Labor Day, and Engagement's Missing Ingredient

Labor Day reminds me that although the unemployed would be happy with any kind of job, meaningful work is a key to employee engagement and satisfaction.  Meaningful work is the difference between a job you do just for the paycheck, and the job you look forward to every day. 

As Fyodor Dostoevsky said, "Deprived of meaningful work, men and women lose their reason for existence; they go stark, raving mad."  Ok, maybe they won't go mad, but they certainly will be mad.  Mad at their plight, at their bosses, at their companies.  And angry people just don't do the best work.

That's why leaders should be doing everything they can to provide "meaningful" work.  No matter how menial the work may be, it's up to the leaders to show the employees the connection between the work (the tasks and activities) and the noble purpose. 

Somehow that work makes the world a better place, and leaders need to uncover this purpose, and focus the employees on it.

As I've said before, that purpose usually involves serving the customer.  The work makes the world a better place by serving customers, solving customers' problems, making the customers' worlds better places.  When employees focus on this, employees' worlds become better places.

So this Labor Day, commit to making every day a celebration of meaningful work, and employee engagement.  Ask yourself some questions:  What are you doing to provide meaningful work?  How are you connecting the job tasks and activities to the grand or noble purpose? 

Choice is a Key to Motivation, Engagement

Leadership Unlimited, August 2011
A monthly column by Terry Wall
Choice is a Key to Motivation, Engagement

As leaders, we get used to telling people what to do, and how to
do it. It’s a habit we need to break, especially if we’re
trying to motivate and engage our direct reports, and the rest
of our organization. A sense of choice is a key to motivation
and engagement.

According to Ken Thomas, author of Intrinsic Motivation at Work,
a sense of choice is one of four elements of intrinsic
motivation. (The others are a sense of meaning, competence,
and progress.)

Giving people a sense of choice also promotes accountability.
When people feel that the choice is theirs, that they’re in
control, they’re more likely to accept the consequences of their
actions, and thus hold themselves accountable for the results of
their actions.

A third reason to give people choices is that it promotes
innovation. People are more likely to take calculated risks, to
try new approaches, in an environment the rewards innovation and
risk-taking. Innovation is how we develop new, creative
solutions to old and current problems.

But sometimes we get stuck in a mindset of giving orders and
direction. Successful organizations are moving away from
“command and control,” cultures of micromanagement, and moving
towards collaboration.

What can you do to give people a sense of choice?

Give broad direction. Rather than giving specific instructions
in how to do something, give the overall goal, and let them
develop the methods for achieving that goal.

Ask for feedback on choice-related issues. People have
different styles and preferences for how they like to work, and
to achieve goals. We presume that everyone likes to do things
the way we do them, and that is often not true.

Learn the language of choice. Instead of telling people what to
do, start asking. “Get me this report by 5pm Monday” is an
order. “Since the customer needs the report at 8am Tuesday,
when can you get me the report?” is a request that gives the
other person a choice.

Look at things you currently require to see if you can give
people a choice. You’ll probably find that a lot of them don’t
need to be done a certain way, but could be left up to the
individual.

Apply this principle to customers and vendors. Remember that
customers, vendors, and suppliers need choice as well. If
you’re trying to motivate them to meet your organization’s
needs, giving them a sense of choice may make sense.

Of course, emergencies require decisive leadership. If there’s
a fire in the building, you don’t say, “Leave if you want to.”
You say, “Fire—get out! Let’s go!”

Another exception might be performance problems. If a direct
report isn’t performing, you might need to give straightforward
requirements on necessary improvements. But even then, you’re
giving the person a choice: Improve, or accept the
consequences.

Giving direct reports a sense of choice is the best way to
motivate them, to get them engaged in their work, and more
committed to the organization’s purpose.

How well do you promote a sense of choice? What actions should
you take to give people more choice?

Until next edition, keep leading the way!

Copyright (C) 2011 by Terry Wall

How NOT to Motivate a Direct Report

I come across great examples of how to motivate direct reports.
Also some pretty bad ones. The worst example came from a friend
who’s a sales executive with a national company. And he told me
about how his boss, the sales manager, tried to motivate him to
close more sales. It’s a humdinger.

In a threatening, angry tone, the sales manager told my friend,
“If you don’t get out there and close more sales, I won’t get my
bonus!”

I couldn’t make this stuff up.

“It infuriated me,” my friend said. “The jerk really has some
nerve, trying to get ME to work harder for HIS bonus.”

So instead of getting my friend to think of ways to do better at
sales, this sales “manager” has actually de-motivated my friend.
Instead of focusing on more sales, my friend is focusing on all
the wrong things.

How much he hates his sales manager. How much he’ll enjoy
keeping the sales manager from getting that bonus. How the guy
is no leader, and has no idea what he’s doing.

And my friend is right. Putting a guy like that in charge of
sales, is like putting Anthony Weiner in charge of social media.

Maybe the sales manager didn’t mean it to come off that way.
But the fact is my friend came away with the impression that
it’s all about saving the sales manager’s bonus. And who’s
responsible for that perception? The sales manager.

I tell managers all the time, “It’s not about you. It never is,
so quit talking about YOU. Focus on the other person.”

But it’s hard for some people to grasp. Most aren’t as bad as
the sales manager, but their comments have the same
de-motivating effect. It happens when we talk about a direct
report doing something that cuts into our budget, or reduces our
profitability, or makes our lives more difficult.

The direct report, like my friend, goes away thinking, “Why
should I care about his budget?” Or profitability or any of the
other things we say when we’re not thinking straight.

Focus on the other person. Or when in doubt, focus on the
customer: We need to increase sales because the products and
services we sell make customers’ lives better.

The way to motivate and engage direct reports is to focus on
them, and on the customer. Show them that you’re there to
support them, so they can be the best at what they do, and in
turn do a better job of meeting or exceeding the customer’s
needs.

Take the spotlight off you, and put it where it belongs: On
your direct reports, and on your customers. That’s how to
motivate and engage your direct reports.

Then the direct report walks away thinking, “You know, she’s
right. I should try to do better. I want to do better. I WILL
do better.”

Until next edition, keep leading the way!

Copyright (C) 2011 by Terry Wall

What do you think?  Leave a comment, because I always
welcome your feedback.