By Jason De Boer

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.

By Susan M. Heathfield

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.

Want to Know What’s Most Important About Motivating Employees?
From Business: The Ultimate Resource

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.

By Susan M. Heathfield

Minimize Rules and Policies
Every person is motivated. The challenge at work is to create an environment in which people are motivated about work priorities. Too often, organizations fail to pay attention to the employee relations, communication, recognition, and involvement issues that are most important to people. The first step in creating a motivating work environment is to stop taking actions that are guaranteed to demotivate people. Identify and take the actions that will motivate people. It’s a balancing act. Employers walk a fine line between meeting the needs of the organization and its customers and meeting the needs of its internal staff. Do both well and thrive.

An attention-getting Gallup Poll about disengaged employees was highlighted in a recent Wall Street Journal. Gallup found 19 percent of 1,000 people interviewed “actively disengaged” at work. These workers complain that they don’t have the tools they need to do their jobs. They don’t know what is expected of them. Their bosses don’t listen to them.
Based on these interviews and survey data from its consulting practice, Gallup says actively disengaged workers cost employers $292 billion to $355 billion a year. Furthermore, Gallup concluded that disengaged workers miss more days of work and are less loyal to employers. With this in mind, let’s look at a couple of areas in which balance is critically needed for employee motivation in organizations today. Rules and Policies
Want to be a cop? That’s how some supervisors feel in organizations that operate on the assumption that people are untrustworthy. You’ve seen the company handbooks that list pages and pages of rules. Step out of line? Fifty-seven potential infractions, with resultant punishment, are listed on page 74. Need time off for your grandma’s funeral? You get three paid days off to travel 600 miles. Have a question? We have answers. In fact, we’ve got policies that answer almost every question.

Supervisory discretion? What’s that? We’ve got employees who, left to their own devices, will choose to do bad things. You can’t trust supervisors to treat employees fairly and consistently either. John in Accounting is a softy. People who work for him get away with anything, everything. If you work for Beth in Sales however, you can count on the rulebook guiding every decision.

Sound familiar? I‘ve heard these reasons and many more to justify the need for hundreds of rules and policies in organizations.

Guidelines for a Motivating Work Environment

* Make only the minimum number of rules and policies needed to protect your organization legally and create order in the work place.

* Publish the rules and policies and educate all employees.

* With the involvement of many employees, identify organizational values and write value statements and a professional code of conduct.

* Develop guidelines for supervisors and educate them about the fair and consistent application of the few rules and policies.

* Address individual dysfunctional behaviors on a “need-to” basis with counseling, progressive discipline, and performance improvement plans.

* Clearly communicate work place expectations and guidelines for professional behavior.

Helpful Hints for Employee Motivation

* Solicit employee feedback on potential policies, areas in which policies are needed, and so on. (Do not, as one company did recently, announce a new attendance policy by posting it on a bulletin board.)

* If you decide to adhere to and hold employees accountable for an existing policy, don’t ambush your company members. If you have not enforced the policy in the past, meet with employees and explain the policy, the intent of the policy, why the policy is necessary, and why it was not enforced in the past. Then, tell everyone that following the meeting, everyone is accountable for adherence to the policy.

* You’ll be surprised how much support for legitimate policies and rules you receive from the people in your organization. People like a well-organized work place in which expectations are clear. People thrive in a work place in which all employees live by the same rules.

If you create an environment that is viewed as fair and consistent, you give people little to push against. You open up a space in which people are focused on contribution and productive activities rather than gossip, unrest, and unhappiness. Which workplace would you choose?

Find a second factor in employee motivation: involving people.

Involve People

In one university department, a committee of ten people met for several months and then recommended space use to their dean. He had formed the committee, provided guidelines, and requested their feedback. Talking to a committee member several months after they submitted their recommendations, I was informed they had never received any feedback about their work.

They had repeatedly asked for feedback and decisions but received none. They felt as if their recommendations had gone into a dark hole, never to be seen again. Demotivated? You bet. These staff members are loath to volunteer for another committee in the future, as well. Fool me once, poor me; fool me twice …

Most people want involvement in decisions that affect their work. Some may not want the final accountability. Ask why. Have people been punished for decisions they made in the past? Have organization leaders provided the time, tools, and information needed to make good decisions? Or have people made decisions that were over-ridden by their managers?

Does the clear expectation for employee involvement exist in your workplace? Are the people who make decisions and contribute ideas rewarded and recognized? These are critical questions if you want involved, motivated employees.

