In today’s turbulent environment, commercial success depends on employees using their full talents. Yet managers often view motivation as something of a mystery. In part, this is because individuals are motivated by different things and in different ways. In addition, these are times when delayering and the flattening of the hierarchies can create insecurities and lower staff morale. Moreover, more staff than ever are working part time or on limited-term contracts, and they can be especially hard to motivate.
The heart of motivation is to give people what they really want most than work. The more you are able to provide what they want, the more you should expect what you really want namely: productivity, quality, and service.
Motivation helps people:
- Achieve goals;
- Gain a positive perspective;
- Create the power to change;
- Build self-esteem and capability;
- Manage their own development and help others with theirs.
Disadvantages
There are no real disadvantages to successfully motivating employees, but there are many barriers to overcome. Barriers may include unaware or absent managers, inadequate buildings, outdated equipment, and entrenched attitudes, for example:
- “We don’t get paid to work harder”
- “We’ve always done it this way”
- “Our bosses don’t have a clue what we do”
- “It doesn’t say that in my job description”
- “I’ll do as little as possible without getting fired”
Such views will take persuasion, perseverance, and the proof of experience to break down.
What to Do
1. What Motivates You? – Determine which factors are important to you in your working life and how they interact. What has motivated you in the past? Understand the difference between long-term and short-term spurs.
2. Find out what your people want from work – People may want more status, higher pay, better working conditions and flexible benefits. But to find out what really motivates your employees ask them – in performance appraisals, attitude surveys, and informal conversations. You may find that they want, for example:
- More interesting work;
- More efficient bosses;
- More opportunity to see the end of their work;
- Greater participation;
- Greater recognition;
- Greater challenge;
- More opportunities for recognition.
3. Walk the Job – Everyday find someone doing something well and tell the person so. Make sure the interest you show is genuine without going overboard or appearing to watch over people’s shoulders. If you have an idea how employees could improve their work, don’t shout it out, and help them to find their way to it instead. Earn respect by setting an example: it is not necessary to be able to do everything better than your staff. Make it clear what levels of support employees can expect.
4. Remove Demotivators – Identify factors that demotivate staff – they may be physical (buildings, equipment) or psychological (boredom, unfairness, barriers to promotion, lack of recognition). Some can be dealt with easily; others require more time. The fact that you are concerned to find out what is wrong and tackle it is in itself a motivator.
5. Demonstrate Support – Whether your working culture clamps down on mistakes and penalties error or espouses mistakes as learning opportunities, your staff need to understand the kind of support they can expect. Motivation practice and relationship building often falter because staff do not feel they are receiving adequate support.
6. Be wary of cash incentives – Many people say they are working for money and claim in conversation that fringe benefits are an incentive. But money actually come low down in the list of motivators, and it doesn’t motivate for long after a raise. Fringe benefits can be effective in attracting new employees, but benefits rarely motivate existing employees.
7. Decide on Action – Having listened to staff, take steps to alter your organization’s policies and attitudes, consulting fully with staff and unions. Consider policies that affect flexible working, reward, promotion, training and development, and participation.
8. Manage Change – If your motivation is entrenched, you may need to look at the organization’s whole style of management. One of the most natural of human instincts is to resist change even when it is beneficial. The way change is introduced has its own power to motivate or demotivate, and can often be the key to success or failure. If you:
- Tell – instruct, or deliver a monologue – you are ignoring your staff’s hopes, fears and expectations;
- Tell and Sell – Try to persuade people – even your most compelling reasons will not hold sway over the long term if you don’t allow discussion;
- Consult – It will be obvious if you have made up your mind beforehand;
- Look for real participation – Sharing the problem solving and decision making with those who are to implement the change – you can begin to expect commitment and ownership along with the adaptation and compromise that will occur naturally.
9. Understand Learning Preferences – Change involves learning. People rarely learn best by reading a book or taking a course; they learn by practice and experience. Below are four learning styles:
- Activists – like to get involved in new experiences, problems, or opportunities. They’re not too happy standing back, observing and being impartial;
- Theorists – are comfortable with concepts and theory. They don’t like being thrown in at the deep and without apparent purpose or reason;
- Reflectors – like to take their time and think things through. They don’t like being pressured;
- Pragmatists – need a link between the subject matter and the job in hand . They learn best when they can test things out.
Your people will respond best to suggestions that take account of the way they do things best. Developing people against the grain will usually only demotivate them.
10. Provide Feedback – Feedback is one of the most valuable elements in the motivation cycle. Don’t keep staff guessing how their development, progress, and accomplishments are shaping up. Offer comments with accuracy and care, keeping in mind next steps or future targets.
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