Is Your Idea of Motivation a Strong "Drop & Give Me 20!?"

I have to admit I have a tendency to see the best in others.  I like to believe that everyone is doing the best they can with what they know and believe.  That being said, "I've heard some very strange arguments regarding how to motivate employees."  Beyond the heading of "Drop and Give Me 20," here are just a few:

• "Why should I have to motivate them.  Nobody has to motivate me."
• "I'll show them motivation.  Does "Your fired" motivate you enough?"
• "I told them how much I appreciated them during their performance review.  How many times do I have to tell them anyway?"
• "Money is the only way to motivate my people and since my company won't let me give them more money, my hands are tied."
• "Motivate the team?  Are you kidding?  I'm too busy for that."
• "I don't have a budget for that.  Not happening."

If you gave me one of these responses and I were your HR person, it would take all my self control to not look at you quizzically and ask how you made it to a leadership role.  Being the professional I am however, and wanting to see the best in people I would come to the conclusion that you didn't know these were lame excuses.


Let me give you a bit of a news flash.  Here are a few things that are NOT motivating.

• Trying to control people who are grown ups (paying their own bills, making their own decisions). Unless you work for the US Military, this is not the way we generally treat free Americans.
• Micro-managing those that don't deserve it (it's okay to micro-manage low performers for a defined amount of time.
• Threats
• Belittling and Condescending tones (i.e. acting like you know it all).
• An unhappy and boring workplace.
• A workplace filled with gossip and political games.
• Telling your employees "good job" once a year.
• A boss that is too busy or uninterested in his/her employees to know or care about them.  
• Working for someone who obviously doesn't like their job or employer.
• Throwing money at all the aforementioned problems.

Motivating your team is not about time or money.  There are so many ways to motivate people. A kind word.  A project they are inspired by.  Having the opportunity to work with someone they respect.  Flexible schedules.  Showing that you care.  Asking about the family.  Creating a development plan.  Telling them the vision you have for them.  Tapping into a hidden talent.  Telecommuting.  Noticing when they seem to be having a bad day.  Encouragement.  Confidence in their success.  None of these cost money.  

And the bottom line . . . . if you are a leader, it's your responsibility.  

The Employee Who Had No Time To Work

There once was an employee.  She was a very likable employee with lots of friends.  This employee knew everyone and they all came to her to touch base throughout the day.  She was happy and fun and full of energy.  When not talking to people at work, she was on her cell phone texting friends.  Unfortunately, this employee's social life prevented her from meeting her work deadlines.  

What to do?  What to do?

I have several blog posts on how to deal with employee performance but as I embark on my blogging every day for 365 days (today is day 9), that allows me the opportunity to occasionally break down specific issues.  

You would think this employee would be an easy fix.  Maybe not though.  

You want happy employees.  And socializing at work is a good thing.  When people have friends at work, they are more likely to continue to come to work.  Notice I said people come to her throughout the day.  She obviously has a lot of influence.  That means if you handle this the wrong way, you could really upset her and in turn she could negatively influence a whole group of people.  

A conversation is definitely in order but before you have that conversation, take the time to think through, empathize, and anticipate the motivator for this employee.  The motivation for this employee is social, that is fairly evident.  If you sit her down and say "quit socializing" she is going to lose her motivation to be at work.  And she will be miserable.  And so will everyone around her.  

Being gentle with your social butterfly is probably the best approach.  Tell her how much you appreciate her positive attitude at work and you know her friends are important. Also let her know the socializing has a tendency to prevent her from accomplishing the tasks she needs to get done and we (both of you) need to find a way to balance the two activities.  Primarily, you don't want her to think she has to stop all socializing but you do want to let her know it's  a problem that needs a solution, and quickly.  Brainstorm together how to handle it.  Maybe she doesn't know how to tell others she is busy.  Maybe she is concerned about hurting their feelings or appearing rude.  Or maybe she needs help managing her time and projects.  

What you absolutely cannot do is ignore it and hope it goes away, give her dirty looks when you see her talking, or tell others not to talk to her because it's impacting her work day.  This is your issue to handle.  And you need to handle it directly with her.  Remember, the problem is not that she socializes.  It's that she isn't getting her work done.  Focus on the issue.  

Mari