Why is motivation important?

Whether you are trying to achieve something yourself or lead others towards an achievement, the ability to be self-motivated or to motivate is crucial. When we meet people who are regarded as successful or high achievers, it is tempting to assume that they are innately self-driven, or are natural leaders with high levels of motivational ability. This may well be the case, but it is just as likely that they have learned and used some effective techniques for either motivating themselves or to motivate others.

The benefits of motivation to an individual are fairly obvious – people who are motivated tend to be more successful in achieving their personal and professional goals, which in turn has benefits in terms of their self-esteem and confidence. Given that people are usually the most important asset of any organization, motivation is also a critical factor in the overall success of a team or business.

Three golden rules of motivation

Motivation does not take place on its own. In order to be motivated or to motivate others, it is important to remember three golden rules of motivation before considering any specific techniques.

1 Motivation is impossible without clear achievable goals

Motivation and goal setting are inextricably linked. Without a goal or purpose, motivation is meaningless, whilst motivation is a vital part of intentionally achieving any goal. Two of the most basic motivators are to know exactly what you are trying to achieve, and to then go out and achieve it. Not having a clear idea of your goal or not believing that a goal is attainable will severely dent your motivation.

2 Motivation and goals need to be in alignment at every level

How often have you felt that you have been performing well or doing a good job, only to be told by your manager or colleagues that you have been focusing on the wrong thing, that priorities have changed or that you have simply been under performing? For example, imagine an experienced sales person who has an excellent track record of retaining business with their established customers, but is heavily criticized by their manager for failing to develop as much new business as their less experienced colleague. As a result, the sales person feels alienated, undervalued and ultimately de-motivated. Their performance and results are likely to suffer. The chances are that there has been a lack of dialogue between the manager and the sales person over how individual goals need to fit with the overall goals of the company. If the emphasis is on generating new business, has this been communicated effectively to each sales person, and in a manner which will motivate each of them to succeed?

Every business needs motivated employees in order to be successful and achieve its goals. If employee motivation is not closely matched to these business goals, the chances of success are diminished.

3 Motivation is neither fixed nor infinite

Motivation is not a one-off event. Something which provides motivation at one particular time may not be as effective in the future, due to changes in environment and circumstances. If someone is driven to become the best in their field, how do they maintain their motivation to perform once they reach the pinnacle of their profession? Even if circumstances remain constant, the most powerful motivational factors will lose impact over the course of time. For instance, you may attend a conference and feel energized by a particular speaker or meeting, and leave the event highly motivated to put what you have heard into action. How long will the impact of what you heard last before you slip back into old ways of doing things?

Motivation is a constant process and constantly changes. As an individual or as a leader trying to motivate others, it is vital to remember this.

The fifth “new” myth that resembles pineapple upside down cake:

To Fix Things, Create a Team and Turn It Loose

This myth has lead to many teams that suffer from “aimless empowerment.” The team are not given sufficient direction and guidance to be successful. Managers can not step back - rather they had responsibility to provide direction, priorities, and structure for teams to be effective. Too many mangers let their teams blow in the wind. To be successful you need a stake in the ground to tether teams and help them move in directions that benefit individuals and the organization. This is right as far as it goes. But this is looking at teams as one way - what management has to do to make it work. Indeed most companies install teams as something management does for the workers. But teams are a two-way street. The team has responsibility to make the process work, too.

A large utility company introduced problem quality teams throughout the company with statements from top management and training. After eighteen months the program was deemed a failure because there had been no improvement in quality measures. Using a survey it was discovered the team members, while feeling more involved did not feel more responsible for results.

In a company that makes food preparation machines, teams were introduced by reducing the number of supervisors, training facilitators and establishing regular team meetings during working hours. The major outcome was that management was accused of being hypocritical about teams whenever it did not go along with a team recommendation.

Do not believe the myth that teams can be created and let loose. The expectation must be set t that teams are a two-way street. Management gives something - more say - to lower levels and expects something - better goal achievement and competitiveness - in return.

Teams are a basic exchange offering people more choice in return for a promise. The choice is about having control over the way work gets done. The promise is about results. Decision making is pushed down in order to get results up.

