Category Archives: Motivation

Contribution

“Why does your boss work?” I asked Vicki. “He doesn’t need the money, not anymore.”

“Well, yeah,” Vicki stammered. “He works because that’s who he is. I mean, he has power.” She stopped and chuckled. “He gets to tell people what to do.”

“So, it’s different for your boss, than it is for you?”

“Well, of course it is. If I made as much money as he does, I would come to work because, because.” Her voice trailed off.

“So, the only way you could be happy in your job, is if you made as much money as your boss? The only way your team members could be happy in their jobs is if they made as much money as your boss?”

Vicki was unsure of her response. “I could never make as much money as my boss,” she finally replied. “What I do isn’t worth that much money. What I do has value, but, but. But I am paid, about right, for what I do, for the value I bring to the company.”

“You are paid, about right? Then why do you work? Part of it is money, it is a symbolic trade for your contribution. And, what is the other part, why do you work?”

Why Do I Give Two Hoots?

“And there is nothing wrong with Performance-Reward (Work=Paycheck). It is the contract that we make with employees. They show up each day and do their best in exchange for the agreed-upon compensation.” To support their continued growth, companies should also consider offering corporate skills training.

Helen looked down, picturing something.

“I know you see yourself as a Motivator,” I continued. “And here is why Motivation is so important for managers.

“I asked you before, if I was getting the Performance I wanted, as a Manager, why did I give two hoots whether it was Motivation or Manipulation (Performance-Reward). Here is why.

Performance-Reward requires you, the Manager, to be present, either physically present or present-by-threat, meaning, you will be back to check on things. So, Performance-Reward requires the proximity of the Manager.

“Secondly, the duration of the behavior is short, happens only to the specification required to get the reward. And if something happens to threaten that reward, diminish that reward, delay that reward, the performance stops.

“And that’s why Motivation is so important. As a Manager, we need sustained performance even when we are not around. We need more than Performance-Reward.” -TF
__
Our next Leadership program in Fort Lauderdale kicks off next Wednesday, November 7. For more information, visit www.workingleadership.com.

Performance-Reward

“I just don’t like to think of myself as a Manipulator,” Helen decried. “I want to believe that, as a Manager, I am perceived as a Motivator.”

“Great cover-up, isn’t it?” I smiled. “Listen, Helen, I am not suggesting that you do things, as a Manager, through deceit and trickery. What I am saying is, don’t fool yourself (11th commandment). Most of what we do is Performance-Reward or Underperformance-Reprimand, external inducements to get desired behavior.

“So, tell me, Helen, is manipulation necessarily a bad thing?”

Helen paused. “I just don’t like it. It doesn’t sound good.”

“Have you ever been working on a project, where you needed everyone to stay an extra half hour, to staple and bind all the reports, or to get a truck loaded with an emergency shipment to a customer; a situation where you needed just that extra bit of effort? So you tell everyone that you are ordering in a pizza, if they would just stay on for the half hour?”

“Well, sure, it happens, but what’s wrong with that?” Helen replied, then chuckled. “It’s a good thing my team likes pizza.”

“Exactly, just understand it is Performance-Reward. It is NOT Motivation.” -TF
__
Our next Leadership program in Fort Lauderdale kicks off next Wednesday, November 7. For more information, visit www.workingleadership.com.

Manipulation

Helen’s face dropped. Her smile extinguished.

My words, “Sounds like manipulation to me,” rang in her ears.

“But, but, what do you mean?” she gasped, not in desperation, but surprise.

“I mean, most of the things we do as Managers, fall in line with manipulation. We create expectations of performance, we get the performance, the team member gets a reward.

“Or more clearly, we create expectations, if we don’t get the performance, the team member gets reprimanded. Either way you look at it, most of what we do as Managers, is manipulation.” -TF

Behavior That Gets Rewarded

“Well, I certainly don’t manipulate my team members,” Helen insisted. “I like to think that I motivate them to get the work done.”

“Tell me, how do you do that?” I asked.

“Well, I think it begins on their first day at work. Our orientation does a really good job of explaining to them our philosophy as a company, our mission in the marketplace, where we standout against our competitors. Then, everyone, no matter what their role, goes through a pretty intensive training program, to make sure they have the skills they need to be successful. In my opinion, it’s pretty motivational.”

“How so?” I probe.

“Once they come out of training, they have to pass some competency tests, to make sure they actually have the skills they need. If they do that, they immediately get a pay rate increase, from training pay to Pay Band I. Our training pay is just above minimum wage. Pay Band I is calculated based on their actual role, their job description. It’s beginner’s pay, but it’s a step up, so immediately, they are rewarded for their efforts.”

“So, if they successfully complete their training program, they receive a reward in the form of a pay increase?”

“Yes,” Helen replied, smiling and nodding.

“Sounds like manipulation to me,” I observed. -TF

Carrot or Stick?

“So, what’s the difference between motivation and manipulation?” I asked.

