Self-Motivation: The Most Attractive Quality in a Candidate?

Gallup’s study on the ‘State of the Global Workplace’ found only one in eight workers to be psychologically committed to their jobs and therefore likely to be making positive contributions to their companies.

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The report found a staggering 63% of employees worldwide are “not engaged” at work, which means they lack motivation and drive toward organisational goals. With these statistics, it’s no wonder many corporate managers have to spend a significant amount of their time trying to motivate employees.

Manager or staff motivator?

When asked about their role, managers stated that encouraging and persuading staff, and having to be physically present in the office to ensure employees were continuously working, was their biggest time waster. This motivational process proves a huge problem in many organisations as it takes up important time that a manager could better spend on other tasks.

The solution? Start hiring self-motivated people.

What is a self-motivated employee?

A self-motivated employee is one who will automatically do the work they are assigned to do, and then proactively seek out other tasks that need to be done. They possess the internal drive and motivation to begin tasks themselves and complete them efficiently without cajoling or incentive.

Typically, self-motivation is driven by a deep-rooted personal goal to do better and do more. Self-motivated people will have a passion for what they do and, when asked why they have chosen their career path, they’ll be able to tell you in a heartbeat.

When you have a self-motivated employee, you’ll find that they’ll always look for more. They’ll seek better ways to do their job and reach their goals. They’ll have the same goals and intentions in mind as you do.

The benefits of recruiting self-motivated individuals

Strategic Benefits: Self-motivated candidates are inherenThe expression “it’s not what you say, it’s what you do” is never truer than in a job interview. Take note and be sure to avoid these body language blunders at your next job interview.​tly very productive which results in increased levels of efficiency and fewer wasted hours.

Hiring the Best: Self-motivated individuals typically outperform other employees as they tend to put in more uninterrupted hours of work.

Cost Saving: As employees, they don’t cost any more. Most often, they have the same experience and education level as other candidates and paying them more is unnecessary as they are intrinsically motivated.

Success Driven: Driven to succeed, self-motivated people tend to be continuous learners and problem solvers, so they can complete tasks with minimal input from a manager.

High ROI: Self-motivated people don’t require extra rewards but produce more output and free up management time, which results in an extremely good return on investment.

How to find self-motivated individuals

If you decide to look for self-motivated individuals the next time you are recruiting, there are a number of ways you can find them. Ask existing employees for referrals, use the right keywords in job advertisements, and look through professional networking sites for individuals who possess these characteristics. During the interview process, be sure to add questions relating to self-motivation and why they have chosen to work in their field. Finally, ask any referees whether the candidate demonstrates this particular trait.

Finding a self-motivated employee may be like looking for a needle in a very large haystack, but rest assured they’ll be worth the search. There’s no denying that self-motivation is an attractive quality in any employee, but we’d love to hear your thoughts on other sought-out traits. What do you think makes a candidate more desirable?

Fuse Recruitment have found that graduates possess many behavioural characteristics that a seasoned worker may lack. Coming fresh out of university, they’re eager to put their learnings to use. In addition to that, they know they’re competing with thousands of other quality candidates themselves so you can bet they’ll do what it takes to step up their game. Read more about the benefits of hiring grads here .

At Fuse, we pride ourselves on finding the best candidates for our clients. That includes culture fit, skill fit and aspirational fit. If you’re looking for your next superstar employee let our industry specialist consultants find them for you. Contact us for a no obligations discussion about a recruiting solution for your business.