Teams requires open and ongoing communication about the goals, priorities and problems of the company
We find these conditions contribute to successful teams:

• Link their assignment to strategic priorities
• Integrate staff support into the process
• Provide a strong orientation
• Communicate clear expectations and timetable
• Receive regular reports
• Provide full information as needed
• Include teamwork as a performance factor and in evaluations

To sum up, Franklin D. Roosevelt said: “There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. To some generations much is expected.” Our generation requires both for teams to work!

Conclusion
The times are difficult, the answers are not easy, but subscribing to a new set of management myths is not the answer. Try this instead:

• Study your world and look for trends and issues to help become competitive
• Focus your management efforts on outside customers and select your efforts after a careful look at what you need to do to meet expectations in the market
• Give each unit clear direction and ground rules and let them figure out what needs to be done better and how.
• Encourage individual initiative. Ask for problem solving from everyone.
• Create teams with accountability for results and give them support.

When you try to apply for a job, your objective is to pass the exams and interview to get accepted. When an athlete runs a triathlon, his primary aim is to defeat his competitors and win. When someone engages in a fitness program, there’s a certain weight goal that he or she wants to meet. As you may have noticed, the importance of goal setting is very essential so that you could meet a certain objective. When dealing and handling your finances, your career, or even your private life, the importance of making goals for yourself would let you create an action plan in order for you to work towards, and eventually, meet those goals.

In the absence of goals, all your actions would be all for nothing; and that is the reason why goal setting is really important. In general, the importance of goal setting would let you transform your future plans into reality.

The Many Benefits of Goal Setting. Here are some of the several benefits that you could get to enjoy with goal setting’s help:

1. This activity is the important aspect to effective time management.

2. Making short term goals could be an effective and great motivator, especially if you keep track of your progress and development, and celebrate your triumphs in every small achievements that you have.

3. It would improve your self esteem since it enhances the quality of your life by allowing you to know precisely where you are headed in the near future.

4. Making some personal long-term goals would provide you that inner drive to exert and work harder in striving in your career or your personal targets and objectives.

5. It will allow you to determine the probable distractions that you might have to deal with in the process of attaining your long-term goals. And once these distractions are already recognized, then you could make an added effort so that you would not be drawn away from your aims.

Getting a Head Start in Setting Your Goals. Now that you already know and understand more about the importance of goal setting, how then could you start to set those objectives for your goals?

Here are some useful and practical tips for achieving those objectives that you can follow:

1. Begin by making a list of your short term targets while still monitoring your lifelong objectives in mind. Answer these questions: A. How will you like to make a difference in other persons’ lives?
B. How would you want to see yourself 5 years from now?

2. You should bear in mind that whether you’re setting short-term or long-term goals for yourself, they still have to be realistic.
Knowing and realizing what you truly want out of life is the best way in setting realistic and attainable objectives for yourself. Motivating yourself, getting rid of unnecessary distractions and increasing your self esteem are the steps that you have to pursue in order to meet the targets you have set for yourself. In summary, goal setting is simply a matter of deciding what is essential for you to achieve in your lifetime.

Have you ever been the employee of the month? Do you have the best website according to a peer vote? Did you get that great parking spot next to the company door for a week or more? Did you win the teamwork award for the quarter, but you’re not quite sure why? Chances are, you’re a victim of employee recognition that was not motivational and most likely done wrong.

Maybe you felt good about the recognition, but coworkers are unlikely to share your joy. Those employees who are not nominated for recognition, and who don’t understand the criteria for the bestowal of the reward, are generally negatively impacted by the employee recognition.

This is especially frustrating when the employee believes their contribution was equivalent or even better. Or, the employee recognition becomes a joke (must be your turn to be employee of the month) or a demotivator (I didn’t get nominated so forget it when you need help again some time).

Voted honors are generally a popularity contest, especially when solid criteria for assessment have not been established. Or, if the time necessary to provide an educated vote is unavailable or uncompensated, few will bother to participate.

Motivational Employee Recognition Traps

You can avoid the employee recognition traps that:

* single out one or a few employees who are mysteriously selected for the recognition;

* sap the morale of the many who failed to win, place, or even show;

* confuse people who meet the criteria for employee recognition yet were not selected; and

* sought votes or other personalized, subjective criteria to determine winners.

Employee Recognition That Is Motivational and Rewarding

Employee recognition is one of the keys to successful employee motivation. Employee recognition follows trust as a factor in employee satisfaction with their supervisor and their work place.