Make Employee Involvement a Plus in Employee Motivation

Too often employee involvement is a bad word. People think of employee involvement as something that is done aside from their “real” work in your organization. The best employee involvement does not require teams, special committees, and suggestion boxes.

It is the expectation that people are competent to make decisions about their work every single day on the job. Teams and committees allow broad participation from all people who may “own” a particular work process or procedure. They are not the backbone of employee involvement in your organization.

Find Guidelines for a Work Environment That Emphasizes Employee Motivation.

Use these tips to create a work environment that emphasizes employee motivation through employee involvement.

* Express the expectation that people make decisions that will improve their work.

* Reward and recognize the people who make decisions about and improvements in their work as heroes.

* Make certain employees know and understand your organization’s mission, vision, values, goals, and guidelines so they can funnel their involvement in appropriate directions. Education, communication, measurement feedback and coaching keep employee involvement from becoming a free-for-all.

* Never punish a thoughtful decision. You can coach and counsel and provide training and information following the decision. Don’t undermine the employee’s confidence that you are truly supportive of her involvement.

* If you are a supervisor and people come to you continually to ask permission and receive instructions about their work, ask yourself this question. What am I doing that makes people believe they must come to me for each decision or permission? You are probably communicating a mixed message which confuses people about your real intentions.

When an employee comes to you, ask him what he thinks he should do in the situation. Assuming his response is reasonable, tell him his approach sounds fine and that he doesn’t need to consult with you about this type of decision in the future.

If you can assist the employee to find a better answer, act as a consultant without taking the monkey onto your own shoulders. You will reinforce his belief in his own decision making ability. You also reinforce his belief that you are telling the truth about trusting his competency.

* If you see an employee embark on a course of action you know will fail or cause a problem for a customer, intervene as a coach. Ask good questions that help the individual find a better approach. Never allow a person to fail to “teach her a lesson.”

Helpful Hints

* If you already know what you will do in a particular situation, don’t solicit ideas and feedback. You insult your employees, create an atmosphere of distrust, and guarantee unrest, unhappiness, and low motivation in your workplace. If you are genuinely open to ideas and feedback, your employees will know. It is not so much what you say as what you do that communicates your wishes and intentions to them.

* If you are not open to feedback, step back and ask yourself, “Why?” Almost any decision is improved with feedback and input. Even more importantly, the people who have to live with or implement the decision will own the decision. This ownership creates motivation and channels energy in the directions that will help your organization succeed.

* Examine your beliefs about people. The majority of people do not get up in the morning and come to work with the intention of causing problems. How many people do you know who want to go home at the end of a work day feeling as if they failed all day? Not many, if any.

When you experience a problem at work, ask yourself the Dr. W. Edwards Deming-attributed question, “What about the work system caused this person to fail?” You’ll be happy you took this approach when employees problem solve rather than pointing fingers and placing blame.

I’ve covered two critical aspects about creating a work environment in which people will choose to contribute and succeed. Workplaces that are successful in fostering employee motivation strike a balance between needed policies and rule overkill.

They create the expectation for employee involvement. They give employees control over decisions that affect their work without turning the workplace into a free-for-all.

These work environments are perceived as fair and structured just enough for perceived emotional safety. At the same time, your more courageous employees feel unfettered and encouraged in their efforts to make a difference. Set them free.

Remove the barriers that discourage work place motivation. Consequent actions and motivation displayed by ordinary people will amaze and gratify you. Can it get any better than this?

By Chris Widener

Fear, Incentives and Growth

Zig Ziglar says that there are three main ways to motivate people in general and employees specifically. They are fear, incentives and growth. Let’s take a look at each one.

Fear
This is not good. Number one, it isn’t right, and number two, it doesn’t work well in the long run and isn’t good for the overall health of the organization. Yet, still there are people who use it. They make blatant or veiled threats in order to get people to work. There is a better way.

Incentives
John Maxwell says that “What gets rewarded, gets done.” This is the technique that says, “If you do this, then you will get this.” The problem Ziglar sees, and I concur, is that people will be led this way for a while, and it will surely be profitable and productive. Yet eventually, most people come to the end of being driven by incentive. This is because most people are innately driven by something even deeper.

Growth
Personal growth. Do you ever wonder how the personal growth industry has gotten so huge? It is because it scratches an itch that lies within each person. Every person has within them, a desire to get better.

