The Genos employee motivation assessment

Purpose – This paper aims to describe a new measure of employee motivational fit, namely the Genos employee motivation assessment (GEMA), its predictive validity and use in learning and organizational development activities. Design/methodology/approach – Within three different organizations, employees completed GEMA via an online web survey system. Correlation analyses were then performed with a series of job performance and employee engagement data. Findings – Motivational fit (i.e. the degree of alignment between what an individual is motivated by and experiences in their work), within four areas measured by GEMA (namely, role fit, management fit, team fit, and organization fit), were found to be associated with average predictive validity correlation coefficients equal to 0.46, .073, 0.67, and 0.52, respectively. Research limitations/implications – Statistical analyses at the individual level would be beneficial in future research. Additionally, whether motivational fit can be improved via learning and/or organizational development interventions, and whether such improvement leads to corresponding improvements in performance and engagement remains to be determined. Practical implications – Intervention initiatives designed to improve motivational fit need to be designed and tested. The findings of this study suggest that successful interventions may result in improvements in job performance and employee engagement. Originality/value – This paper will be of interest to professionals in recruitment, learning and organizational development interested in the improvement of job performance and employee engagement. This is the first study to examine the validity of GEMA scores and to propose the potential use of motivational fit as an intervention medium to improve these areas.