“My kid is in the back seat of the car, and I ask him to put on his seat belt. I tell him that if he puts it on, we will go get ice cream as a reward.

“What is it? Motivation or manipulation?” The class sits on the question. Several want to leap out of their chairs with the answer, but they know it will make them a target for the discussion.

“My kid is in the back seat of the car, and I ask him to put on his seat belt. I tell him that if he doesn’t put it on, he won’t be able to play on the computer tonight.

“What is it? Motivation or manipulation?”-TF
__
Our next Leadership class in Fort Lauderdale kicks off November 7, 2007. For more information, visit www.workingleadership.com.

Which is It?

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

How can you motivate a team member whose appraisal has not been good?

Response:

In the past, I have talked about the four elements for success. They are:

  • Capability
  • Skill
  • Commitment
  • Absence of a negative Temperament

So, which is it? And how did you get here?

If the person received a poor effectiveness review, is it a matter of capability? As the manager, you should have made an accurate (within a reasonable range) assessment of capability during the interview and testing process. If the person received a poor review based on capability, you have only two choices, reassign the person or redefine the role.

If the poor review is from a lack of skill, then training is indicated. Skill is two things, technical knowledge and practiced performance.

If the poor review is from a lack of commitment, you, as the manager have two routes. One is to create artificial commitment. Artificial commitment comes in the form of pizza, promises or other incentives. Artificial commitment is okay, but is usually shortlived and requires the presence of the manager. Real commitment requires the discovery of the interests (passion) of the person and the alignment of that interest with the work. If that connection has not been made, poor performance is a likely result.

If the poor review is from the presence of a negative temperament, you, as the manager can talk until you are blue in the face, or perhaps bash your head into the wall for a while, but in the long run, negative temperament is rooted inside the individual. It takes a very special manager (and a blue face and some head bashing) to change a negative temperament. This is usually outside the skill base of most managers. In this case, I would seek to reassign or terminate the team member.

So, you decide. Which is it? -TF

Who’s Best Interest

“Speak in terms of the other person’s interests.” Those words rattled around in Susan’s head for a minute. Finally she spoke.

“But, you know, sometimes, there is stuff that I need to communicate. Sometimes there is stuff that is in my interest, or the company’s interest. What do I do then? I mean, it’s all well and good to talk about the other person’s interests, but what about me, what about the company?”

“Susan, you make it sound like your team doesn’t have you or the company at heart. In fact, they do. Let’s take the issue of efficiency. It is in your best interest as the manager and in the company’s best interest for your team to work efficiently, right?”

“Exactly,” Susan replied, moving to the edge of her chair. “I want to talk about efficiency, so how do I talk in terms of the other person’s interests when I want to have a discussion about efficiency?”

“First, Susan, understand that your team also wants to be efficient. Believe it or not, your team wants to be productive and do a good job. They want to do a good job for you and the company. And it is your responsibility, as the manager, to make that connection.

“Gather your team together. Divide them in workgroups of two or three people and tell them the topic for the day is efficiency.

“Today’s topic for discussion is efficiency. But before we talk about how we can be more efficient, let’s talk about why. For the next one minute, work in your teams and write down three benefits that happen when we work more efficiently. The benefits you think about, should be personal benefits to you. You spend 8 hours a day working here and you work hard. What are the personal benefits to you when the team works more efficiently?”

Susan looked at me, then pulled out a sheet of paper. “Let me write that down,” she said.

The Picture of the Team

“It’s amazing,” Megan explained. “I gave them the camera and a list of the 13 steps of the process and walked away. I didn’t supervise the picture taking. Forty five minutes later, they called me back. Think about that. My team has never called me over to their work area.

“They were talking about the best sequence for the steps, the proper way to perform some of the tasks and even one step that they thought was unnecessary. They have never talk about stuff like this, never ever.”

Now it was my turn to smile. “So, as their manager, what are you going to do next?”

“Well, they are re-shooting some of the pictures, but then I am going to print them all out and post them in this photo album I bought. I am also sending the photos over to the training department so they can put them into a powerpoint.

“But the best picture,” Megan grinned, “was the picture of the team that goes on the front of the photo album. With the look on their faces, I think they actually like working here.”

Conscious Choice

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I was curious about a study in IT that showed that while managers can see underperformance, they can’t see who is over-performing.

Response:

Actually, the results of the study may be correct, however, the conclusion may be flawed.

The results show that managers easily recognize or identify underperformance, but they do not as easily recognize or identify over-performance. The conclusion is that managers do not have the ability to recognize over-performance. I believe that to be false.

Managers do not recognize or identify over-performance because they do not focus on it. Managers allow the distractions of underperformance to dominate their vision and efforts.

It is simply a matter of focus. It is a conscious choice to focus on over-performance, and once that decision is made, the focus becomes quite natural. But it’s that choice that is difficult. It is too easy (unconscious) to see things wrong and too difficult to make the conscious choice to see things going right. -TF