Now, obviously, some are more in tune with that desire than others, but each person has it, and it can a great motivating factor.

First, here is how it doesn’t work. You don’t say “If you do this, then I will give you a personal growth opportunity.” That is still incentive.

Here is how it does work: You simply make it a core value of your business or organization that management will give regular opportunity for personal and professional growth to all members of the staff.

I say both personal and professional growth very purposely. There will always be the opportunity and need for professional growth, and the employees expect that. They may or may not appreciate it though.

However, personal growth opportunities, given with no strings attached, will be appreciated, and rewarded with ultra-motivated employees. Here are some simple ideas:

A “Family Library” stocked with books and tapes that help them in their family life.
A Financial Resources section.
Any kind of Development Seminar that will benefit the employee.
Days off to pursue personal development opportunities.

Invest in your employee’s personal growth and they will reward you with high motivation!

By Ed Sykes

Providing outstanding customer service is one of the most rewarding yet challenging activities within your organization. Exceptional organizations that provide outstanding customer service will experience the following benefits:

* Increased customer satisfaction

* Increased revenues

* Increased repeat and referral customer traffic

* Less employee turnover

* Increased profits

So how do we support and motivate our customer service team to give outstanding customer service? The following are six secrets to motivate your customer service team to give exceptional customer service to your customers:

1. Provide Ongoing Learning – It’s important that you not only provide training on organizational policies and technology, but also how to handle customers. Create an ongoing system for training and feedback. Request continuous feedback and have the “courage to listen” to your customer service team’s responses. Your customer service team members, because they are on the frontline, can provide you with excellent information on how to service your customer. Market conditions are changing all the time and the one piece of information your customer service team can share with you can make the difference between success and failure. After receiving the information from your customer service rep, if necessary, provide the training to your customer service team so that they can provide outstanding customer service.

2.Adjust the Attitude – Constantly work on your own attitude and your team’s attitude to providing outstanding customer service. As a customer service leader, always be aware of the tone you set and how your customer service team will be motivated by your attitude. If you are upbeat, your team will follow the lead and provide outstanding customer service. If you have a negative attitude, your customer service team will follow your lead and communicate this negative attitude to the customers they serve.

Work with your customer service team members to create a positive attitude in the following ways:

* Look at every customer service experience as a learning experience that is preparing them for future opportunities.
* Put your team in the customer’s shoes to understand the customer’s “pain” and create empathy for outstanding customer service solutions
* Have your customer service team take on the persona of a positive individual they admire to help them through a difficult customer service situation.
*Create “positive triggers” to remind your customer service team why it is important to give outstanding service. Your trigger could be as simple as a family picture or a picture of an item (new car, home, etc.) that is important to you.

3. Give Incentives – Motivate your customer service team by giving incentives based on meeting your organization’s mission, goals, and values. Be timely, fair, and public with your incentives. Also, when putting together an incentive program, ask your customer service team what they would like as incentives. Many times organizations will invest thousands of dollars on incentives which are not the ones their customer service team wants. Just ask!

4. Show Appreciation – Appreciate to motivate your customer service team as much as possible. Remember, many times they are facing very challenging customer service situations everyday. Keep them motivated by sharing your appreciation in a timely, sincere, fair, and encouraging way. For more detail on this, go to my article, Appreciate to Motivate, on my website. By consistently showing appreciation, you will motivate your customer service team to excel when it is most difficult for them to do so.

5.Support Outstanding Customer Service – Support and motivate your customer service team in a number of ways. You can support and motivate your customer service team by making sure the technology supports them and the customers. For example, I recently called my internet broadband company about a mistake on a bill. The automated system disconnected my call five times before I finally spoke with a customer service representative; and I told him that he must experience many upset customers if they experience the same. The customer service representative agreed and said it made his job very difficult.

Support your customer service team by “cheer leading” their concerns to upper management. Champion their concerns to upper management and let your customer service team know the progress of each concern.

6. Keep High Standards - Support and motivate your customer service team by keeping standards high for customer service. When your organization is facing challenging times, it is very tempting to lower standards. That’s the last action you should take. By lowering standards, you decrease customer satisfaction, increase customer service turnover, and muddy your organization’s name in the marketplace.

Apply these customer service motivation secrets with your customer service team and you will have highly motivated customer service teams and happy customers, and your organization’s bottom line will increase.

