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Five Tips for the Leader About Building Employee Motivation and Morale at Work
By Susan M. Heathfield
It Ain't Magic. It's Discipline.
Supervisors frequently ask, "How do I motivate employees?" It's one of the most common questions I am asked. Wrong question. Ask instead, "How do I create a work environment in which individual employees choose to be motivated about work goals and activities?" That question I can answer. The right answer is that, generally, you know what you should do; you know what motivates you. You just do not consistently, in a disciplined manner, adhere to what you know about motivation.
The ten tips, outlined in this article, are the keys to supervisory success in creating positive employee motivation and morale. The challenge is to incorporate them into your skill set and do them consistently. Every day. Author, Jim Collins identified disciplined people doing disciplined things every day as one of the hallmarks of companies that went from Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... And Others Don't (see side bar). You can make their day.
Continue Learning and Trying Out New Ideas
Use whatever access you have to education and training. You may have an internal trainer or you can seek classes from an outside consultant, a training company, or a college or university. If your company offers an educational assistance plan, use all of it. If not, start talking with your Human Resources professionals about creating one. The ability to continuously learn is what will keep you moving in your career and through all the changes I expect we'll see in the next decade.
Minimally, you will want to learn the roles and responsibilities of supervisors and managers and how to:
- provide feedback,
- provide praise and recognition,
- provide proper progressive discipline,
- give instructions,
- interview and hire employees,
- delegate tasks and projects,
- listen,
- write records, letters, file notations, and performance evaluations,
- make presentations,
- manage time,
- plan and execute projects,
- problem solve and follow up for continuous improvement,
- make decisions,
- manage meetings, and
- build teams in a teamwork environment.
What does all this have to do with motivation, you may ask? Everything. The more comfortable and confident you are about these work competencies, the more time, energy, and ability you have to devote to spending time with staff and creating a motivating work environment. You can make their day.
Make Time for People
Make time to spend time daily with each person you supervise. Managers might aim for an hour a week with each of their direct reports. Many studies, over the years, clearly indicate that a work motivation factor is spending positive interaction time with the supervisor. Schedule quarterly performance development meetings on a public calendar so people see when they can prepare for extra time and attention from you, focused on them. You can make their year.
Focus on the Development of People
Most people want to learn and grow their skills at work. No matter their reason: a promotion, different work, a new position or a leadership role, they appreciate your help. Talk about changes they want to make to their jobs to better serve their customers. Encourage experimentation and taking reasonable risk to develop their skills. Get to know them personally. Ask what motivates them. Ask what career objectives they have and are aiming to achieve. Make a development plan with each person and make sure you help them carry the plan out. The quarterly performance development meeting is your opportunity to formalize plans for people. You can make their career.
Provide Leadership
People expect you to know the goals and share the direction in which your work group is heading. The more you can tell them about why an event is happening, the better. Prepare staff in advance if visitors or customers will come to your workplace. Hold regular meetings to share information, gain ideas for improvement, and train new policies. Hold focus groups to gather input before implementing policies that affect employees. Promote problem solving and process improvement teams.
Above all else, to effectively lead a work group, department, or unit, you must take responsibility for your actions, the actions of the people you lead, and the accomplishment of the goals that are yours. If you are unhappy with the caliber of the people you are hiring, whose responsibility is that? If you are unhappy about the training people in your work group are receiving, whose responsibility is that? If you are tired of sales and accounting changing your goals, schedule, and direction, whose responsibility is that? If you step up to the wire, people will respect you and follow you. You are creating a work environment in which people will choose motivation. It does start with you. You can make their whole experience with your company.
Copyright 2002 by Susan M. Heathfield
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