Informal recognition, as simple sometimes as saying thank you and please, should be on every employee’s mind every day. Supervisors and coworkers, especially, have the opportunity to praise and encourage best efforts daily. These tips will help you successfully provide more formal recognition that is valued, valuable, and motivational.

* Determine what behaviors your work place wants to recognize. In a client company, a team decided to recognize team work, going the extra mile, and years of service.

* Identify and communicate the criteria by which the proposed recipients will be judged or assessed, so people are clear about what they need to do to qualify for recognition.

* Announce and communicate the recognition and the criteria that you have established for the awards.

* Design and communicate the process by which employees will be selected for recognition so that all employees clearly understand the selection process.

* Allow time for people to qualify for the recognition.

* Every entry that qualifies for the recognition should receive the recognition.

* If financial constraints are an issue, either present recognition amounts you can afford. Or, announce all eligible employees, publicly praise them for their contribution, and then, place all names in a drawing to select the lucky winner.

* Magnify the value of the recognition by these methods: name the employees publicly, place employee names in the newsletter, send out a company-wide email announcement, and so on.

Is it ever okay to nominate people or projects and just vote? In my book, only for trivial, fun events and prizes. Nothing of significance should ever be treated as a popularity contest. An example? One client company, in a clean room setting, has groups of employees who decorate external windows surrounding the manufacturing area each holiday season. All employees vote for their favorite window and a nominal gift goes to the teams that decorated the top three windows.

Effective, fair, employee recognition is motivational for both the employees receiving recognition and their coworkers - done correctly.

Who better to offer tips and insight to someone just starting their management career than the seasoned professional manager. We are fortunate to have such a group of management professionals frequent the Management Forum on this site. Recently, I asked them this question:

“Remember way back when - when you got your first management job. What do you wish someone had told you then? What would be the one tip you would give to a manager just starting out?”

Their answers reflect the character and style of these individuals; their wisdom; their experience.

Here’s a list of Ten Top Tips:

* (M) Consult, consult, consult.

* (A) You are managing people, not projects or product development or customer service or any other departmental mission. People are complicated and messy. They aren’t machines any more than you are; they won’t be the same every day, no matter how much you’d like them to be. So stay alert to what’s going on with them.

* (K) For the first couple of days, sit down and get to know your staff. Find out what they do, what their goals are, what they like to do in their free time, etc. Several years ago, I watched a new manager start with a company and for the first month or so, didn’t talk to any of his staff. A month later, he wondered why people were handing in their two week notices.

Get to know your staff!!

* (R) Learn how to deal with problem or resentful employees. I was promoted into my position over a longer-term employee. She was made my assistant. (Before everyone raises the sexism issue, I was the ONLY male manager and was promoted on performance.) She had a great deal of resentment and worked against me at every turn. After floundering around for a while, I finally took her into the office and calmly explained the facts of life to her, that I was the manager and if she couldn’t work with me one of us would be leaving and it wouldn’t be me. She straightened out after that and we eventually developed a good relationship.

Avoid re-inventing the wheel. Everything doesn’t require your unique hand-print. Some things probably work just fine already. Also don’t think or act like you know everything, nothing breeds resentment more than arrogance. You may be smart, but there’s always someone smarter.

* (MC) You are responsible for everything that happens in your scope of authority. Don’t ever think that just because you may not be doing the actual work, you are not responsible—you *are*. Unless you are comfortable with this basic fact, management is *not* for you.

The rewards come at a price. You will have to make decisions that will benefit the company as well as your staff….and quite often they are in direct conflict with each other. (You cannot be all things to all people….)

You do have a right to be human. Just because you are now management, does not mean that you can (or should) throw emotion out the window.

Laugh with your people….let them know that you are not a humorless troll.

Be honest with your people…you expect the same from them. Even if it’s bad news, honesty does help lessen the blow.

Defend your people! They will reward you with their loyalty.

As exciting and as insightful as these tips for new managers are, there is one more we should add. Management is not for everybody. As (A2) put it “it’s never too late to say thanks but no thanks….I’m happy where I am.”

As part of the overall business planning process, establishing goals is of course fundamental in providing a clear vision of what you want to accomplish. Setting one or more goals seems to be a straightforward process. You establish a specific goal, one that’s measurable and has a defined time frame for completion. You implement your plan, measure your progress towards reaching your goal and then evaluate the outcome objectively to refine your process.