By Bob Nelson

It’s the one employee incentive any small company can afford

You’ve read the management books. You’ve heard more than enough about empowerment, teamwork, and so forth. But there’s just one problem: in the day-to-day rush of running a small company, keeping your staff motivated takes a backseat to managing crises and making sales.

Sound familiar? If it does, you’re not alone. Too many small-business owners don’t make time for the one employee incentive that will never break the company budget: timely, honest praise of workers who do well. Research has shown that appreciation from managers is one of the incentives workers want most. For example, Gerald Graham, dean of the business school at Wichita State University, found in one study that employees rated personal thanks from a manager for a job well done as the most motivating of a variety of incentives offered. Unfortunately, 58% of the workers in Graham’s study said their managers didn’t typically give such thanks.

Your employees don’t have to be like that 58%. It is tricky to make time to recognize your staff during a hectic day. But I’ve seen even busy entrepreneurs find ways to make praising employees part of their regular work habits. Here are some easy techniques you can try; one of them is bound to fit your management style.

Make people a part of your “to do” list. This approach works particularly well for no-nonsense executive types who like to focus on getting things done. Just add the names of the people who report to you to your weekly to-do list. Then cross them off when you’re able to praise those employees — because you catch them “doing something right” in accordance with their performance goals. Hyler Bracey, president and CEO of the 46-employee Atlanta Consulting Group, developed another, similar method that he used until praising became part of his routine. Bracey placed five coins in his pocket each day. During the day, he’d transfer a coin to his other pocket every time he recognized an employee for good work. That technique helped Bracey make praise a habit.

Write notes at the end of the day. I learned this tip from Steve Wittert, president of Paragon Steakhouse Restaurants, based in San Diego. Wittert finds that his days are so busy that he seldom can take time out to recognize his staff. Instead, he keeps a stack of note cards on his desk, and when the pace slows at the end of the day, he takes a few minutes to jot personal notes to the individuals who made a difference that day.

Let technology help you. Instead of using voice mail just to assign tasks to employees, try leaving voice messages to praise them. You can do that from your car phone as you commute home after work, reflecting on the day’s events and the people who were especially helpful to you. You can go even further: I recently heard about one company that had created an “Applause” bulletin board on its electronic-mail system. On that bulletin board anyone can post a thank-you to another person in the company.

Practice group recognition. Try starting your staff meetings by reading a letter of thanks or praise from a customer. Create a “wall of fame” to show appreciation for top achievers — or to post any good news in the organization. Create a “successful projects” scrapbook that depicts employee teams and their accomplishments. Then exhibit the book prominently in your lobby.

If all else fails, delegate. Let’s face it: some people just aren’t comfortable giving warm and fuzzy recognition to others. If you’re that type, accept the fact — and delegate the responsibility to someone else. There’s probably another key employee on your staff who excels at making people feel good. Make employee recognition a formal part of his or her job description. Then get on to the work you do best.

How to praise effectively

Some managers recognize employees naturally and easily; others don’t. If you find giving praise awkward, remember these tips:

Be prompt. Positive reinforcement is much more effective when it comes soon after the desired behavior is displayed.

Be sincere. Sure, praise is great — -but if it’s not sincere, don’t bother. You’ll only sound manipulative.

Be specific. Avoid generalities in favor of the details of the achievement. Then employees know what specifically to do again.

Be positive. Sound obvious? Too many managers undercut praise with a concluding note of criticism. When you say something like, “You did a great job on this report, but there were quite a few typos,” the but verbally erases all that came before. Save the corrective feedback for another time.

By Susan M. Heathfield

Every person has different reasons for working. The reasons for working are as individual as the person. But, we all work because we obtain something that we need from work. The something obtained from work impacts morale, employee motivation, and the quality of life. To create positive employee motivation, treat employees as if they matter - because employees matter. These ideas will help you fulfill what people want from work and create employee motivation.

1. What People Want From Work
Some people work for personal fulfillment; others work for love of what they do. Others work to accomplish goals and to feel as if they are contributing to something larger than themselves. The bottom line is that we all work for money and for reasons too individual to assign similarities to all workers.

2. How to Demonstrate Respect at Work
Ask anyone in your workplace what treatment they most want at work. They will likely top their list with the desire to be treated with dignity and respect. You can demonstrate respect with simple, yet powerful actions. These ideas will help you avoid needless, insensitive, unmeant disrespect, too. Read more about respect.

