Achieve Performance Bi-Monthly Development Magazine

Issue 1 Motivation Feb-Mar 2009

78

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Motivated People Perform

We all know that motivated people perform.

Then why do we have loads of de-motivated

people in the UK workplace.

HR consultancy firm

Right Management,

surveyed workers from

six different countries,

found the UK

workforce to be the

most lacking in

motivation. Less than a

third of the UK

workforce claims to be

fully engaged at work.

A third of our employees are underperforming.

How motivated are your employees? You know

they are fully motivated because your Team

Leaders have told you so. Two questions: One

would they know a motivated employee if they

saw one? Two are they giving you only the

information they think you want to hear?

Here are the 8 key scary questions to ask, if you

really want to know if your staff are motivated.

• Do my employees know our primary aim

• What stops my employees performing

• What really motivates my staff

• Do employees feel empowered

• Have recent changes effected motivation

• How do employees feel about the company

• Are employees involved in decisions

• Is the internal image of the company

consistent with the external image

Honest answers are needed, sometimes it can be

empowering to get someone independent to ask

the questions, be brave and accept candid

feedback as a golden opportunity to put things

right.

Recognising Motivation

We would all like to think we are great leaders,

our staff are motivated and we know this

because we asked the 8 scary questions 4 months

ago. Your staff’s motivation changes, just like

yours, sometimes because of events at work,

sometimes because of events outside work. Yes

employees do have lives away from work.

So what do motivated staff Look like? We and our

Team Leaders must know what a motivated employee

looks like. It would be easy if everyone came into

work all giving big Hi-5’s, but life’s not like that. As a

young army NCO I always remember being told “it’s a

soldier’s prerogative to complain, worry when they

stop.” With this in mind some simple pointers for

recognising motivation remains high.

• Staff/Team members freely volunteer effort and

ideas

• Always react well to requests and assignments

• Work beyond expectations

• They appear happy at work

• Respond frankly to questions

• Feel able to ask questions

Maintaining Happy, Motivated and

Performing Employees

So now we have happy motivated employees, job

done. Not quite, we must now maintain motivation.

“That’s easy give them more money”, I hear you say,

but is that what really motivates our staff? Fredrick

Hertzberg found that the main workplace motivators

are a sense of achievement, recognition, the work

itself, responsibility, advancement and personal

growth, in that order.

To achieve motivation we

must celebrate and

recognise the successes of

our employees. Have an

effective incentive

programme that is not just

money based, also it should

be open, transparent,

reflects the Organisations

values and recognises that

different people value

things differently. Also

hand out lots of praise and

don’t forget to say thank

you.

A primary way we can motivate our staff in today’s

climate is by developing them. A good development

programme can achieve all of Fredrick Hertzberg’s

Motivators. There is a lot of funding out there to help.

But it is important to spend a little bit of your budget

on their development. This shows a commitment, also

it will help alleviate concerns about job security, after

all who spends money on staff they are going to make

redundant.

Maintaining Happy, Motivated,

performing Employees Cont….

Create a Development Budget, alongside the

Marketing, Wage and IT budgets, and make it

meaningful, between 3-7% of wage costs.

Why is it worth investing so much on staff?

You can have the best marketing, systems and

products on the market, but if the first person

that meets the customer or the person

processing the order, or the quality assurance

manager is not motivated, well trained and

has the correct attitude you’ve got the type of

problems that can kill your business.

Some enlightened employers have started

offering development opportunities in lieu of

wage rises. Companies that invest in their

talent, find retention increases, so does

performance, motivation and they have better

succession planning. Can you afford not to

help your staff develop?

Motivation is not my problem,

that’s my Team Leaders job,

isn’t it?

Yes and no, maintaining motivation is every

ones job. If we look at what causes

dissatisfaction amongst employees, Fredrick

Hertzberg again has the answer, it is; company

policy and administration, supervision and the

relationship with the supervisor. Simply put

it’s a breach of the psychological contract. This

can be defined as, what I can reasonably

expect from the organisation and what can I

reasonably be expected in return to

contribute?

Your recruitment activity is the key and has

only one aim, get the correct person, with the

right attitude, in the right job.

When you recruit someone, initial

expectations from both the individual and

organisation may differ, it is important that

expectations are clear from the outset. That’s

why effective induction is important. Unless

people are told what the expectations are they

will rarely exceed them.

Ensure that your policies and relationship with

your staff are not the problem and free your

people up to perform. They really do want to

do a good job, but you must create an

environment that lets them be the best they

can be for the organisation.

Dealing with De-Motivation

So what do we do about the problem, the de-motivated

or underperforming staff member? This is one of the

real tricks of a good leader, and one of the hardest.

Sometimes we are tempted to put off the dealing with a

problem in hope that it will go away. What we should be

doing is addressing problems early, especially

de-motivation, as we could

well be part of the problem

and the solution. So how do

we do this magic trick?

Following the steps below will

help you get the result

everyone wants, a happy,

motivated performing

employee. This can be done

formally or informally,

depending on the relationship

with the person, the reason

for the problem, the extent of

the problem and desired

outcome.

Identify Cause and those affected

How much of a problem is it? What is the root cause?

Who does it affect?

Empathise

To quote Steven Covey “Seek first to understand then

be understood”. It’s vital to understand why this has

happened and what they are feeling. A good dose of

Emotional Intelligence is vital.

Interview

It is important to make the person know you are aware

of the problem and that you care about finding a

solution. Face to face communication is arguably the

most effective communication tool we have. It can be

informal. All that may be needed is just asking “Is

everything is OK?”

Be constructive

Care about finding the solution, they are your staff, take

responsibility for their motivation; you have to help

them get back on track.

Identify the improvement expected

This is important to set out what you expect so people

are clear about what they have to deliver.

Provide assistance if appropriate

Ask what help they need and then give it to them or

make sure they get it.

Monitor

Keep a watch on what’s happening

and how they are getting on; make

sure they know you are taking an

interest and care about them and

their job.

Review

Make a date and review how they

have done. If they are now

performing as you wish, let them

know and don’t forget to say well

done.

About the

Author

Keith Comley

Keith is a Member and

Founder Member of

the Institute of

Leadership and

Management and a

Fellow of the Institute

of Training and

Occupational Learning.

He has decades of

experience in

Management,

Leadership and

Learning and

Development.

Keith is the Managing

Director and one of the

owners of IDEA

Services Limited who

specialise in providing

Training Management

Services and Solutions.

Next Edition

April-May

2009

Leadership

Anita Roddick said “The workplace should primarily be an incubator for the human spirit.” I think that sums up the essence of

workplace motivation. ©IDEA Services Ltd 2009