Cognitive Abilities, Metacognition, Cognitive Motivation, and Employee Retention.

While HR professionals focus on employee retention, academics have long been interested in student "retention." They've turned their attention to students' metacognitive abilities. We don't have to look far, just to Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, where Gabrijela Vrdoljak and Tena Velki confirmed the importance of metacognition as a significant predictor of academic success. In one study, Vrdoljak and Velki (2012) investigated the impact of metacognition and intelligence on academic achievement in seventh and eighth-grade primary school students. The results showed that metacognition, alongside intelligence, is a significant predictor of school success. Students with higher metacognition scores achieved better grades, indicating the need to teach students metacognitive strategies to improve their academic success.

What does our metacognition enable us to do? Metacognitively aware individuals better plan their time and learning strategies, set goals, monitor their progress, and adapt their learning methods as needed. Understanding one's own thought processes helps students approach problems in a structured way, applying various strategies and adjustments to find solutions. Metacognition also encourages a deep understanding of material instead of superficial memorization, leading to better retention of information and the ability to apply it in new situations. Furthermore, students who actively think about how they learn can identify which learning strategies are most effective for them and adjust them as needed. And most importantly today, metacognition fosters reflection on one's own thinking and arguments, which is crucial for developing critical thinking and analytical skills-the 21st-century skills.

When we add cognitive motivation and cognitive abilities to metacognition, we gain a much broader understanding of an individual employee and ultimately can predict their success.

But the question arises: what do metacognition, cognitive motivation, and cognitive abilities have to do with employee retention? The answer is: a great deal, and directly. In fact, we can simply replace the word "student" with "employee"!

According to Harvard Business Review in 2022, Gartner predicted that employee turnover would be 50-75% higher than previously, and the problem would become more complex as the time required to fill a new position would increase by 18%. HBR already pointed out that efforts should be directed towards retention. An additional problem is the general shortage of labor, especially for senior profiles.

The latest Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2023 Report also revealed a lot. The report presents the results of the world's largest survey of employee job satisfaction, which is ultimately a critical predictor of company resilience and performance. The report was conducted "under pressure" of slowing economic growth, and the main message is: Change the way you manage employees.

Before we look at the guidelines for changing employee management methods, we will focus on definitions and their correlations.

What is Metacognition?

Metacognition is a very interesting concept that includes our brain's ability to reflect on and evaluate our knowledge and (correct) behavior. It's roughly like having a brain outside our brain-a critical awareness of our thinking and learning process.

• Metacognition is the ability to think about one's own thoughts.
• It allows us to: Think about our cognitive processes, Evaluate our behavior, and Monitor our mental activity.
• Think about our cognitive processes
• Evaluate our behavior and
• Monitor our mental activity.

We could say our brain is monitoring itself and evaluating how well it's doing 🙂

Why is metacognition important?

• Metacognition influences every aspect of our behavior, from defining life goals and how to achieve them to evaluating our own senses.

When we are confident in our decisions, we act decisively. When we are doubtful, we become cautious. Uncertainty can appear in everything. This sentence directly relates to the concept of uncertainty and how we react to it. Uncertainty refers to a state or situation where there is a lack of certainty or precise information about future outcomes. This can affect our decision-making process, prompting various reactions, including doubt, caution, or even avoidance of decision-making or certain situations. In extreme cases, a high level of uncertainty can lead to us avoiding making a decision or withdrawing from a situation that requires one. This can be a result of so-called analysis paralysis. This is a state where excessive analysis or too many options prevent us from making any decision. Avoidance can be a defense mechanism against the fear of failure, fear of making mistakes, or fear of negative consequences, and even "of work."

The impact of metacognition includes:

• Long-term impact: defining life goals
• Basic impact: evaluating our sensory experiences (what we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch).

The problem is that we are not always good at metacognition. Some of us are overconfident, while others are under-confident.

The brain, in principle, efficiently monitors and evaluates all its processes, leading to metacognition. Similarly, our brain constantly assesses its own performance, allowing us to be aware of our thinking and adapt accordingly. Understanding metacognition leads to better self-awareness and more effective learning. This includes understanding how we learn, how we approach problem-solving, and how we can monitor, evaluate, and adjust our learning and thinking strategies.

What is Cognition?

