April 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 43

teamwork, help assure employees
that they are valued members of
the team and create the foundation for individuals and the team
to flourish. These actions are not
only identified through the theories of physiologists Abraham
Maslow (Hierarchy of Needs) and
Clayton P. Alderfer (Existence,
Relatedness and Growth or ERG),
but are also frequently presented
as a matter of high importance in
employee satisfaction studies.

Creating a Sense of Purpose
For employees to feel a sense of
purpose and be positioned to succeed in contributing to meaningful work, managers must increase
employee engagement by clearly
communicating goals and objectives. Showing how identified tasks
relate to the organization's overall
vision or mission allows employees
to experience the intrinsic reward
of knowing their efforts directly tie
in to the big picture.

Creating a Sense of Trust
Making a concerted effort to build
rapport with employees provides
the manager with an opportunity
to learn the myriad ways individuals on the team are motivated. It
also helps employees feel valued
and build trust with their manager
and elicits intrinsic rewards, such
as a stronger sense of belonging,
job security and overall job satisfaction among employees. Expanding
on the rapport built between the
manager and individuals on the
team, when the manager facilitates
interactions among team members,
creates opportunities for employees to feel a sense of belonging and
social connectedness that some individuals need.

Creating a Sense
of Belonging
Knowing employees' skills and
attributes can help managers to
better engage them when faced
with mundane or less rewarding
tasks by creating a collaborative approach where employees
work together to finish a task.
This approach may allow for one
employee to train others or simply reduce the time each person
spends on the task. When the task
is complete, the employees may
experience a sense of teamwork
and belongingness.

Creating a Sense
of Achievement
Throughout team development
and when working on projects, it
is imperative that managers recognize skills and contributions made
by individual employees, as well as
by the team. Celebrating a job well
done as a group, and specifically
recognizing individual contributions and achievements along the
way, is essential to create the sense
of pride and accomplishment all
employees seek.
Along these lines, it is important that regular feedback be given
to employees, especially in a formal setting. This helps facilitate
opportunities for special recognition of accomplishments and to
identify any professional development or desired training to help
the employee to remain engaged
in the workplace.
Employees seeking new or
more challenges may be well-positioned for a manager to delegate a task or responsibility. The
act of delegation builds trust and
enhances the employee's engagement in the workplace through

Knowing employees' skills and
attributes can help managers
to better engage them when
faced with mundane or less
rewarding tasks by creating a
collaborative approach where
employees work together to
finish a task.
the sense of pride that comes
from the trust and the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge
and/or to learn new skills.
These are but a few examples of
how managers can use intrinsic
motivation to engage employees
in the workplace. Considering the
numerous theories of motivation,
the opportunity for managers to
use intrinsic motivation factors is
nearly endless. It is more a matter
of managers being actively engaged with their team and keeping abreast of changing demands
in the work environment. Being
cognizant of environmental shifts
and possessing a perceptive and
adaptable leadership style will aid
with perpetuating a culture that
creates an engaged and motivated
team.
Detailed references for this article are available at www.nrpa.org/
parks-recreation-magazine/2019/
april/using-intrinsic-motivation-to-in
crease-employee-engagement.

Jennifer Meunier is an Undergraduate Student in the
Department of Recreation and Park Administration at Eastern
Kentucky University @jenminyer (jennifer_meunier@mymail.eku.
edu). Michael J. Bradley, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the
Department of Recreation and Park Administration at Eastern
Kentucky University @mikeisoutside (michael.bradley@eku.edu).

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Parks & Recreation

April 2019 - Parks & Recreation

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