks show up each day because they deeply believe in what their company stands for. Others are there mainly for the paycheck or the prestige that comes with their position.
Both types can get a lot done. However, according to a recent study from CU Denver, those who are in it for the love of the job can sometimes rub their colleagues the wrong way, especially those who are motivated by external rewards.
Judged on our motivation
Judging people based on their motivations can cause serious problems in the workplace, like making it harder to keep good employees and hurting how well the organization performs overall.
“Employees who love their work more also prioritized helping their more passionate colleagues, whom they consider morally superior,” the researchers explain. “In contrast, employees who worked for other reasons received less help from their more passionate colleagues, making it more difficult for them to advance in their organizations and making them more likely to be excluded from important projects.”
In the workplace, where people come from and how much money they have can affect why they want to work. But bosses who only like workers who are self-motivated might end up excluding others and not promoting fairness and diversity.
For instance, experts say your family background can shape what drives you at work. If you grew up well-off, you probably had more chances to explore what you like doing for a job. Maybe you wanted to play a fancy instrument or ride horses, and your family could afford it.
On the flip side, if money was tight growing up, you might prioritize finding a job that pays well to support your family. This can affect what motivates you later in life. So, it’s important not to judge people solely based on how driven they seem.
Overlooking passion
The study suggests that a better approach would be to largely discount a worker’s passion when it comes to distributing the most prestigious projects.
“They should be aware that people can work for diverse reasons and those diverse reasons can all contribute to high performance,” the authors explain. “It’s best if managers rely on objective performance measures to evaluate them, rather than relying on potentially inaccurate perceptions of why people are working.”
Furthermore, the researchers suggest that individuals with altruistic interests in areas like nonprofits, education, or the arts might need to temper their enthusiasm, particularly during job applications and salary discussions. This caution stems from a phenomenon termed “passion exploitation.”
“Employers know that people with strong passion are willing to take lower salaries because, for these people, working itself should be the reward,” they explain.
