Motivation
We had a meeting today at work and a few interesting things were discussed. One of the things mentioned (and I will try to get the quote right), was “the business pays us a salary to do our work as best as possible, therefore project incentives or team building incentives are not a requirement“. Quite a few people have differing viewpoints on that specific issue; however let’s try to do a logical analysis why businesses should be moving away from a product focused viewpoint towards a people focused viewpoint.
I firmly believe that people are the future of any company, and they make the company profitable or not. Sure the CEO works hard for his huge paycheck at the end of the month, but without his most junior staff member being productive, the CEO would be out of a job tomorrow. As an aside to this but still maybe making some sort of point, I used to work for a company which was going from strength to strength. Our profits were higher and higher each year and we were making huge plans to expand overseas through a number of partnerships and buyouts (which were already in negotiation). But then all of a sudden our CEO announced that we had been purchased by a bigger company.
We received this news with shock as there was no need for this to happen. Our small (600 employee) company with its tiny (45 employee) IT department was swallowed up into a large (3000 employee) company with a bloated (600 employee, yes that’s almost a third) IT department. Our highly skilled staff which were used to solving problems in minutes as apposed to hours, moved into a company who took days to solve similar problems. Our staff felt like the CEO had stabbed us all in the back as he announced in only months that he was leaving (with millions in payments and incentives for the deal).
These efficient staff now with air conditioned backs started getting bored, (I myself had no work during the day but was working on average 100 hours in overtime at night a month, still having to be at work again the next day), and started resigning to go to better opportunities but really hoping to find something we had just a year prior.
My point here is that the CEO had no people focus, all he cared about was the good of his pocket and not the good of the staff who had kept his pocket well filled.
But how does one increase the productivity of the people so that they can make these highly profitable companies?
Here are five things That Every Great Manager Should Know, and they are not about the profit margin, gains, losses, tax deductions, or assets - but instead are the human factors of management. Most people remain with an employer because of the quality and satisfaction derived from a rewarding and balanced workplace, therefore you cannot put a price or value on the factors that drive an employee’s performance. Great managers recognize and respect this “x factor” of the business world and work to improve it with these simple tips.
1. Motivation - Every employee is unique; therefore the motivation to perform better will be different for each person. Identify the motivator for each employee and provide opportunities that encourage their interest and performance. 2. Setting Goals - Make sure you have a vision for how you want your business to operate now and in the future. Communicate your vision to your employees so that they are directing their energies toward a common goal. They will feel like they are a part of the business and this will enhance performance. Also personal goals for each employee are important here. An example is training, and I am not talking about direct job related training here but general training as well. For example, our company is really driven for people to answer each others phones. I work in the IT department and am an introvert by nature, so I agree that if a client ‘accidentally’ comes through to IT instead of customer services; we need to take responsibility for that call and follow it through all the way until it is solved. However when I pick up the phone and a client says to me “finally I have gotten through to someone who I hope can help me” in an angry tone, my introvert nature kicks in, I start babbling something about him having come through to the IT department and don’t know what to say. Maybe my boss should send me on a confidence building public speaking course or something like that. It has no relation to my job per say, but would make my working environment more comfortable and give me the confidence to go the extra mile for our clients.
3. Praise - Take advantage of big and small opportunities to praise your employees for work well done. Your recognition of their performance means a lot and it is important that you acknowledge their efforts.
4. Feedback - Be lavish with praise but selfish with criticisms -but do offer kind words of constructive feedback that makes your employees feel respected and valued. Something that I find really helpful (if used correctly) is performance appraisals. They are a great way to asses the performance of an employee not in a negative sense but to see whether an employee has managed to reach his or her goals.
5. Management - Be available as a resource to your employees. They should feel comfortable to approach you with questions and concerns and not feel as if they are imposing on your time. They should be able to depend upon you for guidance and as a model of what excellent performance is all about. This is very important and as far as I can see my boss has an open door policy which goes beyond the fact that his door is open and he is available to talk to. But he is open with his discussions with you, and does not talk to you in a way that makes you feel subordinate to him. You feel sort of more like an equal.
A Last Word…
These five simple steps will help an employee grow and I feel that an employee who grows at a company will have more respect for that company and will try his utmost to complete his/her tasks with the pride and efficiency which most companies try to beat out of their staff using autocratic methods.
I am JMR and this is My Little Corner on JMRPub.com
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April 13th, 2007 at 12:01 am
Such a huge topic so late at night
Seriously though, you have a very interesting topic at hand here. I myself moved jobs recently, bottom line is that no matter how awesome my boss and the team was, no matter how effective or defective the pay scales. I built a really nice relationship with my boss, or rather now ex-boss and good friend.
More to the point, I felt stagnant and no self growth, no future and that the big boys didn’t really care about us, just their nice little 3,4,5 ,6 digit paychecks. For a long time the focus was “sell like hell” Heh, this was a real motivator…
No matter how much you sold, it was always said do x, y and z and you can sell twice as much. Who said I want twice as much?
Even though I felt like I wasn’t growing nights became longer… much, much longer. I started doing more graphic work longing some satisfaction that I did once derive from my job, but now lost to the bottom line.
Anyway the way I see it, small companies care about the people large companies don’t care they are “invincible” to failure, or rather their attitudes think so.
You see people are so in debt to that pay check at the end of the month. That a job really is a job and they have to be their rather than want to be there. (With the exception of few)
I told my previous boss I really do prefer small groups or companies. As the Big bad corporate giant just wants money, money and more money.
I received another job offer today (BTW for those who don’t know I started working for myself) My mother said take it, I said sure, let me sell my soul and my goals to another corporate identity. Let me twiddle my thumbs in a job where I feel brain dead and become a more “secure” person.
I sat my mother down and explained to her just exactly what I am doing, she then said just let them know you won’t be taking the job.
Break through I don’t know, but she probably saw the passion I spoke with if nothing else.
Anyway Geez, I should probably get a blog
And not clutter yours so much 
Regards,
Francois.
April 13th, 2007 at 12:11 am
Congrats on letting your mother see your vision for your future. She probably still thinks you should take the job you can’t blame her. She was brought up like Robert Kiosaki’s poor dad. Work hard for a company and they will pay you…every month.
Anyway I wish I had the guts to down tools like you have and pick up the real tools of freedom. At the moment though I have picked up one of the tools of freedom but am holding my pay cheque in the other hand.