The processes that the brain efficiently monitors and evaluates also relate to cognition. Cognition consists of the mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge and understanding. They encompass a wide range of conscious and unconscious functions, such as:

• Perception: How we interpret sensory information from the environment.
• Attention: Our ability to focus on specific stimuli or tasks.
• Memory: The process of storing and retrieving information.
• Language: Understanding and creating spoken or written communication.
• Problem-solving
• Judgment and evaluation: Assessing situations and making decisions.
• Logical thinking and mathematical processes.
• Creativity and mental imagery.

Essentially, cognition involves thinking, knowing, remembering, and problem-solving-all higher-level brain functions that contribute to our understanding of the world and our ability to navigate it. More or less effectively.

What are Cognitive Abilities?

Before we go further, we will summarize what we have learned about cognition, from which we can conclude that cognitive processes are fundamental aspects of cognition. Cognition refers to all mental processes related to thinking, learning, perception, recognition, memory, decision-making, problem-solving, and language. So, when we talk about cognition, we mean a wide spectrum of cognitive processes that allow us to process and use information from the environment.

Ultimately, to be able to "utilize" our cognitive processes, i.e., our cognition, we naturally need certain abilities. These abilities are called cognitive abilities. They are an integral part of cognition and enable the execution of cognitive processes. Depending on these abilities, some of us do it better, and some a little less well.

In other words (simplified, as we've skipped complex cognitive functions), cognitive abilities are specific mental capacities within a broader category we call cognition. They include processing speed, working memory, verbal ability, spatial visualization, logical reasoning… and can be considered the building blocks or tools that enable us to perform complex cognitive functions.

Some cognitive abilities are:

• Inductive reasoning – "Top-down" thinking. We start with general statements (assumptions) and derive specific conclusions from them. E.g., All people are mortal. The author of this article is a person. Therefore, he is mortal.
• Deductive reasoning – "Bottom-up" thinking. We start with specific facts and derive general conclusions from them. My colleague is a bad colleague, therefore all colleagues are bad (is an example of deductive reasoning).
• Selective attention – The ability to concentrate on a task without losing focus.
• Divided attention – The ability to work on one or more activities and/or sources of information.
• Reading comprehension – The ability to read and understand information or ideas presented in written form,

and many others.

When we talk about cognitive abilities, we can draw a certain correlation between them and the intelligence quotient (IQ), given that so-called IQ tests measure different aspects of cognitive abilities: memory, processing speed, verbal abilities, spatial visualization, and logical reasoning. The results of these tests are considered an indicator of an individual's general intelligence, which is the sum of their cognitive abilities.

Mini Conclusion

Understanding employees' cognitive abilities, metacognition and its development, as well as cognitive motivation, is crucial for success in both academic and business worlds. Research focusing on metacognition has shown its importance as a significant predictor of academic and professional success. Metacognition enables us to understand and monitor our own learning and thinking processes, leading to better planning, goal setting, progress tracking, and adaptation of learning, which is precisely what employees want. To have a clear developmental or career path as one way of achieving their (life) goals.

To better understand the importance of such an approach, we will focus on the largest online database with job descriptions and definitions, whose purpose is to help students, employees, and recruiters better understand the largest labor market-the American one. Given that we, perhaps too easily, accept all trends coming from there, the question is why we have not relied on or accepted this one as well.

Occupational Information Network (O*NET)

It is unnecessary to reiterate that in today's business world, retaining talented employees is becoming an increasingly challenging task for companies.

In this context, the O*NET Online database, as a rich resource of information about various professions, is crucial in the career development process and professional path planning. Providing access to detailed job descriptions, skills required for each profession, and expected trends in the labor market, the O*NET database becomes an indispensable tool for designing employee development strategies. By integrating metacognitive strategies into professional development, companies can better plan the education and training of their employees, which not only contributes to their personal growth and job satisfaction but also increases their efficiency and productivity in the workplace. Additionally, alongside all of the above, cognitive motivation should be included as one of the parameters for retention.

Below is an overview of the cognitive abilities for a Personal Banker found on O*NET, which can be used for hiring or selecting employees.

This method of assessing candidates, by evaluating their cognitive abilities, gives us the opportunity to understand whether an employee will be able to quickly grasp job requirements and consequently quickly learn and solve various problems or tasks. Such insights facilitate the selection of the right candidate by setting objective filters on their abilities, regardless of their IQ, qualifications, or previous experience. In case of inability to find the perfect employee, we have the opportunity to create their development plan and mentoring, for faster adaptation and easier adjustment in the new workplace (American Psychology Association, Schmidt, Hunter, 1998).

