It’s a business! It’s just business! – The two most used expressions that justify the action of an employer.

For an employee the company is supposed to be a family, a place in which you feel good, this being the main motivation and not the money. How about we treat this as a business for both sides? It is always about money. If next to money comes a pleasant social interaction and higher purposes … is fine.

When you negotiate your salary, the employer will try to pay you the smallest amount possible. The funny part is that if you tell the interviewer that you are there for the money, they will put you at the end of the list. So you lie and the carousel starts: they will think they tricked you and expect performance, you will be unsatisfied and will do work in … the smallest amount possible.
Everybody loses.

It should be a fair trade. You give your time and your competencies and you ask in return what you need and not what is offered.

Remember: You are part of the negotiation process and not the subject of negotiation. Personal branding should become your favorite jacket. The more you know about yourself, the more conscious you become of your value on the labor market.

Everything that is said about organizational behavior must respect the fair trade principles.

• Transparency and accountability
• Payment of fair price
• Gender equity
• Decent work environment
• Trade relations

We are so used to having freedom of speech but we do not care about our freedom to act. No matter the country, although the employer asks more work and dedication from you every day … he loves you until you ask for a raise.

Long-term relationships are based on solidarity, trust and mutual respect. You as an employee are the customer that buys-in the need for profit of the company every day. The organization should buy in exchange your need: the need for money.

There are companies that have smart people in charge of implementing the business strategy. They look also at the long-term goals of company. It is the same with human resources specialists that understand what organizational development is about.

Individual performance is important, but a company is not formed from one individual. A company is a team and its strategic needs can be supported by group-oriented pay plans.

Profit sharing is one of the most used incentive systems. Money-wise it might not make a difference in a big company because the impact on profit from one individual is small. But in a small company it matters and in time, when most small companies will become partnerships, and the notion of employee will be history, this will represents the only form of compensation.

Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and Employee Stock Purchase Plans (ESPPs)
An ESOP allows employees to own stock in the company without having to purchase shares. An ESPP allows employees to use after-tax wages to purchase stock in their companies, usually at a discounted price.
Implementation of such incentive plans is not easy. There are taxes implications, private companies are required by law to purchase ESOP share from the employee that leaves the company, and so on.
But as motivational factor, ownership remains in the top of the list. For start-ups, especially in this period of economical crisis, it can also be used as partial replacement for money that constitutes the salary.

Gainsharing incentive schemes have usually as goals: improved productivity, quality performance, customer service, cost reductions, etc. It differs from profit sharing by the fact that is not related to the company’s performance.
The employees participate in the decision-making process and the gains obtained when reaching the goals are shared between the company and the employees. Gainsharing requires a team oriented management style and can lead improvements in performance as well as increased commitment to organizational goals.
Some of the most known schemes are: the Scanlon Plan, the Rucker plan, and Improshare.

Goal Setting Theory is about having a goal and how its existence motivates you to create a list of tasks and develop a strategy in order to reach your objective.

Edwin Locke – Goal Setting Theory states that clear goals and appropriate feedback is a powerful motivation tool for your employees.

Characteristics of a goal:

• Clarity
• Challenge
• Commitment
• Feedback
• Task complexity

For all these characteristics to define a goal in terms of SMARTER – Specific, Measurable, Acceptable, Realistic, Time based, Exciting, Rewarding – should do the trick.

A manager can do a good job by focusing on improving goal commitment through creating a team spirit, establishing additional rewards (not necessary money), and by providing support.

Also learning the  difference between learning goals and performance goals can prove useful because employees define themselves based on the competencies they have and develop, and how these competencies can be useful in a different role.

You are persistent in your work and make the effort in the direction of the goal set for you by your employer. In organizational behavior this equals a motivated employee.

Motivation has two components: internal needs (intrinsic motivation) and external objects (extrinsic motivation).

Extrinsic motivation comes from external rewards (including besides money other benefits that can satisfy your inner needs) and feedback when you are treated as a human being. In the case in which you are a “very important resource”, motivation will come from getting paid, punishment if you break something and critics.

Intrinsic motivation is represented by internal forces that energize and direct you towards your goals. The inner needs do not address only your work environment, but your purpose of living. Therefore there is not always a good fit between what your job requires from you and what you really need.

Most of the studies emphasize that money are not the most important motivational factor. It is ridiculous. While for the company is all about the profit … because it’s business … for you it should also be about the money! Your intrinsic motivation should make you better in negotiation because nobody cares about what you want and the company will try to pay you the lowest amount that you will accept. There is nothing wrong with their attitude but is definitely something wrong with yours if you buy into the crap and settle for less than you think you deserve.

Maybe, just maybe, you will realize in the end a deeper truth: you will never make good money working for other people.

A job is not only about the money. It is about a compensation that is satisfactory, a challenging work environment, the opportunities for moving forward in your career, and about the people that you work with.

Even if you would like your job to be something repetitive, with fixed hours and just breaking the door when the bell rings, you will still love a challenge. Why? It is called need of social recognition. We all have it.

The same need and the value we give to ourselves in a social context are reasons for which a promotion makes us happy.

Why the people around you are important? Maybe because you spend with them every day more time than you spend with your family?

When your job makes you happy there are a series of benefits for the organization:

• Absence from work – I am not talking about physical absence. If your mind is not there it does not matter if your body is.
• Turnover – replacement of employees is so expensive, that only morons do not care if their employees are happy.
• Performance & Organizational citizenship behavior – happy people walk the extra mile.
• Customer satisfaction – who does not love a smiley face?