3. Provide Feedback That Has an Impact
Make your feedback have the impact it deserves by the manner and approach you use to deliver feedback. Your feedback can make a difference to people if you can avoid a defensive response.

4. Top Ten Ways to Show Appreciation
You can tell your colleagues, coworkers and staff how much you value them and their contribution any day of the year. Trust me. No occasion is necessary. In fact, small surprises and tokens of your appreciation spread throughout the year help the people in your work life feel valued all year long.

5. Trust Rules: The Most Important Secret
Without it, you have nothing. Trust forms the foundation for effective communication, employee retention, and employee motivation and contribution of discretionary energy, the extra effort that people voluntarily invest in work. When trust is present, everything else is easier.

6. Provide Motivational Employee Recognition
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 yet were not selected; or sought votes or other personalized, subjective criteria to determine winners.

7. Employee Recognition Rocks
Employee recognition is limited in most organizations. Employees complain about the lack of recognition regularly. Managers ask, “Why should I recognize or thank him? He’s just doing his job.” And, life at work is busy, busy, busy. These factors combine to create work places that fail to provide recognition for employees. Managers who prioritize employee recognition understand the power of recognition.

8. Top Ten Ways to Retain Your Great Employees
Key employee retention is critical to the long term health and success of your business. Managers readily agree that their role is key in retaining your best employees to ensure business success. If managers can cite this fact so well, why do many behave in ways that so frequently encourage great employees to quit their job? Here are ten more tips for employee retention.

9. Team Building and Delegation: How and When to Empower People
Employee involvement is creating an environment in which people have an impact on decisions and actions that affect their jobs. Team building occurs when the manager knows when to tell, sell, consult, join, or delegate to staff. For employee involvement and empowerment, both team building and delegation rule.

10. Build a Mentoring Culture
What does it take to develop people? More than writing “equal opportunity” into your organization’s mission statement. More than sending someone to a training class. More than hard work on the part of employees. What development does take is people who are willing to listen and help their colleagues. Development takes coaches, guides and advocates. People development needs mentors.

By Susan M. Heathfield

Working at Google sounds very cool. I’d be the first to tout Google as a motivating employer: free food, engineers who are enabled to spend 20 percent of their time on their own projects, and a work environment that fosters play and creative thinking. At Google, Genentech and other Fortune magazine top 100 companies, employers provide the best workplaces. At the same time, perks that enable employees to spend all of their time at work exploit people and destroy work - life balance. So, even the best employer may not be best for everyone. These are the factors that will help you find happiness at work.

1. Choose to Be Happy at Work
Happiness is largely a choice. I can hear many of you arguing with me, but it’s true. You can choose to be happy at work. Sound simple? Yes. But, simplicity is often profoundly difficult to put into action. I wish all of you had the best employer in the world, but, face it, you may not. So, think positively about your work. Dwell on the aspects of your work you like. Avoid negative people and gossip. Find coworkers you like and enjoy and spend your time with them. Your choices at work largely define your experience. You can choose to be happy at work.

2. Do Something You Love Every Single Day
You may or may not love your current job and you may or may not believe that you can find something in your current job to love, but you can. Trust me. Take a look at yourself, your skills and interests, and find something that you can enjoy doing every day. If you do something you love every single day, your current job won’t seem so bad. Of course, you can always make your current job work or decide that it is time to quit your job.

3. Take Charge of Your Own Professional and Personal Development
A young employee complained to me recently that she wanted to change jobs because her boss was not doing enough to help her develop professionally. I asked her whom she thought was the person most interested in her development. The answer, of course, was her. You are the person with the most to gain from continuing to develop professionally. Take charge of your own growth; ask for specific and meaningful help from your boss, but march to the music of your personally developed plan and goals. You have the most to gain from growing - and the most to lose, if you stand still.

4. Take Responsibility for Knowing What Is Happening at Work
People complain to me daily that they don’t receive enough communication and information about what is happening with their company, their department’s projects, or their coworkers. Passive vessels, they wait for the boss to fill them up with knowledge. And, the knowledge rarely comes. Why? Because the boss is busy doing her job and she doesn’t know what you don’t know. Seek out the information you need to work effectively. Develop an information network and use it. Assertively request a weekly meeting with your boss and ask questions to learn. You are in charge of the information you receive.

