Motivational Maps are offered by Alembic as an accurate way to measure three clusters of motivation, through your own self-perception. Your perception of what motivates you is measured through three lenses – relationship, achievement and growth. Once you find what motivates you, the information provided by the map can help you to empower and increase your motivation, leading to an increase in your sense of energy, productivity and ability to fulfil your role.

In this article, we are focusing on the Achievement motivators. Someone who has a strong sense of motivation around achievement tend to be motivated by achieving and challenges. They tend to focus on day-to-day living in the present moment - working through today's challenges and tasks. They can like roles where they can exercise control, create wealth, and develop mastery. However, the possible restrictions of this are that they are not necessarily thinking about the bigger picture and how this all fits in.

Builder by Roseanna Farish

There has been lots of recent research conducted on motivation and reward strategies for organisations looking to engage, incentivise and motivate their teams. 

Traditionally, we have applied the rule that if we can pay someone more, then they will be more motivated. However, research has built up over the past few decades that suggests that this is an oversimplification of reward strategies and that other factors are at play and should be considered when adopting rewards strategies. These include access to learning and further qualifications, connection to the companies values and purpose, opportunities for creativity and freedom, job security and stability, connection to colleagues and so on. 

So where does this leave money as a motivator? Does money really motivate people?

The Builder motivator is one of three achievement motivators (alongside Expert and Director) in the Motivational Map. If Builder is a strong motivator, then the person is driven by money and financial performance.

Builders value high standards of living, material and financial rewards, clear goals and targets, work that is visibly well rewarded, responsibility, competitive environment.

A typical builder will like to see reward clearly linked to financial metrics, and opportunity to earn more money will be satisfying. 

People can feel negative about having a high Builder motivator relative to some other motivators, but actually in commercial organisations, particularly in competitive markets, this motivator is helpful in exploiting areas of business opportunity and achieving goals. 

Expert by Alice Davies

The Expert is all about knowledge and mastery. Those with a high Expert motivator may find satisfaction and energy from knowledge, learning, becoming an expert in an area they enjoy and opportunities to share their expertise.

Some key motivators for an Expert are:

• Learning and development

• Sharing their knowledge with others

• Becoming a specialist in a field they are passionate about

• Being the 'go to' person for a field/topic

• Interacting with fellow experts

If you are someone with a high Expert motivator

If one or more of the statements above has resonated with you it is likely you are motivated by Expert. First, ask yourself if you think your Expert motivator is satisfied - does your role involve a lot of what motivates you about Expert? Would you like to do more of it? 

In order to improve the satisfaction of your Expert motivator, and therefore your overall motivation level, you can:

• Ask for more learning and development opportunities at work

• Get a mentor

• Or become a mentor yourself!

• Create a plan for your development and share this with your manager or a colleague - review it regularly

• Request goals that will stretch you

• Network - this is a great way to meet fellow experts

If you manage someone with a high Expert motivator

• Do they have a development plan (e.g. a 100-day plan)?

• What are their gaps regarding Expert? What do they need to become one? What can you/the company do to help with this?

• What skills and expertise do they need to progress their career?

  
  

Director by Matt Dunaway

A typical high Director profile has a need for responsibility, control, and influence. They typically value:

• Power and being in charge

• Being stretched with difficult tasks

• Making critical decisions

• Controlling people and resources

• Being given responsibility

Getting the most out of your Director motivator

So, you have high Director in your profile. What can you do to play to this responsible, high achieving motivator?

There are a variety of strategies that can work to increase motivation for your Director motivator, they can be very individual so it might be worth trying out a variety until you find one that is a great fit for you.

Why not try:

• Actively seeking opportunities to take on responsibility. Try not to take on too much and become overwhelmed but remember that control of people and resources is a good way to motivate Directors.

• Work hard on your career. Higher positions generally fulfil the Director motivator more effectively than positions lower down in an organisation. Why not seek help from someone who can work with you on your career path.

• Learn from the people in positions you want one day. Why not try to find opportunities to shadow someone you might learn new skills from.

• Where you can, seek opportunities for advancement. Don’t wait for a promotion, go out and look for one and start applying.

Perhaps you don’t have high Director in your profile, but someone in your team does. How can you manage them effectively and keep them motivated?

• Delegate responsibility where you can and see how they manage it. Not all Directors are ready for the power they seek, so monitor the situation to make sure you are happy with the results.

• Be clear about promotion. Tell them what is needed for them to progress and set goals for them to work to.

• Make sure to manage and coach them so they develop the skills they will need to progress in their career.

• Create an atmosphere of performance and work to get the best out of them while you help them towards their goals.

Not all people naturally work well with Directors, for example, people with high Friend can experience conflict as Directors can be more focused on progressing their career than building fulfilling relationships. These areas of conflict are worth noting and understanding to get the best from your relationships with Directors.

Directors are an important part of an organisation and can provide powerful motivation for people in management positions. Make note of your Directors and help them to plan paths to success and fulfilment.

If you would like more information on how Motivational Maps can work for you and your team, take a look at our webpage or get in touch and we will be happy to help.