Notes

Motivation

Dan Pink (2009)
He speaks a strong case against money as a motivator of complex problem solving. Money works as a motivator for simple mechanical (non-cognitive) problems. Creative problems that require brain power and doing something that has not been done before demands for commitment. Dan says giving people Autonomony, drive to master the skill, and meaning purpose are superior motivators

Total rewards = extrinsic+intrinsic

Total rewards:
All of the tools an employer uses to attract, retain, motivate and satisfy employees, encompassing every single investment an organisation makes in its people and everything the employees value in the employment relationship.
The concept is holistic and integrative. It should provide an approach to reward in the organisation that fits well with the business objectives and desired organisational culture and it is conflated with strategic approaches to reward. In addition, it is people centred, customised, distinctive and evolutionary. It is developed while it is happening and isn't a sudden change. It ticks a number of critical boxes for organisations as it covers issues regarding recruitment, motivation and retention. In reality though only 17.8% of respondents provided it (CIPD, 2012)

The types of rewards depend on a variety of reasons (external operating environment, behaviour of competitors, etc). The organisations approach to rewards should be about what makes sense for the organisation itself (Wright, 2004)
Base pay is the starting point in the reward package. Depending on the overall package the base pay can be suppressed where benefits are generous and so it adds up. It may also be kept deliberately low where commission can be earned

Different people are motivated by different things, even within the same organisation there are different types and levels of jobs. Those who need creativity in their work have been proven to be better motivated by self direction and intrinsic rewards. However those who deal with simple repetitive tasks that have clear directions, are better motivated by extrinsic rewards, for example financial incentives. Financial rewards narrow the focus of the person and are very effective on direct jobs that do not require high levels of creativity and problem solving. Because of that however they are ineffective and can even be demotivating on jobs where the focus needs to broad in order for the solution to be found. This has been proven from more than a hundred years ago, when Henry Ford offered increased pay as a way to motivate workers in highly repetitive jobs. While the turnover was high, the people asking for jobs only increased.