5 Global Trends That Will Affect Firefighter Motivation in [Year]

There are two essential ways that people can be motivated: extrinsically and intrinsically. The former type of motivation depends on external factors: rewards and punishments. The latter type of motivation comes from within and results from a personal commitment to the desired goal

One type of motivation is not inherently better or more effective than another in any circumstance. We are all motivated in both ways.

Let’s face it: we all have to make a living and pay for essentials like food and shelter. Extrinsic motivators such as money, benefits, rewards and accolades are things that all of us value. And we all seek to avoid punishment and negative feedback

But a healthy organization cannot run on external motivation alone. The limitations to the effectiveness of extrinsic motivation are significant.

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First, extrinsic motivation tends to be an escalating scenario. Over time, people need more and more external feedback (either positive or negative) to achieve the same result.

Second, if people are strictly motivated by external factors, they quickly start gaming the system to their own advantage. Rather than focusing on the common mission, the goal is to get as much as one can for oneself individually while avoiding negative outcomes.

Third, running an organization based only on extrinsic motivation is exhausting. It requires supervisors to personally be aware of every single thing that happens so they can personally apply either rewards or punishments for that behavior. This is a recipe for crippling micromanagement.