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(Some of the
following information is adapted from the guidebook,
Basic Guide to Management, Leadership and Supervision.)
Clearing Up Common Myths About Employee Motivation
Basic Principles to Remember
Steps You Can Take
Clearing Up Common Myths About Employee Motivation
The topic of motivating employees is
extremely important to managers and supervisors. Despite the
important of the topic, several myths persist -- especially among
new managers and supervisors. Before looking at what management can
do to support the motivation of employees, it's important first to
clear up these common myths.
1. Myth #1 -- "I
can motivate people"
Not really -- they have to motivate themselves. You can't
motivate people anymore than you can empower them. Employees have to
motivate and empower themselves. However, you can set up an
environment where they best motivate and empower themselves. The key
is knowing how to set up the environment for each of your employees.
2. Myth #2 -- "Money is a good
motivator"
Not really. Certain things like money, a nice office and job
security can help people from becoming less motivated, but they
usually don't help people to become more motivated. A key goal is to
understand the motivations of each of your employees.
3. Myth #3 -- "Fear is a damn
good motivator"
Fear is a great motivator -- for a very short time. That's why a
lot of yelling from the boss won't seem to "light a spark under
employees" for a very long time.
4. Myth #4 -- "I know what
motivates me, so I know what motivates my employees"
Not really. Different people are motivated by different things.
I may be greatly motivated by earning time away from my job to spend
more time my family. You might be motivated much more by recognition
of a job well done. People are not motivated by the same things.
Again, a key goal is to understand what motivates each of your
employees.
5. Myth #5 -- "Increased job
satisfaction means increased job performance"
Research shows this isn't necessarily true at all. Increased job
satisfaction does not necessarily mean increased job performance. If
the goals of the organization are not aligned with the goals of
employees, then employees aren't effectively working toward the
mission of the organization.
6. Myth #6 -- "I can't
comprehend employee motivation -- it's a science"
Nah. Not true. There are some very basic steps you can take that
will go a long way toward supporting your employees to motivate
themselves toward increased performance in their jobs. (More about
these steps is provided later on in this article.)
Basic Principles to Remember
1. Motivating employees starts with
motivating yourself
It's amazing how, if you hate your job, it seems like everyone
else does, too. If you are very stressed out, it seems like everyone
else is, too. Enthusiasm is contagious. If you're enthusiastic about
your job, it's much easier for others to be, too. Also, if you're
doing a good job of taking care of yourself and your own job, you'll
have much clearer perspective on how others are doing in theirs.
A great place to start learning
about motivation is to start understanding your own motivations. The
key to helping to motivate your employees is to understand what
motivates them. So what motivates you? Consider, for example, time
with family, recognition, a job well done, service, learning, etc.
How is your job configured to support your own motivations? What can
you do to better motivate yourself?
2. Always work to align goals of
the organization with goals of employees
As mentioned above, employees can be all fired up about their
work and be working very hard. However, if the results of their work
don't contribute to the goals of the organization, then the
organization is not any better off than if the employees were
sitting on their hands -- maybe worse off! Therefore, it's critical
that managers and supervisors know what they want from their
employees. These preferences should be worded in terms of goals for
the organization. Identifying the goals for the organization is
usually done during strategic planning. Whatever steps you take to
support the motivation of your employees (various steps are
suggested below), ensure that employees have strong input to
identifying their goals and that these goals are aligned with goals
of the organization. (Goals should be worded to be "SMARTER". More
about this later on below.)
3. Key to supporting the
motivation of your employees is understanding what motivates each of
them
Each person is motivated by different things. Whatever steps you
take to support the motivation of your employees, they should first
include finding out what it is that really motivates each of your
employees. You can find this out by asking them, listening to them
and observing them. (More about this later on below.)
4. Recognize that supporting
employee motivation is a process, not a task
Organizations change all the time, as do people. Indeed, it is
an ongoing process to sustain an environment where each employee can
strongly motivate themselves. If you look at sustaining employee
motivation as an ongoing process, then you'll be much more fulfilled
and motivated yourself.
5. Support employee motivation
by using organizational systems (for example, policies and
procedures) -- don't just count on good intentions
Don't just count on cultivating strong interpersonal
relationships with employees to help motivate them. The nature of
these relationships can change greatly, for example, during times of
stress. Instead, use reliable and comprehensive systems in the
workplace to help motivate employees. For example, establish
compensation systems, employee performance systems, organizational
policies and procedures, etc., to support employee motivation. Also,
establishing various systems and structures helps ensure clear
understanding and equitable treatment of employees.
Steps You Can Take
The following specific steps can help you
go a long way toward supporting your employees to motivate
themselves in your organization.
1. Do more than read this
article -- apply what you're reading here
This maxim is true when reading any management publication.
