Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.
Preparation
Transcript
So, we think we know how to motivate people, right? Offer them a reward. Do this and you'll get this. Do this faster, earn more money. Do this better than everyone else, here's a promotion. We offer incentives when we want people to do things. We do it at work, at school, even at home with our kids. Tidy your room and you can watch TV.
But when social psychologists test whether incentives work, they get surprising results. Sam Glucksberg, from Princeton University, America, set people a problem to solve and told them he was going to time them to see how long they took. Then he put them in two groups. He offered one group a reward for finishing fast. Five dollars for anyone finishing in the top 25 per cent and 20 dollars for the person who finished the fastest of all. To the other group he offered no incentive, but he told them he was going to use their times to calculate an average time.
The first group, the ones with the reward, solved the problem faster, you'd think, right? Well, no, they actually took three and a half minutes longer than the group who just thought they were being timed. Incentive didn't work. In fact, it made them slower. This experiment has been repeated, with the same results, many times. But in business we still offer bonuses, promotions and rewards to staff.
That's fine if we want them to do something simple, like chop wood. We'll pay you more if you chop the wood faster. An incentive works then. But if we want someone to do something complex, something creative, something where they have to think, rewards don't work. They might even have the opposite result, and make people perform worse. Another study, by Dan Ariely, showed that the bigger the reward, the worse the subjects performed on a complex task. The reward made them focus so hard on the result that they couldn't think creatively any more.
And this all matters because more and more simple jobs will become automated. We'll be left with creative, problem-solving jobs that computers will never do. And we need to find a way to motivate people to do those jobs when we've proved the traditional incentives don't work.
So what does work? Giving your workers freedom; freedom to work on the things they want to work on, freedom to choose when, where and how they work. Want to work from home three days a week, get up late and work into the night instead? Fine. Just do the job well. And evidence shows people who choose the way they work get results. Companies that give employees time during the week to work on things that interest them and are not part of their regular job achieve amazing things. Some of the big tech companies are good examples of this, with ping-pong tables and areas to relax in …
I agree with the research that the speaker mentioned because I used to work in a call center 45 hours a week, and that gave us some bonuses that anyone may think that were rewarding, however, I got stressed, so I could not do a good performance. Therefore, I consider that it's important to choose either the schedule and methods that we use for our duties to avoid high stress levels and a poor performance.
Passion and motivation are important for study and job, without them, in my opinion, we couldn’t do nothing good. I think that also an incentive could help to do a good job.
For me, I'd say my motivation is knowing that learning English can help me secure a job and earn money. that's enough to drive me to keep practicing every day and doing my best
I believe that is important when a company motivated employers.I work as receptionist at the hotel and my manager to incentivate us give vouchers for others hotel around Europe, but every months we must do 50 enrollment with our guest.So every day i try my best to do more enrollment because i want to receive a voucher . However to that i don't need to think too much.
Discussion
What motivates you in your job or studies?
Version reviewed and reformulated by ChatGPT
Motivation is a key factor in achieving success in both academic and professional life. One major source of motivation is having a genuine passion for a subject or profession, as this makes learning or working more enjoyable and fulfilling. For example, individuals who love foreign languages are more likely to choose related fields of study and remain engaged in their learning journey.
Another strong motivator is the desire to graduate and complete one's studies. Many students work diligently to acquire knowledge, pass exams, and earn their degrees, as this provides a sense of accomplishment and opens doors to future career opportunities.
Additionally, applying knowledge and skills in real-world situations enhances motivation. Practical experience, such as internships or job opportunities, allows individuals to see the value of their studies and strengthens their confidence in their abilities.
Finally, career progression, such as receiving promotions or taking on greater responsibilities, serves as a strong incentive in the professional world. The prospect of growth and better opportunities encourages individuals to continuously improve and expand their expertise.
In conclusion, motivation in work and studies stems from passion, the pursuit of academic success, practical application of knowledge, and career advancement. Recognizing and nurturing these motivations helps individuals stay dedicated and achieve their personal and professional goals.
In my opinion, regulations and pressure on people would stifled creativity and to some extent incentive is another form of rules which will cause huge emotional stress. If people can work on something they really want to do, great potential can be exploited.
hi
i am asking why the last question in true or false is false ?
Hi hajar_mohamed,
The last question in Task 1 is this:
The speaker tells us that people work best when they choose how they work. If some people want to work into the night then that's fine, but it's given as an example, not as something that is for everybody. If the task said 'Some people work better...' then it would be true, but it's false that everybody always works better like this.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello everyone. I agree with the article. In my case, I feel motivated when I have time to think, organize my ideas, and put my knowledge into practice. On the other hand, when I have a simple but urgent task, my goal at that moment is to finish it on time and do it in the best possible way.