Women in Transport was delighted recently to welcome Mark Terrell who ran a most interesting workshop on the topic of motivation. This event was generously hosted by Lewis Silkin at their London office.

After running a successful family business for over 25 years, Mark has set up 1st Class Coaching Solutions which helps owner-managed and family businesses to make the most of their strengths through greater understanding and co-operation. He has developed a 7 step family business success program to cover all aspects of running and developing a business. One of the tools he uses is Motivational Maps, which identifies key motivators so that individuals can make better career choices and managers can successfully motivate their team.

Mark talked through the importance of motivation, explaining that one of the major factors in helping individuals or teams perform well is ensuring they are motivated. Motivation can be difficult to describe or measure and it will change over time. Having the skills to do a job is crucial, but having the motivation to carry it out over a long period is equally important and often overlooked. We can all perform at a reasonably high level when we’re not particularly motivated for a short while but long term this becomes a problem. Motivational factors stem from self-beliefs, expectations and personalities and will always be an important determinant for success.

There are two main aspects of motivation in a workplace, an individual’s motivation and what motivates a team to achieve peak performance. Every team member will be different and likely to have different motivation, so it’s important to understand what drives individuals to motivate them successfully.

Mark is an authorised practitioner of Motivational Maps and has been using this tool since he set up his coaching business three years ago. It was developed to measure motivation and is based on extensive research into human motivation including, among other theories, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

The benefits of Motivational Maps include helping to increase productivity, personal development (self-awareness), team building, staff morale and team culture, recruitment and retention through identifying key issues, facilitating communication and implementing effective appraisal reward systems.

So what motivates people at work? Mark explained the key nine work motivators which are grouped into three clusters: Relationship/belonging, Achievement and Growth/Self-development motivators. Everyone has their own mix of the nine motivators, which defines their level of motivation.

For example, some people seek belonging and involvement through building fulfilling relationships and social activities with other team members (Friend motivator). Experts will seek specialisation, but also the opportunity to share their knowledge while for a Searcher feedback and doing something meaningful is more important than perhaps money or recognition.

Motivation needs to be constantly monitored on a personal and business level. On a personal level it's linked to energy, enthusiasm and empathy whereas on a business level it affects performance, productivity and profit.

Attendees also had the opportunity to pre-test how their performance can be affected by their perceived skills and motivation and to discover their key motivators.

Motivational Maps typically involves a 15 minute on-line questionnaire resulting in a 15 page report that reveals the individual's key motivators, level of motivation and advice on how to increase motivation. At the event Mark made a special offer to Women in Transport members of providing a Motivational Map and 30 minute feedback session over the phone or Skype for £65 (normally £125).

To apply for the special offer please contact Christine Hurley at Women in Transport (info@womeni ntransport.com). To find out more about Motivational Maps please click here

Here are some comments from members who attended the event.

'Interactive, made me think'

'Very interesting topic and very engaging presenter'

'Very interesting and insightful talk'

'A chance to reflect on my career'

'Found the practical exercise really useful'

Our thanks to Lewis Silkin for generously hosting the event

Follow us @transportwm or on Linkedin Women in Transport for the latest news and updates.