5. Ask for Feedback Frequently
Have you made statements such as, “My boss never gives me any feedback, so I never know how I’m doing.” Face it, you really know exactly how you’re doing. Especially if you feel positively about your performance, you just want to hear him acknowledge you. If you’re not positive about your work, think about improving and making a sincere contribution. Then, ask your boss for feedback. Tell him you’d really like to hear his assessment of your work. Talk to your customers, too; if you’re serving them well, their feedback is affirming. You are responsible for your own development. Everything else you get is gravy.

6. Make Only Commitments You Can Keep
One of the most serious causes of work stress and unhappiness is failing to keep commitments. Many employees spend more time making excuses for failing to keep a commitment, and worrying about the consequences of not keeping a commitment, than they do performing the tasks promised. Create a system of organization and planning that enables you to assess your ability to complete a requested commitment. Don’t volunteer if you don’t have time. If your workload is exceeding your available time and energy, make a comprehensive plan to ask the boss for help and resources. Don’t wallow in the swamp of unkept promises.

7. Avoid Negativity
Choosing to be happy at work means avoiding negative conversations, gossip, and unhappy people as much as possible. No matter how positively you feel, negative people have a profound impact on your psyche. Don’t let the negative Neds and Nellies bring you down. Take a look at:

* How to Deal With a Negative Coworker: Negativity Matters.
* Dealing With Difficult People at Work.

8. Practice Professional Courage
If you are like most people, you don’t like conflict. And the reason why is simple. You’ve never been trained to participate in meaningful conflict, so you likely think of conflict as scary, harmful, and hurtful. Conflict can be all three; done well, conflict can also help you accomplish your work mission and your personal vision. Conflict can help you serve customers and create successful products. Happy people accomplish their purpose for working. Why let a little professional courage keep you from achieving your goals and dreams? Make conflict your friend.

9. Make Friends
In their landmark book, First, Break All The Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently (Compare Prices), Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman list twelve important questions. When employees answered these questions positively, their responses were true indicators of whether people were happy and motivated at work. One of these key questions was, “Do you have a best friend at work?” Liking and enjoying your coworkers are hallmarks of a positive, happy work experience. Take time to get to know them. You might actually like and enjoy them. Your network provides support, resources, sharing, and caring.

10. If All Else Fails, Job Searching Will Make You Smile
If all of these ideas aren’t making you happy at work, it’s time to reevaluate your employer, your job, or your entire career. You don’t want to spend your life doing work you hate in an unfriendly work environment. Most work environments don’t change all that much. But unhappy employees tend to grow even more disgruntled. You can secretly smile while you spend all of your non-work time job searching. It will only be a matter of time until you can quit your job - with a big smile.

by Jason Gracia

Managers around the world are committing a fatal error that is depriving their people and companies of improvement, progress, and success. While very few know of the dilemma, its solution is the most important and powerful principle that any coach or manager will ever learn.

Imagine stepping into an enormous kitchen overflowing with uncooked meals and desserts. All of the necessary ingredients for a countless assortment of dinners are there - you simply have to prepare them.

Now imagine preparing and cooking them in identically the same way. It doesn’t matter what meal you are dealing with - you follow one set of instructions without fail.

Perhaps your favorite meal is a thick and juicy hamburger. If you’re actually preparing and cooking a hamburger, you’re right on track. But what if you’re dealing with ice cream sandwiches. How well do you think throwing some ice cream onto a grill would work? Trying to flip it so both side get evenly cooked?

The Greatest Management Mistake
Preparing and cooking ice cream in the same manner as a hamburger would obviously result in failure. You can’t treat all ingredients and meals as the same thing - they are all different, requiring different methods and techniques to achieve their particular result.

The greatest management mistake should be painfully clear: many managers treat all employees as the same assortment of ingredients trying to motivate them toward greater success using one cookie-cutter approach.

Just as failure results from throwing ice cream on a grill, so too will a manager fail in inspiring his people if he attempts to do so using a single method.

The people on your team are as different as baked beans and apple pie. They each work from a unique set of motivators, responding to some with excited action and others with boredom or even anger.

It’s up to you to discover what drives each one of your team members. What elements excite them? What elements turn them off? It may take a little time and concerted effort on your part, but uncovering the powerful motivators that drive your people will be the best thing you can do for you and your team.

Remember, you may respond to financial rewards or incentives, but that doesn’t mean everyone on your team will share your sentiments. Listen to your people. Recognize and utilize their motivators. You are dealing with a wide assortment of ingredients, and following this principle will allow you to prepare each one with amazing success.