On the surface of things, it reads well and sounds easy enough to do. Unfortunately, it rarely works out that way for numerous reasons; primarily because we often fail to establish realistic goals. Additionally, we often casually set goals with only a hazy view towards how they’ll actually be accomplished. And while we’re typically motivated at the beginning of the process, it’s not at all unusual to lose our motivation somewhere along the way.

When preparing your own goals, it’s important to first understand that every goal you set must be realistic and readily achievable, given an appropriate amount of time and resources. For example, setting a goal to earn $25,000 per month within three months, when your present earnings are less than $1,000, is probably unrealistic. On the other hand, setting an ongoing goal to increase your earnings by 5% or 10% per month is not only realistic, but more likely to be achievable.

Once you’ve defined a goal you believe you can accomplish, the next step is to break it down into smaller, manageable tasks and scheduling them in sequence (assuming one task depends on the completion of another). Before defining the target date the overall goal must be completed, be certain that each task is given a reasonable amount of time for completion and allow the sum of the tasks to define the completion date, rather than arbitrarily selecting one.

Depending on how far into the future your goals are planned for, it’s very helpful to schedule regular progress reviews, even if you’re the only one involved. For example, scheduling time every Friday afternoon to review your progress and make any necessary adjustments will keep your goals current. Don’t be surprised if something unexpected interferes with your scheduling from time-to-time. That’s normal and you will simply need to identify some way to compensate for it.

Another artificial barrier to actually meeting your goals is the process itself. Be careful to avoid implementing a goal management process that consumes more time than the goal itself. On a smaller scale, a simple spreadsheet will often suffice to meet all of your management needs. For larger scale management, a variety of goal management software exists, usually scalable for most organizations.

Aside from actually working the process towards eventually realizing your goal, the final step is to take some time to evaluate the overall process and your performance at the end. This should be done objectively and embraced as a learning opportunity, one that will help you to improve your performance the next time.

With proper planning, setting realistic goals can only benefit you and your business in the long run, especially if you streamline the goal management process for yourself. If you think of it as an evolving process focused on continual performance improvement, over time you will see a measurable improvement in everything you do!

Setting goals is one of those things we fully intend to do, but never quite get round to. However if you realize just how much your life could be improved by this one simple task, you would make the time! Below are just 5 of the benefits to setting goals, so have a read through, then take 30 minutes to really think about your goals and write them down.

1. Targets. If you have nothing to aim for, it is easy to just drift along in life, fully intending to do all those things one day. But generally one day never comes and you don’t achieve what you want to and are capable of. Having a set goal gives you a target to aim for, with a specific end point. When you reach this target you feel great!

2. Motivation, persistence. Having a goal is a great motivator. Seeing that clear target and thinking of all the benefits that will come with reaching it will spur you on, even when your energy and motivation is low. Inevitably there will be a few ups and down on the way to achieving your goal – these are par for the course and you must be persistent enough to work through them. Keep looking at your end point and its benefits and remember, persistence WILL get you there!

3. Priorities. Do you have several things on the go at once? You may have to juggle work, a husband, wife or partner, children, family, friends and so much more. This often means your own hopes, dreams, desires and needs are put on a backburner and the things you really want to do simply remain dreams. Setting goals makes it easier to achieve your dreams. When they are written down as goals, you can plan the time to make them come true.

4. Success. The most successful people all set goals. Only 3% of people in the U.S. have written goals, and according to research, these people accomplish 80% more than those who don’t. Put yourself in the top 3% now and see your success and confidence sky rocket.

5. Confidence. Setting, working towards, and achieving goals gives your self confidence a huge boost and inspires you to achieve more. Even very small goals make a difference; you might make a goal in the morning to make 3 phone calls you have been putting off. Write it down in the morning, plan half an hour to do it and then feel the satisfaction when you put a big line through the to do list! The more you do, the more confident you become and everyone could do with more self confidence!

Remember goals don’t have to be huge, life changing aims. Start with tiny things and see how good it feels to achieve something, no matter how small. I cannot stress enough how important it is to actually write down your goals. So take action now!

You will amaze yourself!

By Susan M. Heathfield

Key employee retention is critical to the long term health and success of your business. Managers readily agree that retaining your best employees ensures customer satisfaction, product sales, satisfied coworkers and reporting staff, effective succession planning and deeply imbedded organizational knowledge and learning. If managers can cite these facts so well, why do they behave in ways that so frequently encourage great employees to quit their jobs?

