The Importance of Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic methods of motivation, those that arise from the task itself, are finally getting some of the attention they deserve. In the past, business has relied heavily on external motivators such as a pay bonus, an extra pin on the uniform, or a parking place near the door to help motivate employees. There comes a point, especially in jobs that entail creativity, that an employee will start identifying with that great line from the musical Hello, Dolly! when Dolly Levi tells her would-be beau, "And on those cold winter nights, Horace, you can snuggle up to your cash register. It's a little lumpy, but it rings!" His wooing technique had failed to motivate her.

Dolly stated what every employee learns—that there is more to life, and to a job, than simply a paycheck. Distilled down, the wisdom of recognizing "more to life" has found three new motivational buzz words: autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

Autonomy
Simply stated, this means that people want to have control over their work. Giving people a goal and then giving them the freedom to have some say-so over how they meet the goal can be a terrific motivator.

Mastery
Every normal person wants to be good at what they do. There is more enjoyment in doing something when you can do it well. By using this fundamental human trait as a basis for motivation, work becomes more interesting and productivity increases.

Purpose
Studies in behavioral sciences have shown that people don't mind being a little cog in a bigger machine as long as they know that their cog has significance. A good boss knows how to capitalize on the natural desire to be part of something that is larger than one's self by helping employees know that their work is meaningful.

How To Improve Your Payroll Accounting

You have a business to run. Do you really wish to spend your workday caught up in the minutiae of ever-changing payroll tax laws and forms that have numbers and letters for titles instead of real names? No.

You have a business to run. Is it really wise or affordable to disconnect from that aspect of your business and have your payroll completely outsourced? Maybe not.

Between these two extremes is the alternative of using a payroll service with flexible options. A payroll service will take the data on the hours your employees worked, their pay rates, and other payroll-related information and use your numbers to generate the paychecks, payroll reports, and payroll tax filings for you.

Having a good payroll accounting system helps keep both your employees and the government happy, and it can keep you from pulling your hair out. Employees get paid correctly and on time. The government gets its cut correctly, on time, and filed with the proper form. You get a service that helps shoulder the load and frees up more of your time.

Some payroll accounting services will handle just the payroll taxes and filings for you, while you remain hands-on and pay your employees. If you want your payroll service provider to pay your employees, they offer both paper paycheck and direct deposit options. A full-service payroll accounting provider can manage retirement accounts, workmen's compensation, and specialty services for employees who receive much of their income in the form of tips.

The payroll service may use software on your own computer, or you may select to enter data online. Either way, the data has to be entered only once for both paychecks and taxes. The outcomes always match since they both started with the same numbers.

Keeping your data secure is always a priority with a good payroll accounting service. They will also generate accurate, understandable reports that make it easy to see exactly what your labor costs are and to share this information with your accountant. Choosing to use a payroll service is often the simplest way to improve your payroll accounting.