Cognitive Motivation

Cognitive motivation refers to intrinsic thought and perception processes that drive an individual to action or behavior. Essentially, it is motivation stemming from a desire for understanding, learning, exploration, and intellectual growth. It differs from emotional or biological motivation because it is focused on mental processes and the satisfaction that comes with problem-solving, acquiring new knowledge, achieving intellectual goals, and applying logical reasoning.

Cognitive motivation can be the driving force behind curiosity, exploratory behavior, and the need to understand the world around us. This type of motivation is based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), which suggests that people have inherent psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Cognitive motivation is closely linked to the need for competence, where individuals strive to acquire skills and knowledge to feel capable and effective in their environment.

Elements of cognitive motivation include:

• Need for understanding: The desire to comprehend the mechanisms, causes, and principles behind certain phenomena or events.
• Need for achievement: The striving to achieve goals that require the application of intellectual abilities, solving complex problems, or creating something new and original.
• Exploratory curiosity: Motivation stemming from the desire to explore the unknown, ask questions, and seek answers through systematic thought and experimentation.
• Learning and growth: Motivation focused on continuous personal development, acquiring new skills, knowledge, and experiences.
• Self-evaluation and reflection: Processes through which individuals assess their own thought processes, learning strategies, and understanding, and adapt to improve their intellectual abilities and effectiveness.

Cognitive motivation plays a key role in education, the work environment, and personal development, encouraging individuals to gain a deeper understanding of what they do, innovative thinking, and continuous intellectual development. In the context of employee retention, fostering cognitive motivation can lead to greater engagement, job satisfaction, and productivity, as employees who see opportunities for intellectual growth and learning at work are more likely to stay with that company.

Image: Distribution of cognitive motivation among employees

There is a certain connection between cognitive motivation and metacognition, which can be observed through several key aspects:

• Self-awareness and self-regulation: Metacognition involves understanding and monitoring one's own thought processes, which is a foundation for self-awareness and self-regulation in learning and behavior. Cognitive motivation supports this process by fostering the desire to understand and improve one's own abilities, leading to better self-regulation and management of one's learning.
• Goal setting and planning: Cognitive motivation encourages the setting of educational and professional goals. Metacognition plays a crucial role in planning and evaluating strategies for achieving these goals, allowing employees to reflect on their learning strategies and adapt them as needed.
• Progress monitoring: Metacognition enables employees to monitor their progress toward set goals. Cognitive motivation strengthens this ability by providing intrinsic drive for continuous learning and improvement, encouraging individuals to regularly assess their progress and learning effectiveness.
• Evaluation and adaptation of strategies: Metacognitive skills include the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of one's own learning and thinking strategies and to adapt those strategies based on feedback and results. Cognitive motivation plays an important role in this process as it encourages the desire to improve and optimize one's approach to learning.
• Development of critical thinking and problem-solving: Cognitive motivation supports the pursuit of understanding complex ideas and solving problems, which are key elements of critical thinking. Metacognition allows individuals to think about their thinking during the problem-solving process, leading to a deeper understanding and better solutions.

Fostering cognitive motivation can be achieved through various strategies aimed at improving intrinsic motivation, developing competencies, and encouraging engagement and curiosity. We can do this in the following ways:

• Goal setting: Helping employees set realistic yet challenging goals can increase their motivation to learn. Goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART).
• Making learning meaningful: Connecting learning content to real-world situations and applications can improve the perception of its importance and usefulness, thereby encouraging cognitive motivation.
• Encouraging independent learning: Allowing employees to explore topics of interest independently and to have a certain degree of control over their learning can increase their intrinsic motivation.
• Developing metacognitive skills: Learning how to learn, understanding one's own thought processes, and learning strategies for more effective learning can improve cognitive motivation. This includes strategies like planning, monitoring, and evaluating one's own learning.
• Feedback and recognition: Regular, constructive feedback and recognition of progress and achievements can significantly boost motivation. It is important to emphasize effort and progress, not just final results.
• Diverse teaching methods: Applying various teaching methods, including project work, discussions, practical activities, and technology, can make learning more interesting and relevant for learners.
• Fostering curiosity: Asking thought-provoking questions, research activities, and open discussions can stimulate curiosity and the desire to explore.
• Empowering belief in one's abilities: Working on developing self-confidence and belief in employees' abilities through positive reinforcement and support can increase their motivation to learn.

