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Most
companies have it all wrong. They don’t have to motivate
their employees. They have to stop demotivating them.
The great majority of employees start a new job
enthusiastic. But in 85 percent of the 52 companies we
surveyed, an employee’s morale sharply declines after
the first six months.
What keeps employees motivated and
engaged at work? Their job must satisfy their need for
achievement, equity and camaraderie.
Satisfying these three goals depends
both on organizational policies and on the everyday
practices of individual managers. By focusing on the
eight practices described below, managers can support
their direct reports’ goals and help them regain or
sustain their enthusiasm for their work.
ACHIEVEMENT
1.
Instill an inspiring purpose. A critical condition for
employee enthusiasm is a clear, credible and inspiring
organizational purpose: a “reason for being” that
translates for workers into a “reason for being there”
that goes above and beyond money. Every manager should
be able to expressly state a strong purpose for his
unit.
2.
Provide recognition. Workers repeatedly tell us, with
great feeling, how much they appreciate a compliment.
They also report how distressed they are when managers
don’t thank them for a job well done yet are quick to
criticize them for mistakes.
Rather than making employees complacent,
recognition reinforces their accomplishments, helping
ensure there will be more of them. A pat on the back, a
dinner for two or a paid day off are some of the ways
managers can show their sincere appreciation for good
work. These gestures work wonders if they are supported
by fair and competitive pay—not considered a substitute
for it.
3. Be an
expediter for your employees. Using a
command-and-control style is a surefire path to
demotivation. Instead, redefine your primary role as
expediter: It is your job to help employees get their
jobs done. This may include connecting them with others
in the organization with the knowledge or skills they
need on a project, getting resources allocated to them
and giving them visibility.
4. Give
employees feedback and coach them for improvement. First
and foremost, employees whose overall performance is
satisfactory should be made aware of that. It is easier
for an employee to accept feedback for improvement if
she knows her manager is basically pleased with what she
does.
These key points should be the basis of
any feedback plan:
·
Performance feedback is not the same as an annual
appraisal. Give actual performance feedback as close in
time to the occurrence as possible.
·
Comments
concerning desired improvements should be specific,
factual, unemotional and directed at performance rather
than at employees personally. Provide specific, concrete
details about what you feel needs to be improved and
how.
·
Keep the
feedback relevant to the employee’s role.
·
Seek
employees’ perspectives.
·
Remember
the reason you’re giving feedback—you want to improve
performance, not prove your superiority.
EQUITY
5.
Communicate fully. Workers’ frustration with an absence
of adequate communication is one of the most negative
findings we see expressed on employee attitude surveys.
What employees need to do their jobs and what makes them
feel respected and included dictate that very few
restrictions be placed by managers on the flow of
information. Hold nothing back that’s of interest to
employees except those very few items that are
absolutely confidential.
Meetings among managers should conclude
with a specific plan for communicating the results of
the meeting to employees. Full and open communication
not only helps employees do their jobs but also is a
powerful sign of respect.
6. Deal
decisively with poor performance. Most people want to
work and to be proud of what they do. But 5 percent or
so of employees don’t. A disciplinary approach—including
dismissal—is about the only way they can be managed.
CAMARADERIE
7.
Promote teamwork. Most work requires a team effort in
order to be done effectively. Research shows repeatedly
that groups solve problems better than individuals
working on their own. In addition, most workers get a
motivation boost from working in teams.
Whenever possible, managers should
organize employees into self-managed teams, with the
teams having authority over matters such as quality
control, scheduling and many work
methods.
PULLING
IT ALL TOGETHER
8.
Listen and involve. Employees are a rich source of
information about how to do a job and how to do it
better. This principle has been demonstrated time and
again with all kinds of employees. Managers who operate
with a participative style reap enormous rewards in
efficiency and work quality.
Participative managers give employees
freedom to operate and make changes on their own
commensurate with their knowledge and experience. In the
end, there may be no single motivational tactic more
powerful than freeing competent people to do their jobs
as they see fit.
David
Sirota is chairman emeritus of Sirota Survey
Intelligence, and Michael Irwin Meltzer is CEO. The late
Louis A. Mischkind was senior vice president of the
organization. They are the authors of The Enthusiastic
Employee: How Companies Profit by Giving Workers What
They Want (Wharton School Publishing, 2005). |