Employee retention matters. Organizational issues such as training time and investment; lost knowledge; mourning, insecure coworkers and a costly candidate search aside, failing to retain a key employee is costly. Various estimates suggest that losing a middle manager costs an organization up to 100 percent of his salary. The loss of a senior executive is even more costly. I have seen estimates of double the annual salary and more.

Employee retention is critically important for a second societal reason, too. Over the next few years while Baby Boomers (age 40 to 58) retire, the upcoming Generation X population numbers 44 million people (ages 25-34), compared to 76 million Baby Boomers available for work. Simply stated: there are a lot fewer people available to work.

Employee retention is one of the primary measures of the health of your organization. If you are losing critical staff members, you can safely bet that other people in their departments are looking as well. Exit interviews with departing employees provide valuable information you can use to retain remaining staff. Heed their results. You’ll never have a more significant source of data about the health of your organization.

I’ve provided retention tips in earlier articles, but will add ten more retention tips to your arsenal with these top ten ways to retain a great employee.

* Management thinkers from Ferdinand Fournies ( Why Employees Don’t Do What They’re Supposed to Do and What to Do About It) to Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman (First Break All the Rules agree that a satisfied employee knows clearly what is expected from him every day at work. Changing expectations keep people on edge and create unhealthy stress. They rob the employee of internal security and make the employee feel unsuccessful. I’m not advocating unchanging jobs just the need for a specific framework within which people clearly know what is expected from them.

* The quality of the supervision an employee receives is critical to employee retention. People leave managers and supervisors more often than they leave companies or jobs. It is not enough that the supervisor is well-liked or a nice person, starting with clear expectations of the employee, the supervisor has a critical role to play in retention. Anything the supervisor does to make an employee feel unvalued will contribute to turnover. Frequent employee complaints center on these areas.

–lack of clarity about expectations,
–lack of clarity about earning potential,
–lack of feedback about performance,
–failure to hold scheduled meetings, and
–failure to provide a framework within which the employee perceives he can succeed.

* The ability of the employee to speak his or her mind freely within the organization is another key factor in employee retention. Does your organization solicit ideas and provide an environment in which people are comfortable providing feedback? If so, employees offer ideas, feel free to criticize and commit to continuous improvement. If not, they bite their tongues or find themselves constantly “in trouble” - until they leave.

* Talent and skill utilization is another environmental factor your key employees seek in your workplace. A motivated employee wants to contribute to work areas outside of his specific job description. How many people could contribute far more than they currently do? You just need to know their skills, talent and experience, and take the time to tap into it. As an example, in a small company, a manager pursued a new marketing plan and logo with the help of external consultants. An internal sales rep, with seven years of ad agency and logo development experience, repeatedly offered to help. His offer was ignored and he cited this as one reason why he quit his job. In fact, the recognition that the company didn’t want to take advantage of his knowledge and capabilities helped precipitate his job search.

* The perception of fairness and equitable treatment is important in employee retention. In one company, a new sales rep was given the most potentially successful, commission-producing accounts. Current staff viewed these decisions as taking food off their tables. You can bet a number of them are looking for their next opportunity.

In another instance, a staff person, just a year or two out of college, was given $20,000 in raises over a six month time period. Information of this type never stays secret in companies so you know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, the morale of several other employees will be affected. For example, you have a staff person who views her role as important and she brings ten years of experience, an M.B.A. and a great contribution record to the table. When she finds she is making less money than this employee, she is likely to look for a new job. Minimally, her morale and motivation will take a big hit. Did the staff person deserve the raises? Yes. But, recognize that there will be impact on others.

* When an employee is failing at work, I ask the W. Edwards Deming question, “What about the work system is causing the person to fail?” Most frequently, if the employee knows what they are supposed to do, I find the answer is time, tools, training, temperament or talent. The easiest to solve, and the ones most affecting employee retention, are tools, time and training. The employee must have the tools, time and training necessary to do their job well – or they will move to an employer who provides them.

* Your best employees, those employees you want to retain, seek frequent opportunities to learn and grow in their careers, knowledge and skill. Without the opportunity to try new opportunities, sit on challenging committees, attend seminars and read and discuss books, they feel they will stagnate. A career-oriented, valued employee must experience growth opportunities within your organization.

