Note: This is a blogpost I wrote in August 2017 that I’m now sharing via Medium. Certainly still relevant.
I’ve been a Recruiter in the Tech space for over 10 years and having interviewed hundreds of candidates during that time. One of the very first questions I ask is, “What motivates you to be at your best?” I’m trying to determine what are those key things that the candidate is looking for in their workplace to keep them engaged and motivated. In most cases candidates do have an idea about this but I’ve been surprised at the amount of candidates I speak with that hesitate on this question and have to think about it. Perhaps it’s because of my profession but in my opinion if you’re looking for a new opportunity, these should be top of mind. What other criteria are you going to use to evaluate new opportunities against?
In his book, Drive, Daniel Pink makes the case that employers should move to a new model of motivation which taps into employee’s intrinsic motivators vs. the traditional (extrinsic) model of simply rewarding desirable behaviour or punishing undesirable behaviour. In this new model, employees are trusted and provided with autonomy (having ownership over your work with the ability to make important decisions on your own), mastery (the ability to acquire new skills and learn new things) and purpose (being involved with meaningful work that has an impact). His research has found that if employers are able to provide these to their employees, performance improves dramatically.
What are my motivators?
I’ve found this particularly relevant in my own life. I like to work in an environment without egos, where people are direct and honest with each other but are open-minded and empathetic enough not to get offended or defensive. Also, where I’m trusted and empowered to make decisions, influence change and ultimately have an impact. I find it difficult to work in an environment where I’m not able to do what’s needed to make things better without multiple layers of approvals. When my previous employer was acquired by Oracle I found my role changed significantly. I no longer had the ability to influence change and improve the way the team operated. It wasn’t a fault of the company or their culture, but rather a product of the size of their business. In any event, I found myself disengaged and ultimately knew that it wasn’t the right environment for me.
Time for a change
As I spoke with other companies in my job search, I made sure to ask very specifically about the work environment — how do people work together and communicate? What level of autonomy would I have? How much red tape will I face in getting things done? My goal being to understand whether their environment would bring out the best in me so we both could benefit. I ended up making the move to Zenreach in Kitchener, Ontario and although it’s early, I have to say I have no regrets. Zenreach expects a lot out of their employees and holds them accountable. What I’ve been struck with is the amount of trust they have in their employees and the ownership they’re given. There’s no need to run a decision through an approval chain — if you see an issue, you have the ability to take action and do what is needed to resolve it.
Although I don’t think you should ever feel defined by your job, the reality is that we spend the majority of our time at work and perhaps it’s the idealist in me, but I believe everyone should feel happy and engaged in the work that they’re doing.
How about you?
My main objective at Zenreach is to work with our leaders to grow our office in Kitchener, Ontario as the business continues to expand. At this point, we’re primarily looking for full-stack software developers who are motivated by owning a project, building something new with the latest technologies, in an environment that fosters open, honest and direct communication without red tape. We’ve had a lot of success, are well funded, and are one of the first companies blazing a trail in solving the online-offline attribution problem.
If this sounds like a place where you could see yourself thriving, feel free to check out our careers page or reach out to me directly (gary@zenreach.com). Even if you’d like to explore whether Zenreach may be a good fit for you, I’m always open for a conversation. If we do speak however, be prepared to answer the question, “What motivates you?”
-GG
