Motivating Employees Don Tyler, Owner, Tyler & Associates Clarks Hill, IN 47930 Ph: 765-523-3259
[email protected]/www.dontyler.com
I. Motivation vs. Movement Motivation is someone doing what needs to be done, and doing it for their own reasons. Movement is someone doing what needs to be done, but only doing it for someone else’s reasons. Under many circumstances movement is an acceptable method to get tasks completed if motivation is not existent.
II. What you need to know about Motivation: 1.) Motivation is an “inside job”. Few external factors actually motivate people. Motivation comes from within, and as employers we must identify those internal factors and make a connection between the employee’s needs and their work performance. 2.) You can’t motivate any other person. You may MOVE them, but you won’t really MOTIVATE them. What you can do is create an environment where they could be positively motivated and where dis-motivators have been removed. 3.) All people have things that motivate them. The problem is—they may not be positive motivators. The person that chronically comes in late is motivated to sleep late or party too late. The breeding manager that remembers every pitching statistic from the last 10 world series, but can’t remember the conception rate from last month can remember numbers, this person is just motivated more by sports statistics than business numbers. 4.) Not all performance issues are a function of motivation. Performance levels are affected by many factors including; training, teach-ability, competence, self-confidence, previous experiences, maturity, attitude, etc. Someone may have a very high skill level in an area, and yet not be motivated to use that skill. 5.) People do things for their own reasons, not our reasons. If you are trying to motivate people by showing them how YOU will benefit, you won’t motivate them to do better. You need to find something that they see as a benefit to them. Will it make their job more interesting? Will they be considered for a higher paying position? Will there be an increase in their bonus so they can take their spouse out to dinner more often—or buy that new stereo system? Will doing their job better—or a part of their job better—fill a personal need that they have? 6.) If you treat all people the same, you are probably mistreating most of the people. If we aren’t “tuned in” to the individual needs of our people, we won’t maximize our ability to create an environment for them to be motivated.
III. Basic Elements of Motivation (that we can affect):
Self-confidence how you feel about yourself, your skills, and your ability to perform in a variety of situations. Competence is your knowledge, skills and abilities.
“The only way to actually motivate someone with lasting results is build their competence and self-confidence at the same time.” IV. An Action Plan for Affecting Motivation: Build Competence: 1.) Train new people in basic skills. 2.) Explain what you expect of employees and recognize when they accomplish the task. 3.) Have an orientation process that explains the “big picture” of the business and how their tasks fit into the overall performance of the operation. 4.) Teach tasks which must be done in a specific way to be done in a specific way—no creativity allowed for these tasks! Tell them which tasks can be done with a little selfexpression or personal preference. In these tasks, keep them focused on clear results within a given time allotment—rather than on a specific process. 5.) Teach specific/detailed tasks in small “vignettes”—very small sections—that focus on a particular piece of a larger procedure. This is especially true in data entry, animal treatment procedures (i.e. AI or piglet processing) and record keeping. 6.) Recognize when people do something extra or go out of their way to do their job the best way possible. If people don’t feel that anyone noticed extra effort, they will cease putting in extra effort. 7.) Be flexible enough in your training so that people can learn at their own pace. Fastlearners get bored easily if they have to learn at too slow of a pace. 8.) Have a plan for continual training and increasing responsibilities. 9.) Provide cross-training when appropriate. 10.) Review skills and procedures on a regular basis to maintain competency over time. 11.) Set goals for the development of your staff and yourself. Determine production, efficiency and skill levels that you want to achieve by the end of each year or at the end of each evaluation period. Accomplishment can provide great satisfaction.
“People are motivated when they realize that they have more skill and more potential than they thought they did.” Build Self-confidence: 1.) Recognize when a job is done correctly and on time and tell the employee that you noticed and appreciate their effort and skill. 2.) Praise for extra effort and look for times when people go out of their way. 3.) Compliment people and say good things about other staff members. 4.) Focus on the positive aspects of a person’s abilities. 5.) Tell people that they are making progress and learning new skills.