* A common place complaint or lament I hear during an exit interview is that the employee never felt senior managers knew he existed. By senior managers I refer to the president of a small company or a department or division head in a larger company. Take time to meet with new employees to learn about their talents, abilities and skills. Meet with each employee periodically. You’ll have more useful information and keep your fingers on the pulse of your organization. It’s a critical tool to help employees feel welcomed, acknowledged and loyal.

* No matter the circumstances, never, never, ever threaten an employee’s job or income. Even if you know layoffs loom if you fail to meet production or sales goals, it is a mistake to foreshadow this information with employees. It makes them nervous; no matter how you phrase the information; no matter how you explain the information, even if you’re absolutely correct, your best staff members will update their resumes. I’m not advocating keeping solid information away from people, however, think before you say anything that makes people feel they need to search for another job.

* I place this final tip on every retention list I develop because it is so key and critical to retention success. Your staff members must feel rewarded, recognized and appreciated. Frequently saying thank you goes a long way. Monetary rewards, bonuses and gifts make the thank you even more appreciated. Understandable raises, tied to accomplishments and achievement, help retain staff. Commissions and bonuses that are easily calculated on a daily basis, and easily understood, raise motivation and help retain staff. Annually, I receive emails from staff members that provide information about raises nationally. You can bet that work is about the money and almost every individual wants more.

Take a look at your organization Are you doing your best to retain your top talent? Employ these ten factors in your organization to retain your desired employees and attract the best talent, too.

We’ve all been through it at least once in our lives. We decide to make a change: Make more money, lose weight, quit smoking, start exercising, whatever. We set goals and work toward them. And for a while, there is progress.Then we start to slip, and before we know it we are back where we started. This happens all the time. The source of the backsliding isn’t that people lack self-motivation or willpower. The primary reason that so many people don’t achieve their objectives is that they have no idea how to create workable goals and maintain the forward motion necessary to make them happen.

Successful people are masters at setting and reaching goals. If you interact with people who have “made it,” you will see patterns that anyone can apply. Here are seven goal-achieving “musts” from the “success masters”:

1. Balance your goals to balance your life.
Develop goals in six areas of life: relationships, spiritual, contribution, financial, health and business. By pursuing goals in each area, you will create a more balanced and integrated life.

2. Aim high.
As the now-cliched saying goes: Shoot for the stars, if you miss you’ll still be on the moon. Get out of your comfort zone. Make your goals slightly unreasonable; in other words, don’t allow your (perceived) limitations to get in the way. Don’t allow your old conditioning to stop you from going after what you really want.

3. Write out goals in detail.
Just the act of writing down goals sets the process in motion, so be specific. Instead of writing, say, “A new home,” write “A 4,500-square-foot ranch home on five acres of lakefront property with vaulted ceilings, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, and a private boat dock.” The more information you include, the more probable the final result will be. By being as accurate as possible you invoke some of the natural laws of the universe in your favor as well as getting your brain to work for you in the most efficient way possible.

4. Make your goals consistent with your values.
Most people don’t do what they value first and therefore find themselves stressed and out of alignment. Create a list of your highest values and then create your goals around them. This will give you a sense of being on purpose consistently. Every goal must have two things: 1) A detailed plan to achieve it and 2) the right beliefs and mindset. You can kiss your goals goodbye without these two items. So, what do you have to believe and what can you start to do immediately to move you towards your goals and dreams?

5. Review your goals daily.
This is an important part of achieving success and must become routine. Review your list of goals each morning when you wake up. Visualize your completed goals and how your life looks and feels as a result. Each night before you go to bed, repeat the process. This is a great way to train your brain to expect your goals to materialize.

6. Finally, don’t get discouraged.
You will either achieve your goal, or you will gain insight into whatever is in the way of its achievement. This is not a setback; rather, it is part of your forward progress. Stay focused on what you want to achieve and you will find ways to solve difficulties or break through barriers.

Celebrate every success and contextualize your accomplishments within the framework of your goals. Before you know it, you’ll have to make a whole new list for “next level achievement!”

In today’s turbulent, often chaotic, environment, commercial success depends on employees using their full talents. Yet in spite of the myriad of available theories and practices, 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 hierarchies can create insecurity and lower staff morale. Moreover, more staff than ever before are working part time or on limited-term contracts, and these employees are often especially hard to motivate.

