70% of your employees are less motivated today than
they used to be.
80% of your employees could perform
significantly better if they wanted to.
50% of your employees only put enough effort into their work to keep
their job.
Is this the way you want it to be at your company? Did you know that
all your employees are capable of an unlimited
supply of motivation? Think of one or two people in your organization that
appear to have more energy, higher output, and more enthusiasm for their work
than all your other employees combined. Perhaps it is you! Have you ever
wondered why everyone else does not feel as motivated as you do? After all, you
are not asking them to come in 2 hours early or stay 2 hours late, all you want
is for them to give that little extra customer service, smile instead of frown,
and not complain so much. How do you get your employees to give that little
extra that goes so far in making your customers satisfied?
Does your company offer a great health plan, a 401k-retirement plan, and four
weeks of vacation each year and you are still obtaining less than stellar
performance from your employees? Well, you have just discovered that a great
benefits package, vacation, and even a salary increase are not human
motivators. Benefits, vacation, and salary are employee retainers and not employee motivators. A company offers these
benefits in order to attract and retain talented workers. Take a look at any
company and you will find that the more valuable the employee is to the company,
the more valuable their benefits packages will become.
Okay,
you have convinced me! I will not try to motivate my employees by giving them
extra vacation or benefits. My company does offer employees free use of the
company car on weekends, a bimonthly drawing for a designated parking spot, and
even a free pizza every Friday afternoon. Will these activities provide the
company with highly motivated employees? Unfortunately no, the above activities
are called employee morale boosters. They
are designed to raise the morale of employees so that they feel good about the
company they work for. Morale boosters do not increase motivation because they
are not directly tied to an increase in performance. An employee with good
morale is not necessary a motivated employee. For example, an employee that
comes to work and spends one or two hours each day socializing may have great
morale, but will also have the worst production levels of any employee in the
department.
If a great benefit package will not motivate an employee, and a designated
parking spot with their name stenciled in gold will not motivate an employee,
what will? Okay, let me provide you with some good news, but before I do so,
answer this question. In order to motivate your employees do you change the
employee or the organization in which the employee works?
Change the Employee or Change the Organization
The employees who work for your company are naturally motivated. All you
need to do is to utilize their natural ability, which you can do without
spending a dime. That's right! No money. In fact, money can actually decrease
an employee's motivation and performance. The first step in utilizing your
employees' natural abilities is to eliminate your organization's negative
practices that zap away their natural
motivation. The second step your organization can take is to develop true motivators, which can spark all your
employees into being motivated. By decreasing negative zapping de-motivators
and by adding true motivators, you will tap into your employees' natural
motivation. Your employees' natural motivation relies on the fact that all
people have human desires for affiliation,
achievement, and for control and power over their work. In addition, they have
desires for ownership, competence, recognition, and meaning in their work.
The following is a list of ten motivation zapping
organizational behaviors that will de-motivate your employees.
·
Create an atmosphere
full of company politics.
·
Develop unclear
expectations regarding your employees' performance.
·
Create a lot of
unnecessary rules for employees to follow.
·
Plan unproductive
meetings for employees to attend.
·
Promote internal
competition between employees.
·
Withhold information
critical for employees to perform their work.
·
Provide criticism
instead of constructive feedback.
·
Tolerate poor
performance so your high performing employees feel taken advantage of.
·
Treat employees
unfairly.
·
Underutilize the
capability of your employees.
The following are examples of true
motivators that will help your employees tap into their natural ability
to be motivated. Remember; implement these true motivators without spending
money. Instead of focusing on money, focus on how you can make some changes
within your organization.
·
If your employees do
routine work add some fun and variety to their routine.
·
Provide employees
with input and choice in how they do their work.
·
Encourage
responsibility and leadership opportunities within your company.
·
Promote social
interaction and teamwork between employees.
·
Tolerate learning
errors by avoiding harsh criticism.
·
Promote job
ownership.
·
Develop goals and
challenges for all employees.
·
Provide lots of
encouragement.
·
Make appreciation
part of your repertoire.
·
Develop measurement
that shows performance increase.
By eliminating de-motivators and adding in no cost motivators you are tapping
into your employees' natural human desires
to perform at their maximum level of motivation and productivity. The following
are the human desires that you are tapping into.
·
Desire for activity
·
Desire for ownership
·
Desire for power
·
Desire for
affiliation
·
Desire for
competence
·
Desire for
achievement
·
Desire for
recognition
·
Desire for meaning
That's it! Remember; don't work to change one individual at a time.
Work to change your organization to decrease the de-motivators and thereby
increase your employees’ natural ability to self motivates them.