Wolf in the Workplace

Motivation: A Vehicle to Excellence

By: Barbara Sternlight McCarthy, BA, RDMS

We all admire and aspire to excellence in our work! But, some people seem to be "a natural" at what they do. Can we all work with such ease and joy???

Success is a result of being positively motivated to do what we do. Whether in the realm of athletics, the workplace, or centers of education — motivated, successful individuals seem to work effortlessly and with excellence — separating themselves from those who do their work just "adequately".

Motivated talents always seem to find positive expression. People who demonstrate excellence have learned to identify their motivations, and then work to develop and fine tune them. Knowing what one does best and enjoys most typically contributes to success all around. By helping ourselves and our employees to identify and validate positive motivations, we become partners in individual and group success — and the subsequent growth of our business.

Having an experienced skill set provides a way into a position or role. However, finding skilled people who love what they do, and matching them to the right work, is the key to outpacing the competition — critical for success in today's business environment.

A unique assessment instrument utilized by Wolf Management Consultants is MAPPT (Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential), a tool used to nurture productive and efficient organizations. Based on a comprehensive and integrated personal inventory for understanding motivation and potential, it has high reliability and validity scores and provides powerful insight needed for building stronger organizations.

With attention to personal, vocational and learning styles, some components of the assessment include the measurement of an individual's: Interest in job content; Temperament for the job; Aptitude for the job; Reasoning and thinking style; Mathematical capability; Language levels; Personal style; Personal traits; Interpersonal & social tendencies; Learning style; Orientation to people; Affinity for objects and things; Approach to data and information.

One caveat: We can train an individual to fill knowledge/skill gaps, but we can't change how one's fundamental motivations support the successful implementation of this knowledge. How valuable would it be to know the difference between skill and motivation when choosing employees to do specific work??? To facilitate hiring decisions, address succession planning, reduce turnover and job stress, and to build the most effective teams, we must choose the right tools to evaluate our workforce. Utilizing appropriate assessment tools and coaching techniques, we can all move toward excellence in our work.