2. Briefly write down the
motivational factors that sustain you and what you can do to sustain
them
This little bit of "motivation planning" can give you strong
perspective on how to think about supporting the motivations of your
employees.
3. Make of list of three to five
things that motivate each of your employees
Read the article
Checklist of Categories of Typical Motivators. Fill out the list
yourself for each of your employees and then have each of your
employees fill out the list for themselves. Compare your answers to
theirs. Recognize the differences between your impression of what
you think is important to them and what they think is important to
them. Then meet with each of your employees to discuss what they
think are the most important motivational factors to them. Lastly,
take some time alone to write down how you will modify your
approaches with each employee to ensure their motivational factors
are being met. (NOTE: This may seem like a "soft, touchy-feely
exercise" to you. If it does, then talk to a peer or your boss about
it. Much of what's important in management is based very much on
"soft, touchy-feely exercises". Learn to become more comfortable
with them. The place to start is to recognize their importance.)
4. Work with each employee to
ensure their motivational factors are taken into consideration in
your reward systems
For example, their jobs might be redesigned to be more
fulfilling. You might find more means to provide recognition, if
that is important to them. You might develop a personnel policy that
rewards employees with more family time, etc.
5. Have one-on-one meetings with
each employee
Employees are motivated more by your care and concern for them
than by your attention to them. Get to know your employees, their
families, their favorite foods, names of their children, etc. This
can sound manipulative -- and it will be if not done sincerely.
However, even if you sincerely want to get to know each of your
employees, it may not happen unless you intentionally set aside time
to be with each of them.
6. Cultivate strong skills in
delegation
Delegation includes conveying responsibility and authority to
your employees so they can carry out certain tasks. However, you
leave it up to your employees to decide how they will carry
out the tasks. Skills in delegation can free up a great deal of time
for managers and supervisors. It also allows employees to take a
stronger role in their jobs, which usually means more fulfillment
and motivation in their jobs, as well.
7. Reward it when you see
it
A critical lesson for new managers and supervisors is to learn
to focus on employee behaviors, not on employee personalities.
Performance in the workplace should be based on behaviors toward
goals, not on popularity of employees. You can get in a great deal
of trouble (legally, morally and interpersonally) for focusing only
on how you feel about your employees rather than on what
you're seeing with your eyeballs.
8. Reward it soon after you see
it
This helps to reinforce the notion that you highly prefer the
behaviors that you're currently seeing from your employees. Often,
the shorter the time between an employee's action and your reward
for the action, the clearer it is to the employee that you highly
prefer that action.
9. Implement at least the basic principles of performance
management
Good performance management includes identifying goals, measures
to indicate if the goals are being met or not, ongoing attention and
feedback about measures toward the goals, and corrective actions to
redirect activities back toward achieving the goals when necessary.
Performance management can focus on organizations, groups, processes
in the organization and employees.
10. Establish goals that are
SMARTER
SMARTER goals are: specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic,
timely, extending of capabilities, and rewarding to those involved.
11. Clearly convey how employee
results contribute to organizational results
Employees often feel strong fulfillment from realizing that
they're actually making a difference. This realization often
requires clear communication about organizational goals, employee
progress toward those goals and celebration when the goals are met.
12. Celebrate achievements
This critical step is often forgotten. New managers and
supervisors are often focused on a getting "a lot done". This
usually means identifying and solving problems. Experienced managers
come to understand that acknowledging and celebrating a solution to
a problem can be every bit as important as the solution itself.
Without ongoing acknowledgement of success, employees become
frustrated, skeptical and even cynical about efforts in the
organization.
13. Let employees hear from
their customers (internal or external)
Let employees hear customers proclaim the benefits of the
efforts of the employee . For example, if the employee is working to
keep internal computer systems running for other employees (internal
customers) in the organization, then have other employees express
their gratitude to the employee. If an employee is providing a
product or service to external customers, then bring in a customer
to express their appreciation to the employee.
14. Admit to yourself (and to an
appropriate someone else) if you don't like an employee --
Managers and supervisors are people. It's not unusual to just not
like someone who works for you. That someone could, for example,
look like an uncle you don't like. In this case, admit to yourself
that you don't like the employee. Then talk to someone else who is
appropriate to hear about your distaste for the employee, for
example, a peer, your boss, your spouse, etc. Indicate to the
appropriate person that you want to explore what it is that you
don't like about the employee and would like to come to a clearer
perception of how you can accomplish a positive working relationship
with the employee. It often helps a great deal just to talk out loud
about how you feel and get someone else's opinion about the
situation. As noted above, if you continue to focus on what you
see about employee performance, you'll go a long way toward
ensuring that your treatment of employees remains fair and
equitable. |
