Deloitte Ireland has enhanced the development, engagement and effectiveness of its HR team by identifying their personal values and motivations using a new online questionnaire from assessment specialist Talent Q.
Called Drives, the 30-minute questionnaire assesses individuals against 16 motivational factors that affect behaviour at work, indicating which of these are the most and least important for each person. The factors include achieving, authority, autonomy, learning, personal growth, professionalism, recognition, security, service and well-being.
“We know that different people are motivated by different things, so we wanted to understand exactly what motivates each of the 23 members of our HR team,” said Mary O’Reilly, Senior Manager for Talent, Development & Learning at Deloitte Ireland. “If you know what energises someone at work, you have a much clearer idea about what you can do to support them and make them feel even more engaged in their role.”
The Drives questionnaire generates a detailed report for each individual that includes their three ‘hot spots’ (the aspects of work that really motivate and enthuse them) and their three ‘cold spots’ (the aspects least likely to motivate them). It also generates a management report, which provides practical guidelines on exactly how managers can motivate each member of their team.
“The management report enables you to hone in on what personally drives each individual to perform at work,” said Mary O’Reilly. “This information is really useful as it helps you to assign and structure work, based on what interests and engages different people. You can also have detailed conversations with members of your team about what’s most important to each of them. The data provides a ‘neutral platform’ which can underpin performance management, as performance goals can be developed around the hot and cold spots.”
She adds that the insights provided have helped her personally to get the best out of her own team.
“My motivational hot spots include authority and autonomy whereas one of my colleagues is more focused on support and recognition,” she said. “I need to be aware that what drives me - in terms of being in control and creating a sense of worth - will not necessarily drive her. To get the best out of her, I need to ensure that she feels recognised and, when discussing her goals, I need to ensure that I’m providing her with the support she needs. If I ignore the things that she feels are important, she’ll never be fully motivated.”
Deloitte Ireland now intends to introduce Drives into its performance management process, so that people across the business can plan more motivating and rewarding development.
“Drives has great potential to be used as part of performance discussions at every level,” said Mary O’Reilly. “It’s important to realise that different people see the world through different lenses. Using Drives is a great way of really getting to know your people, so you can motivate and develop them better and ultimately retain them.”
For further information, please call Talent Q on +44 (0)1844 218980 or visit www.talentqgroup.com