Developing metacognition should be supplemented with the following:

• Self-assessment and reflection: Employees need to be encouraged to regularly reflect on what they have learned, how they learned, and identify what they could improve. It would be useful to have team meetings to discuss learning strategies, content understanding, and set goals.
• Learning planning: In addition to encouraging independent learning, encourage the creation of learning plans that include selecting strategies and resources needed to achieve learning goals. Planning also involves setting timelines and priorities.
• Monitoring one's own progress: KPIs or OKRs should by no means be the only way to track employee learning and development. In addition, they need to be encouraged to self-assess, which will include understanding their own abilities and identifying areas that require further development.
• Evaluating learning strategies: There are many learning strategies, none of which are unique to all our employees, and for this reason, they need to be encouraged to evaluate which learning strategies were effective and which were not, and why.
• Developing problem-solving abilities: Include activities that encourage critical thinking and problem-solving, such as case studies, project work, and simulations. These activities encourage the application of knowledge in new situations, which will promote deeper understanding and reflection.
• Teaching metacognition: Directly teaching metacognitive strategies, including how to plan, monitor, and evaluate learning, can help individuals become more aware of their learning processes.

Through the application of these strategies, individuals can develop their metacognitive skills, enabling them to become more efficient and independent employees. Developing metacognition is not just about improving learning, but also about empowering individuals to take control of their learning and development. This should also result in a general assumption of responsibility.

Providing feedback and recognition is also closely linked to Maslow's hierarchy of work needs and ultimate self-actualization, as one of the predictors of employee departure or retention.

The following graph on the self-efficacy of our employees shows how important it is to work on employee self-confidence.

Image: Distribution of employee self-efficacy

***Self-efficacy refers to an employee's belief in their ability to perform an assigned task.

In the End

The trends affecting today's younger generations contribute to the "disappearance" of metacognitive abilities.

Specifically, for example, Generation X (me 🙂) had a greater focus on acquiring knowledge through lectures and reading. Members of "older" generations had to rely on traditional learning methods, which encouraged the development of strong metacognitive skills in terms of planning, monitoring, and evaluating learning.

Today's generations are adept at finding information online, but the question arises as to how deeply they understand and process that information, and how much they ultimately apply it, easily make informed decisions, etc.

The amount of data in the world has experienced explosive growth over the last century, and evolutionarily, man has had too little time to adapt to it. Although I do not have concrete scientific research for this, reduced values of estimated metacognition can also be attributed to this.

Namely, the rapid development of technology, especially the introduction of the internet and smartphones, has dramatically changed the way people access information and learn. Generation Z grew up in a digital environment with almost unlimited access to information. This change may diminish the need to develop deep metacognitive strategies for learning and remembering information because answers are often "at their fingertips."

Also, possible reasons can be found in:

• Changes in the social environment: Social interaction plays a crucial role in the development of metacognitive abilities. Reduced direct social interactions due to increased use of social networks and digital media may limit opportunities for developing metacognitive skills.
• Information overload: Generation Z faces information overload, which can hinder the development of metacognitive abilities. Too much information can make it difficult to filter, organize, and deeply understand information, which is crucial for metacognition.
• Lack of time for deep thinking: Modern lifestyles are often fast-paced and focused on multitasking, leaving less time for deep thinking and reflection, which are key for developing metacognitive abilities.

Conclusion

Developing metacognitive skills and fostering cognitive motivation are key factors in retaining talented employees and promoting a company's long-term success. Metacognition, the process of thinking about one's own thinking, enables individuals to become aware of their cognitive processes, including planning, monitoring, and evaluating their own learning and work. This self-aware approach to one's mental processes can increase learning efficiency, problem-solving abilities, and adaptability to changing work conditions, all of which are increasingly important in today's fast-paced and unpredictable business environment.

On the other hand, cognitive motivation, which refers to an individual's intrinsic desire to engage in thought processes and problem-solving, is crucial for fostering innovation and creativity. Employees who demonstrate a high level of cognitive motivation tend to seek challenges, set and achieve high goals, and pursue continuous professional development.

Companies that recognize and support the development of metacognitive skills and cognitive motivation in their employees not only increase the satisfaction and engagement of their teams but also create an environment where continuous learning and innovation are part of the corporate culture. Implementing training programs that focus on developing these skills, as well as creating a stimulating work environment that promotes self-reflection, critical thinking, and open communication, can significantly contribute to retaining key employees. Through this approach, companies not only retain their best talent but also foster growth and development, ensuring their competitiveness and success in the market.

In this way, metacognition and cognitive motivation represent fundamental pillars on which an employee retention strategy can be built, which is crucial for achieving long-term sustainability and company success in the modern business world.

And of course, we must not forget about hygiene factors!