Definition of Employee Motivation
Twyla Dell writes of motivating employees, “The heart of motivation is to give people what they really want most from 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.” (An Honest Day’s Work (1988))

Advantages of Employee Motivation
A positive motivation philosophy and practice should improve 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 of Motivating Staff
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 extra to work harder.”
* “We’ve always done it this way.”
* “Our bosses don’t have a clue about what we do.”
* “It doesn’t say that in my job description.”
* “I’m going to do as little as possible without getting fired.”

Such views will take persuasion, perseverance, and the proof of experience to break down.

How do you motivate your employees? The Action Checklist for Motivating Employees is designed for managers with responsibilities for managing, motivating, and developing staff at a time when organizational structures and processes are undergoing continual change and can help your organization.

Employee Motivation Action Checklist
This checklist is designed for managers with responsibilities for managing, motivating, and developing staff at a time when organizational structures and processes are undergoing continual change.

1. Read the Gurus
Familiarize yourself with Herzberg’s hygiene theory, McGregor’s X and Y theories and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Although these theories date back some years, they are still valid today. Consult a digest to gain a basic understanding of their main principles; it will be invaluable for building a climate of honesty, openness, and trust.

2.What Motivates You?
Determine which factors are important to you in your working life and how they interact. What has motivated you and demotivated you in the past?

Understand the differences between real, longer-term motivators and short-term spurs.

3. Find Out What Your People Want From Work
People may want more status, higher pay, better working conditions, and flexible benefits. But find out what really motivates your employees by asking them in performance appraisals, attitude surveys, and informal conversations what they want most from their jobs.

Do people want, for example:

* more interesting work?
* more efficient bosses?
* more opportunity to see the end result of their work?
* greater participation?
* greater recognition?
* greater challenge?
* more opportunities for development?

4. Walk the Job
Every day, 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 ideas as to how employees’ work could be improved, don’t shout them out, but help them to find their way instead. Earn respect by setting an example; it is not necessary to be able do everything better than your staff. Make it clear what levels of support employees can expect.

5. Remove Demotivators
Identify factors that demotivate staff - they may be physical (buildings, equipment) or psychological (boredom, unfairness, barriers to promotion, lack of recognition). Some of them can be dealt with quickly and easily; others require more planning and time to work through. The fact that you are concerned to find out what is wrong and do something about it is in itself a motivator.

6. Demonstrate Support
Whether your working culture is one that clamps down on mistakes and penalizes error or a more tolerant one that espouses mistakes as learning opportunities, your staff need to understand the kind and levels of support they can expect. Motivation practice and relationship building often falter because staff do not feel they are receiving adequate support.

7. Be Wary of Cash Incentives
Many people say they are working for money and claim in conversation that their fringe benefits are an incentive. But money actually comes 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 to use their potential more effectively.

8. Decide on an 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 work, reward, promotion, training and development, and participation.

9. Manage Change
Adopting policies is one thing, implementing them is another. If poor 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 designed to be 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 change - you can begin to expect commitment and ownership along with the adaptation and compromise that will occur naturally.

10.Understand Learning Preferences
Change involves learning. In their Manual of Learning Styles (1992), Peter Honey and Alan Mumford distinguish four basic styles of learning:

* activists: like to get involved in new experiences, problems, or opportunities. They’re not too happy sitting back, observing, and being impartial;
* theorists: are comfortable with concepts and theory. They don’t like being thrown in at the deep end without apparent purpose or reason;
* reflectors: like to take their time and think things through. They don’t like being pressured into rushing from one thing to another;
* pragmatists: need a link between the subject matter and the job in hand. They learn best when they can test things out.

As each of us learns with different styles, preferences, and approaches, your people will respond best to stimuli and suggestions that take account of the way they do things best.

11. 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.

More Tips: Dos and Don’ts For Motivating Your Staff in a Time of Change
Do:

* Recognize that you don’t have all the answers.
* Take time to find out what makes others tick and show genuine caring.
* Lead, encourage, and guide staff - don’t force them.
* Tell your staff what you think.

Don’t:

* Don’t make assumptions about what drives others.
* Don’t assume others are like you.
* Don’t force people into things that are supposedly good for them.
* Don’t neglect the need for inspiration.
* Don’t delegate work — delegate responsibility.