Non-Material Motivation: Why It Matters and How It Works

If you've ever led a team of at least three people and were responsible for the team’s results, you’ve likely encountered situations where your employees lose interest, burn out, or simply aren’t putting in their best effort. How does this happen, why, and can anything be done about it?

Material and Non-Material Motivation

In brief, material motivation refers to monetary rewards (salary increases, bonuses based on performance, and other financial incentives fall into this category). Whereas non-material motivation is based on factors that satisfy psychological needs, such as recognition, appreciation, and a sense of accomplishment.

The problem with material motivation is that, firstly, as a manager or a company, you can’t give everyone a million dollars, no matter how much you want to. You would simply collapse under the financial burden of the project or product.

Secondly, for most people, money alone isn’t enough—they need something more: a good team, interesting projects, effective processes, self-fulfillment, and so on. This is what we call non-material motivation. Unfortunately, even if you can continuously raise someone’s salary, but their non-material motivation remains low, they’re likely to leave for another company, and while they’re still with you, they won’t be as committed as they could be.

How to Manage Non-Material Motivation

So, what can be done? How can we boost non-material motivation? Let’s break down the formula of non-material motivation.

• WR – Work Respect: How much does the team respect and value my work? For example, are my opinions as a technical specialist sought out? Am I invited to participate in reviews or brainstorming sessions? Does the team trust the tools I develop and actively use them?

• DV – Diverse Work: Am I able to apply different skills and knowledge in my work? For IT specialists who often focus on specific areas, this could mean tackling different types of tasks (e.g., discovery vs. delivery), taking part in cross-reviews, or even working as a full-stack developer from time to time.

• RU – Result Understanding: Do I see the results of my work and understand how my contributions impact the company? Regular team syncs, public demos, and delegating demo responsibilities can help here. It’s also important to explain why a particular task matters for the business or users at the outset. As an IT team lead, try to share quarterly results with the team, showing what metrics you’ve achieved and how the product is progressing.

• AW – Autonomy at Work: Do I have the trust, responsibility, and authority to make decisions? This isn’t about working remotely—it’s about being accountable for certain aspects of the project. For example, a developer could be a tech lead or be responsible for specific services or a set of microservices. Creating mini-teams with specialists accountable for a specific result can also boost this score.

• FB – Feedback: Do I receive feedback from my manager and colleagues? This is one of the most significant and manageable factors, where you, as a manager, can directly influence it. In any situation where you sense a problem, share or request feedback.

• Number 3 is a constant coefficient, averaging out the first three factors.

This formula provides a tool for identifying where motivation is lacking or flourishing. Each factor can be rated on a scale of 1 to 10, using expert assessments. The maximum possible score from this formula is 1,000, and the minimum is 0. A motivation level of around 500 is considered good, while anything higher is exceptional.

Where’s Salary in the Formula?

Technically, it isn’t directly included. However, if you look closely, it’s somewhat hidden within the “Result Understanding” factor. This is because understanding the results can sometimes be tied to financial rewards, although this isn’t necessarily the case.

Assessing Motivation

How can a manager understand the motivation level within their team?

Let’s look at an example:

We have a Java developer, John. His salary is high by market standards, yet he feels dissatisfied with his job and lacks motivation.

His formula might look like this: M = (7 + 5 + 3) / 3 * 9 * 5 = 225

This is a fairly low score. So, how can we address this? It seems John, despite having high autonomy (perhaps he's a team lead) and working on diverse tasks, doesn’t understand the purpose of his work or see his value as an employee.

In this case, you could:

1. Hold a team meeting to review the team’s results and highlight specific tasks that contributed to those achievements.

   
   

2. Provide feedback to John, acknowledging how well he handled his tasks.

   
   

3. Invite John to the next strategy session, so he understands the importance of his work from the outset.

Top Methods for Boosting Non-Material Motivation

Let’s summarize the key ways to enhance non-material motivation, based on the formula and earlier points.

1. Personal and Public Praise: Personal praise can be applied to almost everyone, while public praise should be used only if the employee is comfortable with public attention. Frame the praise as a story of the achievement.

   
   

2. Freedom of Action and Decision-Making: Hyper-control benefits no one. Allowing autonomy can enhance an employee’s sense of self-worth. Avoid micromanagement—it harms both you and your team. Expanding responsibility should be done gradually.

   
   

3. Demonstrating Work Results and Impact: To make employees feel their contribution matters, regularly show how the company’s planned tasks are completed by their team, how much profit their work generates, or how customer satisfaction improves.

   
   

4. Team and Atmosphere: A positive work environment is essential, as we often spend more time with colleagues than with family. Strengthen team relationships through online or offline games, sports activities, or simply share stories about summer holidays.

   
   

5. Learning, Career, and Growth: Many employees join a company with the intention of growing, which can greatly benefit the organization. Show employees how they can grow horizontally, deepening their knowledge, or vertically, advancing in their career.

   
   

6. Conducting Strategy Sessions: Let the team contribute to planning future tasks and solutions at the early stages. This helps them understand the project’s priorities and their role in achieving overall success.

   
   

7. Holding one-to-one Meetings: These allow you, as a manager, to assess the situation and offer guidance, while giving employees a chance to voice concerns and ask questions they might not have felt comfortable raising before.

Conclusion

Finally, always ask your colleagues one simple question: “How can I help you?” Often, they already know what they need. All you have to do is show interest.

Remember, in the long run, non-material motivation can be far more important than financial incentives. As a manager, it's in your hands not only to build a great team but also to keep it together rain or shine and develop it into a group that truly enjoys working together.