3 things that actually motivate your team members (hint - it's not more money)

A common challenge that I hear from many accounting firm owners that I work with is that it's really hard to find, to attract, and retain the best talent in their accounting firms.

So I thought I'd do a video on employee motivation and what motivates employees?

Now contrary to public opinion, it's not money. And my thinking on this was influenced by a book I read by Daniel Pink called "Drive". And in this book, Dan Pink proves that employees are not motivated by money so long as that they've got a base level of salary that meets their needs.

What motivates employees are three things, autonomy, mastery, and purpose, and I'll talk about each of those in turn.

So autonomy, what does that mean? Autonomy in what they are doing, so being empowered to be independent and get to the end objective that's been agreed in the interest of the organization. So not micromanaging essentially, leaving them be to get on with how they feel is best to achieve the desired solution.

Secondly, mastery, so employees must be doing something which is improving their skill set in some way. They must be working in their flow, in their zone of genius, thereby feeling motivated that they're bettering themselves by the work that they are doing.

And, lastly, purpose, so they should feel that they are part of a bigger purpose they can attach themselves to that they truly believe in, so they can attach themselves to the vision that you've set out for your accounting firm or your business.

So there you have it, the three forms of motivation that Dan Pink talks about in his book "Drive". I really encourage you to read it.

If you're interested in how to apply this practically in your accounting firm, then download this guide here on how to implement a Results Only Work Environment in your accounting firm.