Don’t try to Motivate your team, Employee Engagement is what matters: What and Why (Part 1)

August 30, 2013

I just want to make something clear. For what matters most, nobody can motivate you but yourself.

Employers, Managers, Team Leaders, Supervisors have the responsibility to engage employees. They couldn’t motivate them even if they wanted to.

Employee engagement means that Managers are responsible for creating the opportunities and the framework within which the employees can create, thrive and eventually succeed.

Motivation is something that comes within.

This outlook brings a new meaning to the interview question:

Are you self-motivated?

It makes it maybe the most important question one needs to pay attention to!

It also bring another perspective to the excellent motto from Mark Horstman and Mike Auzenne of Manager Tools, that:

“Hiring is the most important activity that a manager does”.

So, why employee engagement is so important and how can we apply this concept and reap the benefits? 

A NECESSARY CAVEAT

The caveat is simple. More pay, perks and bonuses (carrots and sticks) may not be as effective as we may think in engaging and “motivating” people but if an organisation gets them wrong they can surely become de-motivators.

As Daniel Pink puts it in his excellent book DRIVE:

“Of course, the starting point for any discussion of motivation in the workplace is a simple fact of life: People have to earn a living. Salary, contract payments, some benefits, a few perks are what I call baseline rewards. If someone’s baseline rewards aren’t adequate or equitable, her focus will be on the unfairness of her situation and the anxiety of her circumstance. …..You’ll get very little motivation at all”.

WHY NOT MOTIVATION

Provided that the caveat condition is satisfied, why the use of extrinsic means (pay, perks, rewards or punishments) does not work for what matters most? Let’s look at the research:

Quoting from the book Drive by Daniel Pink:

“Researchers such as Harvard Business School’s Teresa Amabile have found that external rewards and punishments both carrots and sticks can work nicely for algorithmic [routine] tasks. But they can be devastating for heuristic [non-routine, creative] ones“.

As I discussed previously here, been innovative as an individual or an organisation is a key for remaining relevant and successful in the future.

So, the successful delivery of knowledge work (as Drucker calls blue collar work) which is prevalent in the Western World, will rely largely on heuristic [non-routine] tasks i.e. innovation and non linear thinking.

Therefore, the focus is on non-routine knowledge work that is harder to be outsourced and hence, will remain the primary aspect of job growth in the developed World.

Research from McKinsey detail that routine (labour intensive) work accounts for 30% job growth versus non-routine work (knowledge intensive) job growth of  70% (details for US market). I believe that in Australia it may account for even more than70% but I am not aware of any specific research results yet.

As we saw from the research, extrinsic motivation (carrots and sticks) do not stimulate the non-routine kind of work. But this depends on what Amabile calls:

the “intrinsic motivation principle of creativity”

Intrinsic motivation (self-motivation) can be stimulated by employee engagement.

Quite simply, the traditional motivation methods (carrots and sticks) do not work for the work that matters most.

In the 2nd part of the blog I discuss the So What aspect of employee engagement and on the 3rd part I will also provide some practical tips of how to to stimulate it within the workplace.

[Image credit: 123rf.com]

Filed under Effective Communication, Leadership, Team Development Series Tagged with , , , , ,

Don’t be busy, be productive

August 24, 2013

The term Busy is probably one of the most used words in the daily business communication routine.

“How are you keeping? Busy!”

Well! Reflecting on the usefulness of this perception, I think that it is time we should try to change our focus and verbalize our response in another way.

-How are you keeping?

-Productive!

But, what are the differences between the two?

What is the difference between PRODUCTIVE vs BUSY?

I think that the main difference is the consciousness, intent and planning placed on the word Productive. This is important because, as Dewight Middleton once said:

“We tend to treat labels as real, rather than as representations of reality.”

Well, interpreting this in the business environment Productive is a positive / result oriented term that changes our focus.

You can think of it as a self fulfilling prophecy, positive labelling or the first step towards shifting our mindset to be creative and do the right things first.

Becoming conscious about our actions and project delivery is a good first step towards becoming more creative and innovative. As discussed also here, innovation is a key skill for the future (read also here and here for a practical guide to innovation).

The word Busy has a fuzzy element to it.

It is like the word multitasking, another overused term that brings to mind professionals, in the form of the Indian goddess Kali, that try to answer phone calls, type emails while completing a study all at the same time (but more on this at a later post).

On the other hand, the word productive has the conscious intent build into it e.g.

Productive towards achieving what?

The great Peter Drucker explained Productivity (for knowledge workers) in this way:

“Productivity for the knowledge worker means the ability to get the right things done. It means effectiveness.” Peter Drucker – The Effective Executive

Hence, the conscious intent as implied in the word Productive is a key to increasing effectiveness.

First Actions Towards a Productive Mindset

A great way to slowly shift your mindset is to plan the week and the day with productivity and effectiveness as your primary targets.

There are various blogs dealing with this matter (a great one is manager-tools.com) but in essence, two tips make for a great start:

Plan the week ahead

Every Friday, take 15-30 minutes out – preplan some quiet time and note down the answer to the question:

What are the three most important projects I needs to progress/achieve next week?

A great blogger, Michael Hyatt, has suggested to even create an Ideal Week schedule.

Plan the day

Every morning before you turn on your computer note down the answer to the question:

What are the three tasks I must complete today?

So, how are you being productive today?

[Image credit: 123rf.com]

Filed under Continuous Improvement, Effective Communication, Productivity, Team Development Series Tagged with , , ,

The first step to a successful negotiation.

August 16, 2013

There are many guides that provide expertise and tips on how to prepare, plan and conduct a negotiation.

Reflecting on my experience, the essential first step to a successful negotiation is this:

Embrace fully the second position.

THE THREE POSITIONS

In a negotiation there are effectively three positions:

1st position: Your position

2nd position: Your counterpart’s position (i.e. the other side) and

3rd position: The position from an independent observant of the negotiation.

In a lot of negotiations that fail, I have distinguished that, the outcome is dependant on a very simple element. The fact that one or both sides do not fully understand the drivers, concerns and/or the position of their counterpart (the other negotiating side).

Effective communication is the responsibility of both sides. However, even if the other party is a poor communicator you need to make every effort to understand fully their position and give it a fair go.

In essence, how can you expect your counterpart (the other side) in a negotiation, to listen and understand, when you may not have spent the time and energy to understand his/her positions, concerns, pressures and targets?

Hence, a simple and effective advice is to try to see things from the other’s perspective.

Then built a value proposition that:

i) creates value for the other party as well as,

ii) covers your own requirements.

Understanding the business, the drivers, the cost elements and the market is the key, the first step towards a successful negotiation.

Trust, which is the core element of a successful relationship, depends on it. As a consequence, successful category management and effective sourcing strategies rely on it as well.

This is a simple piece of advice that is often overlooked.

Did you embrace the second position the last time you were at a negotiation table or, you had to work with a supplier or customer to resolve and issue or create a solution. What would you have done differently?

Filed under Effective Communication, Effective Negotiation Tools series, Procurement Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

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