The Article “Motivation - The Not So Secret Ingredient of High Performance” is a chapter from

"Performance Management: Measure and Improve the Effectiveness of Your Employees"

published in Harvard Business School Press talks about the key topics as Theories of motivation,
Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards , The messy problem of incentive systems and ten motivational
practices. The article starts with emphasizing on the fact that motivation is an important part of
performance management because only having a common goal is not enough. A person may
understand the goal, but may not have the zeal to pursue it so the chapter explains about
workplace motivation and impact of rewards and incentives as a fuel to motivation.
The article explains two theories of motivation as theory X and theory Y .The Theory X view
which is a traditional form of motivation of human nature sees employees as lazy and
untrustworthy motivated solely by pay (the carrot) and fear of dismissal (the stick). The Theory
Y view of human nature postulates that people are not naturally slackers, but are eager to work,
to accept responsibility, and to produce good results. The Other theory is also backed by a
research of Elton Mayo indicating that work output was influenced by social norms,
management-employee communications, and the level of employee involvement in workplace
decisions that creates a feeling of belonging and attachment. As interpreted by David Garvin and
Norman Klein, Mayo s research showed that work output was not simply a function.
It also says that there are two categories of rewards: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic rewards
produce non quantifiable personal satisfaction, such as a sense of accomplishment, personal
control over one s work, and a feeling that one s work is appreciated. Extrinsic rewards are
external, tangible forms of recognition such as pay hikes, promotions, bonuses, and sales prizes.
The article explains the importance of both making it clear with examples that real motivators
such as recognition and team spirit, when combined with adequate pay, have produced a
committed workforce and the lowest level of employee turnover in the U.S. airline industry.
Practical suggestions for motivating personnel things that managers can do include making pay
fair and competitive, demonstrating trust; making jobs more complete; introducing challenge,
encouraging some people to become experts, eliminating fear from the workplace, preserving the
dignity of subordinates and maintaining a positive vibe at workplace. The surest approach to staff
motivation can also be to recruit people who are self-motivated. This is related more with talent
management than with performance management but anything that can increase the level of
motivation in workplace is useful.
Even the most self-motivated people can be less productive because of bad management. A
company can have terrific pay and benefits, employee-friendly policies, and all the other features
that make for a healthy workplace, but a bad manager can neutralize these features and
demotivate subordinates which suggests that a good manager who can maintain a good
relationship with employee will help increase overall productivity 
The research backed article puts a real picture of motivation and the elaborate explanation makes
it a good read to know about the different ingredients of motivation. Use of many real time
examples and result of surveys makes the article more relevant and explanatory.