The asset called employee contd' - Motivation

It is not difficult to differentiate between a job done by a motivated and a non-motivated employee. Lack of motivation can hardly be compensated even by the most of experience there is. Sooner rather than later the sings of ignorance and apathy will be show on the job done.

In contrary when we are dealing with a motivated team, the sky is the limit, even if the sky is actually never really reached.

While there are many elements to it, I found that there are three major things that make or break employee motivation:

1. 1. Job security – How much effort you’d put in a work knowing you might not be around next month, or next year to witness the consequences. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean a job for life and that you cannot be dismissed even if you are clearly not doing your best to perform. I mean an environment where team members are not sent away without a clear explanation, where before somebody is sent away is given clear messages about his performance and given the chance to change and improve, where if somebody is fired there is subsequent communication to the team on explaining the main reasons (without discrediting the ex-employee) of his/her departure.
2. Sense of direction and progress – it is difficult to push hard without knowing what are you pushing for. Letting people know where is that they should be heading and how is that relevant for the team progress as a whole, is key. Same as the appraisal of where we are on our route to those goals (or where we think we are).
3. Recognition and reward – even the best steering can only get you that far without the fuel for the engine. A pet on your back can do much more than most managers think. Let alone some modest but clear words of praise (avoid being cheese, that sometimes does more harm than good, especially in front of peers). Finally a good asset’s worth and paycheck has to be in balance. You cannot defy the market value for too long (some employees are mastering this skill though.)

Notice, I put the money in the third group. Not that I would not welcome a raise and it would not improve my motivation, but in general there is a whole lot that can be achieved before giving a pay raise. Provided the other conditions (job security, sense of direction and progress and recognition) were not met before.  You would often hear people saying that “I am a mercenary and I am here for the money but…” this and that…

I always take this with a grain of salt. The explanations that usually follow relates to elements under 1 and/or 2. Obviously this might not apply to everybody but in my experience of working with superiors or team members, they typically proved to be the reasons for lack of motivation. What about you?

Photo by: Helder Almeida