I often encounter business managers who are perplexed with how to keep their employees engaged and motivated.
I enjoy coaching managers on this topic, largely because I came from the floor as an operator a long time ago. That experience has given me a "unique perspective" -- I understand how the average "employee" views his/her employment experience.
Some Lessons Learned
- I learned how management a lot of times talks AT the employees, rather than TO the employees. What a difference it makes when you talk to your employees, and ask them what they know, what they like, what they want, and what they would change!
- I learned how efficient the good old fashioned "rumor mill" is when it comes to passing information along. Good managers recognize that the best antedote to gossip and rumors is to keep the employees informed and "in the know" as much as possible.
- I also learned how important the "small stuff" really is to the employees. Fixing a "small mistake" on an employee's paycheck may seem to be a hassle and a low-priority compared to all the other things that need your immediate attention, but the employee counts on his paycheck to be accurate and correct every time. He banks on that money to be there on-time. Fixing that little error immediately makes you a hero in his eyes.
You Can't Push a Rope!
Here's some advice for those of you who are struggling with getting your employees engaged and motivated. You can't MAKE someone work; you have to make him "Want To" work.
Sure, you can stand over him all day long, and he'll work while you're standing there. But as soon as your back is turned, he will goof off. Why? Because you haven't focused on what makes him WANT TO work.
Mildred Ramsey, author of The Super Supervisor stated:
"An employee has 3 dimensions: His Hands, His Heart and His Mind."
Let me let you in on a little secret...His "WANT TO" is not in his hands! It's in his mind and in his heart. If you engage is heart and his mind, you'll engage his "WANT TO." He will work at an unbelievable pace and quality if he "WANTS TO."
Typically, management is more interested in what their employees are DOING, and less interested in what they are FEELING or THINKING. If you are only engaging the employees' hands, you have only 1/3rd of his potential!
If the boss doesn't consider his peoples' feelings in his day-to-day dealings with them, their HEARTS won't be in their work. If the boss doesn't even consider their INTELLIGENCE, they will not be interested in their jobs. The result will be poor job performance every time.
Summary:
The principles of motivation are really about engaging an employee's "WANT TO" in his everyday work. Next time I'll share with you some practical ways to do this that won't cost you any more time or money, but will reap enormous benefits!
Kathleen Lapekas - PHR
Action HR Consulting
For Personal Attention to Personnel Matters...
I hope small and large businesses alike a taking heed. I so agree with this post. Thanks, Kathleen!
ReplyDeleteGood post Kathleen. I think it is interesting how you often say something like, "you get the employees you deserve." When we had the garden shop, we had some bad employees, who faded off into the sunset but mainly we had GREAT employees and some of them worked for us for many, many years. What was so important to them was the ability to take on more interesting and difficult tasks, and to always be respected. We gave the kids money for prom, turkeys at thanksgiving for their families, and hams at Christmas. They had made that money for us ten-fold over the year and the skills they developed help build our business. When Katie finished her schooling to be a dental assistant, as much as we HATED it, when a local dentist came in the shop and said they were looking for a dental assistant, we gave her the recommendation you can't give on a piece of paper. He hired her 2 days later. We really hated losing her. I mean REALLY hated it. But, she had been our saving grace in the early years. She deserved to move on. It was what she studied for. It was what she deserved. She had grown up, and it was time for her to move onto her new life. I still, 15 years later remember telling her, "I have got this Katie." She was relatively shy then. She turned me around. She was frustrated. She said, "But how will I ever learn?" She was right. On her first day at around 12:30, she asked, when is lunch? We said, “When you have time.” She had worked at GD Ritzy’s previously. They told her when to eat. She was amazed by the trust we had in her to pick a good time to eat. She never let us down. Ever. She wanted a challenge and we tried to rise to the challenge for her. Sometimes it meant we could go home and rest too. Our day started very early in the spring and usually ended late. And she, along with our other great employees, finished tasks that we didn’t ask of them, while we were GONE! I betcha McDonalds doesn’t see a lot of that. She grew from a great teen to a fantastic adult. I hope we helped her get there. Andrew and Sean were 2 other kids that worked for us, and I feel that way about them too. I believe they got something they weren't going to get at some chain store serving food or checking people out at some retail chain. We worked at helping them out of their shells and to problem solve. While big business can't go this far..., small businesses should aspire to it. We made an effort to build these kids up. It made their lives better and from a business perspective, I can’t tell you how many ways it paid off. There are too many to mention. It’s not only the right thing to do, it makes the business so much better off.
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