6.) Tell people that you believe in their skills and have faith in their ability to use those skills. 7.) Encourage your staff to praise and compliment other staff members. It’s not just the manager’s job to praise. 8.) Don’t let bad habits continue. Most people are offended if you try to correct behaviors they have been doing wrong for a long time. They would prefer you let them know as soon as possible if they are doing something the “wrong way”. 9.) Correcting the way someone does a task is a part of management. Be certain that as you make corrections you focus on the actual activity and not the person. Avoid words, body language and tonality that indicate anger or impatience. 10.) Recognize the difference between correcting actions and correcting behaviors. Actions can be taught and changed very rapidly, behaviors are a result of habits, and habits take at least 21 days of continually doing it a different way to completely change the behavior. 11.) Keep a positive attitude and atmosphere while training and improving competence. 12.) Don’t pass out blame—focus on solving problems and achieving the overall production targets. 13.) Increase your belief that things will go well, that all situations are manageable and that people want to do their best job. 14.) Don’t forget how much the trainer’s attitude has to do with the attitude of the trainee. 15.) Remember—it’s all right to be enthusiastic! Build competence and self-confidence at the same time. As you are training people in new skills, help build their self-confidence by encouraging them, helping them modify their behaviors and activities, and developing a sense of teamwork. V. Other Considerations Concerning Motivation: 1.) People are more apt to believe that they “can”, if other people would quit telling them that they “can’t.” 2.) Look at your work environment with an open mind and try to identify things that can be dis-motivators to the staff. Here are some possibilities: Equipment in poor repair. Lack of interest in your employee’s personal circumstances. Inconsistent company policies. “Orders” from “higher up” in the organization which are illogical or impractical. A perception that promotions are based on politics or favoritism more that competence and performance. Inconsistent application of discipline or company policy. Lack of support from people in key decision-making roles. Comments from managers or supervisors that portray laborers as “the little people” or as insignificant to the operation. Lack of follow-through on statements or promises made by key decision-makers or management staff. A perception of favoritism or preference to some employees over others. Avoiding conflicts and hoping they will just “go away on their own.”
A perception that managers limit the development of their staff to protect their position or preserve their level of authority. Managers that complain about the “negative attitudes” of their staff, and then privately or publicly complain about one employee to another. Evidence that key decision-makers “can’t be trusted.” Managers or supervisors openly complaining that, “We just can’t find any good people these days.” This can make your employees feel they “aren’t any good.” Not dealing with performance problems when they arise. Good employees are dis-motivated when poor performance in other employees is allowed to continue. 3.) Identify the individual motivators of each of your staff members. If you can’t figure out what they are, just ask them!……… What gives you satisfaction in your job? When it comes right down to it, what’s really important to you? What’s the main reason you come to work here every day? Once you determine their motivators, use that information to help them see ways to achieve a higher level of satisfaction through the things that motivate them personally. 4.) If a person admits that they are only there for a paycheck—go with it! Tell them that it’s great that they know why they are working here—not everyone does—at least they know why! Then, find out if it is alright with them for you (as the manager) to have a “paycheck based” relationship with them. From this point on, you’ll focus on what it takes for them to get their paycheck. If promotions or opportunities come up, you won’t consider them because promotions only go to people that will put in extra effort when it is needed. Establish that you appreciate working with them on a “paycheck only” basis, since now you won’t have to be concerned with whether or not they are “happy.” Believe it or not, this can be very powerful—and some people prefer this type of relationship—knowing exactly what they expect of each other. 5.) If employees feel they need something new like a bonus program, a raise, better facilities, new equipment or some other change in the workplace for them to be “more motivated”—ask them some questions to see if that’s really the problem. “Why do you think that those things will make you more motivated?” “Tell me why that is important to you…..” “How will _________ make you more motivated?” Usually, you will find out that they don’t feel appreciated enough, they need more recognition, they feel they work harder than someone else, etc. Typically, when an employee brings this type of solution to you, they haven’t accurately identified the problem—they’ve picked a bandaid solution to the way they feel about their job. Through listening to them and asking questions about their needs, you will find a solution that costs no money, works for a longer period of time, and is more satisfying than what they proposed.
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results” —Albert Einstein—
