Career counselling for motivation in the workplace

A text by Natasa Ivanovska

Motivation is a term that is widely used in many aspects of life. The simplest definition is that motivation is our driving force, and that it comes from 2 sources:

1.Internal motivation – It comes from our opinions, values, opinion on ourselves, needs, goals etc.
2. External motivation – It comes from things within our environment that mean a lot to us, events, interpersonal relationships and so on.

Исто толку често е прашањето за МОТИВАЦИЈАТА НА ВРАБОТЕНИТЕ. Од аспект на кариерно советување, активностите за влијание врз мотивацијата се следни:

Workplace Description

Let’s start from the beginning. The employee must know their workplace and obligations. The position description is not just a formal document – It’s the foundation of the relationship between the organisation and individual, and it’s hard to carry on without it.

Workplace introduction

Once the description is made, the following steps are recommended:
- The employee gets to know the expectations the position and the desired level of competence.
- The employee gets to know the possible company career paths, the positions that could develop (horizontally or vertically in the hierarchy), depending on the developmental plans of the company.
- The employee has a conversation with a career counsellor about their aspirations, company positions, fills out personality tests, values tied to the workplace etc. It means that the employee can take a look at their value and contribution to success in the company, value of individual work in the company etc. The employees can have a look at their future.

This process results in motivation of the employees having them put in extra effort, by them having an answer to the question of “why do I come to work every day?” Even though money is a part of the answer, everyone who has tried to motivate an employee with a simple pay raise knows that the effect is miniscule and short lasting. Working with a career counsellor helps the employee see the wider benefits of the workplace and their contribution to the company. They can understand what else motivates them (a good work atmosphere, etc.) They can strive to achieve that in the workplace instead of having a passive role.

During this process the employee gets closer to what they want from the job, having it fit in with other life roles, and achieving a generally higher quality of life.