Motivating Employees
One of the most important functions of management is being able to
motivate others. In fact, the extent of your success depends on it.
To inspire extraordinary performance you must foster a positive environment
and discover what motivates your employees. Motivating yourself and
others isn't easy. You must work on it daily or it won't last.
Life Balance
It's important to understand what motivation is and what it is not. Traditional
expectations of loyalty and a lifetime job have changed due to factors such as
merging, downsizing, rightsizing, globalizing and outsourcing. In addition, today's
workforce as a whole is more educated, savvy and likely to ask what's in it for
me rather than show blind loyalty. Today, employees want a balance between their
work life and personal life.they also want meaning and purpose!
Good benefit, vacation and salary plans often attract and retain employees, but
they are not employee motivators unless they provide workers a stake in the future
success of the organization based on their performance.
Although it's important to have competitive salaries and benefits, your real
payback will come from inspired and motivated employees. Examples of plans that
can motivate include sContentsk purchase, ownership plans, profit-sharing, commission,
and cash bonus plans.
Do not confuse employee morale boosters with employee motivators. Activities
such as drawings for free parking places, free pizza on Fridays, or use of the
company car on weekends are employee morale boosters and can raise the morale
of employees so they feel good about the company they work for. However, they
are not employee motivators because they are not directly tied to an increase
in performance.
An employee with good morale is not necessarily a motivated employee. For example,
an employee who socializes with others 1-2 hours a day may have good morale,
but will also probably have the worst production levels of any employee in the
department. Employees are motivated when they can directly affect their own pay
or lifestyle.
Motivation Fundamentals
Select the Right People for the Job
When hiring new employees, take the time necessary to find people with the right
aptitudes as well as attitudes that reflect your values.
Start with an accurate job description.
Consider training easy-to-learn skills when you find people with the right attitudes.
Explore options of recruiting, interviewing, testing and checking references.
Get help with this process if you need it.one good resource is your Business
Consultants at the Missoula Job Service Workforce Center.
Look beyond the skills a candidate currently possesses to determine whether he
or she is a self motivated learner and able to grow.
Make sure you have an appropriate probationary period to assess their "fit" with
your organization.
Recognize and Value your Employees
Once you have hired the right people, take steps to keep them. Give them a warm
welcome and spend time with them. Then continue to spend time with them and show
appreciation as long as they work for you. Remember the longer they are with
you the more valuable and irreplaceable they become. The small amount of investment
needed to value these people can actually save you lots of time rehiring and
retraining.
Train
Employees don't automatically know what is expected of them. They feel abandoned
and uncomfortable when they aren't taught what they need to know to do the job
right. Develop trust by providing the training necessary to succeed in their
jobs.
Minimal performance frequently results from employees not knowing that anything
more is expected of them. Continue to offer employees training to develop new
skills, challenges and opportunities.
Treat Employees Well
Respect employees and treat them as if they were your friend, partner or client
and they will respond in kind. Know your employees' names and families and talk
to them. When a "thank you " is in order be perceptive to what motivates your
employee. Thank them personally, in writing or publicly.give credit. Help employees
to achieve what they want and to conquer their fears. Treat each element of an
employee's performance separately, praising what's good and coaching in areas
that need improvement.
Communicate
Listen and respond. Share business goals and seek input from employees to connect
employees to the bottom line and get everyone pulling in the same direction.
Get employees' input. ASK! What would they do differently? How can we put your
ideas into action? Where do we want to go from here? What help do you need from
me? Focus on the results wanted, provide what is needed and get out of the way.
Allow success.
Develop a Sense of Ownership and Empowerment
Leaders are those who empower others by providing employees the resources, information
and authority to make decisions. Provide clear expectation and then get out of
the way. Allow employees as much control as possible after you have provided
the tools and training necessary to do the job. Involving employees, especially
in decisions that affect them, is respectful to them and will also increase their
commitment to implementing new ideas or changes. People that are closest to the
problem or customer typically have the best insight as to how to improve a situation.
Require Accountability
Responsibility brings out the best in people. Hold employees to a high, but realistic
standard. Be honest and coach them if necessary. At the core of accountability
is feedback. If you don't care enough to provide honest feedback, they won't
think it's important to put forth much effort.
Enrich
Employees Jobs
If you want motivated employees, give them motivating work. Everyone should have
at least part of their job be interesting and challenging. Find out what tasks
your employees enjoy most and use this information in future work assignments.
Give employees choices. Whenever possible, allow flexibility in their jobs. Giving
people freedom to do their job as they best see fit brings additional initiative,
ideas and energy to their jobs. Help employees learn, grow and take on added
responsibilities. Provide opportunities for skill development. Investing in their
growth and marketability will improve their loyalty and performance.
Motivational Zappers
§ Tolerating poor performance takes advantage of high performing employees.
§ Withholding critical information for employees to perform their work.
§ Promoting internal competition between employees.
§ Underutilizing the talents and capabilities of staff.
§ Treating employees unfairly or inconsistently.
§ Criticism instead of constructive feedback.
§ Unproductive meetings.
§ Unclear expectations.
§ Unnecessary rules.
§ Company politics.
§ Inflexibility.
Recognition Fundamentals
Employees need to feel like what they do is important and makes a difference!
Generally people don't want something for nothing as much as they want something
for something - recognition for a job well done. Give the big picture of how
the accomplishment ties into the organization's goals while focusing on the significance
and achievement of the person being honored. Recognition is most meaningful when
employers notice a job performed well and do something to acknowledge it in a
timely, sincere and specific way.
According to the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (by Steven Covey),
people tend to be motivated by the following factors: by spouse, partner, family,
money, work, possessions, pleasure, friend(s), enemy/enemies, church, self, or
principles.
You must find out what motivates your employees. The easiest way to find out
is to ASK. You can do this personally, through surveys, letters, new hiring forms,
email, or meeting. Take the time to find out what's important and meaningful
to your employees; then use this information in a timely way to leave a powerful
impression.
Be Creative! Recognition doesn't have to cost a lot of money. Example: If attendance
is an issue, offer a long-distance free calling card for all employees who miss
no work for 60 days.then add 10 minutes to their card for each additional 30
days of not missing work.
Caution: Be careful not to use recognition that will cause your employees to
not work as a team.
Ideas for Rewards (other than money)
Flexible hours Internet connections
Health screening programs Daily planners/organizers
Additional time off Health club membership
Free calling card minutes Cards
Gift certificates Trip
Additional vacation time Free car wash
Lattes/espressos Free housecleaning
Dinner at a nice restaurant Fruit basket
Lunch with the boss Child care certificate
Weekend getaways Preventative medical benefits
Employee assistance plans Skill development opportunities
Tickets - theatre, sports, concerts. Skiing, movie
