Leading psychologists now reveal why, and how, leaders must push the right buttons to motivate every individual employee. Every day, a lack of motivation in the workplace causes thousands of employees across the UK to feel dissatisfied with their jobs. This not only leads to poor productivity and increased sick days, but it is estimated that the resulting failure to retain employees costs the UK economy over £24 billion each year.

To tackle the problem of employee engagement and motivation, many companies turn to initiatives that group employees by age, gender and several other criteria and stereotypes. However, as insightful new book, Motivation and Performance demonstrates these group differences are often exaggerated and in fact getting to the heart of what motivates each individual is the key to successful employee engagement.

Written by eminent psychologists Adrian Furnham and Ian MacRae, Motivation and Performance: A Guide to Motivating a Diverse Workforce, explores the science behind motivation. It combines original research by the authors with real-life case studies, and provides practical guidance on how to measure motivation, find areas for improvement and manage talent within a company. The book explores what works (and what doesn’t) across finance, retail, private and public sector companies, with takeaway lessons on how to:

  • Improve employee satisfaction
  • Boost organisational productivity
  • Reduce staff turnover

How to engage and motivate a millennial workforce is currently a hot debate, as many assume that different generations will have different values and therefore be motivated differently.

Motivation and Performance debunks this myth and shows that there are actually no significant generational differences that have meaningful implications for managers, leaders and human resources. Instead, they urge for the focus to be on looking at what motivates individuals rather than groups, and reveal how this can be done in practice.

Motivation and Performance also demonstrates that there doesn’t have to be a trade-off between company success and employee wellbeing. In fact, it proves that getting the balance right improves the outcomes for everyone involved, leading to happier, healthier employees who take an average of 1.4 fewer sick days annually.

Motivation and Performance is an accessible, engaging, sometimes amusing and always useful book. It is an invaluable guide for HR professionals and business leaders alike, and shows that you simply can’t afford to ignore the importance of motivation if you are going to unlock the potential of your diverse workforce.