United States. It was one of the few midcap companies on the
list, which also included big players like 3M, GE, Johnson &
Johnson, Dell, and IBM.
Culture. The most effective way to fulfill the drive to bond –
to engender a strong sense of camaraderie – is to create a
culture that promotes team work, collaboration, openness, and
friendship. RBS broke through NatWest’s silo mentality by
bringing together people from the two firms to work on well-defined cost-savings and revenue-growth projects. A departure
for both companies, the new structure encouraged people to
break old attachments and form new bonds. To set a good
example, the executive committee (comprising both RBS and
ex-Nat West executives) meets every Monday morning to discuss and resolve any outstanding issues – cutting through the
bureaucratic and political processes that can slow decision
making at the top.
Another business with an exemplary culture is the Weg-mans supermarket chain, which has appeared for a decade on
Fortune’s list of “ 100 Best Companies to Work For.” The family
that owns the business makes a point of setting a familial tone
for the companywide culture. Employees routinely report that
management cares about them and that they care about one
another, evidence of a sense of teamwork and belonging.
Job design. The drive to comprehend is best addressed by
designing jobs that are meaningful, interesting, and challenging. For instance, although RBS took a hard-nosed attitude toward expenses during its integration of Nat West, it nonetheless
invested heavily in a state-of-the-art business school facility,
adjacent to its corporate campus, to which employees had
access. This move not only advanced the company’s success
in fulfilling the drive to bond, but also challenged employees to
think more broadly about how they could contribute to making
How to Fulfill the Drives That Motivate Employees
For each of the four emotional drives that employees need to fulfill, companies
have a primary organizational lever to use. This table matches each drive with
its corresponding lever and lists specific actions your company can take to make
the most of the tools at its disposal.
DRIVE
PRIMARY LEVER
Acquire Reward System
Bond Culture
Comprehend
Job Design
Defend
Performance-Management
and Resource-Allocation
Processes
ACTIONS
Sharply differentiate good performers
from average and poor performers
Tie rewards clearly to performance
Pay as well as your competitors
Foster mutual reliance and friendship
among coworkers
Value collaboration and teamwork
Encourage sharing of best practices
Design jobs that have distinct and
important roles in the organization
Design jobs that are meaningful and
foster a sense of contribution to the
organization
Increase the transparency of all
processes
Emphasize their fairness
Build trust by being just and transparent
in granting rewards, assignments, and
other forms of recognition
