Psychology at work

Pep talks don't motivate staff; then what can?
Psychology At Work - By Dr Goh Chee Leong

MORALE among the staff team is low. Productivity is low. Management decides that something needs to be done and quickly. So they get a trainer to give a “motivational talk”.
“Just come over”, they say, “give them a two-hour pep talk” and the expectation is that all of them will be inspired and motivated.

We want instant solutions for long-term problems.

If only life were so simple. If only leadership were so simple.

Don’t get me wrong. Words are powerful and when delivered by a skilful orator, they have the potential to exert an incredible amount of influence on a whole mass of people.
A good motivational talk certainly can lift the spirits for a moment, but therein lies the problem. Its effects are temporary at best.

The reality is that to boost motivation levels in the organisation on a more permanent basis, there needs to be more a fundamental change taking place in the organisation.
Research in organisational psychology has identified numerous organisational factors that contribute to workers’ motivation levels.

I have attempted to synthesise the various variables into four elements that, in my opinion, characterise the organisational culture of a highly motivated team.
Empowerment

People are motivated when they are given room to take ownership of their work process.
Read any management guidebook and it’ll tell you the same thing: Choose people who have the ability to get the job done. Set them clear targets and give them room to work.

Avoid micro-managing. Where possible give them freedom to make decisions about their work environment and their work processes. There are always boundaries and limits to freedom and decision-making rights of course, but the principle should be to give as much space as possible.
This is particularly important when you are dealing with your “top performers” and “high potentials”. These people are usually highly intelligent, highly motivated and full of ideas about how to get the job done. Nothing de-motivates them more than being straight-jacketed.

Sometimes as supervisors we make the mistake of over-managing perhaps, because they are trust issues.

Some organisations are overly bureaucratic, creating so much red tape that staff lose any incentive to implement improvements because it’s just too much trouble to change anything.
Some organisations regulate their processes and SOPs (standard operating procedures) to the point that staff no longer have any room to make any decisions or to exercise any discernment which makes the organisation rigid, inflexible and clumsy.

The danger about all this over-regulation is that it takes away a sense of control and ownership from the worker and this is de-motivating.

Growth
People are motivated when they perceive that the organisation is facilitating their growth and development.

Research seems to indicate that this is as important as financial remuneration especially for younger workers. They need to see that the current challenges they face are part of a personal development process for them. “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”
Good organisations have transparent career development pathways for their staff and they communicate these regularly so that everyone is clear about what level they are at and what level they can aspire to.

Good organisations also provide the means for staff to make this leap. Talent management has become less of a buzzword and more of an operational necessity at many organisations that wish to compete at a global level.

The bottom line is that people are motivated when there is something to aspire to in their careers and it’s got to be more than just the money. Most “top performers” and “high potentials” are driven people who have relatively strong ambitions. Show them how their current “suffering” is going to help them get to where they want and they’ll be motivated to climb mountains and swim oceans for you.

Clarity

People are motivated when they are clear about the goals, missions and objectives.
Good leaders are great at communicating the vision, mission and direction in a way that is both clear and inspiring. They are constantly “defining the mountaintops”.

High potentials like challenges. They want to be stretched. They seek a sense of achievement and accomplishment. That is why clarity of the mission is so important to them. Like soldiers in the battlefield, they want clear targets, clear objectives, clear victories.

Some organisations are poor at communicating expectations to their staff. As a result, workers have no sense of their performance indicators, their monthly targets, their scope of responsibilities. This ambiguity can be de-motivating.

Equity

People are motivated when they perceive that they are being treated fairly.
Nothing turns off a “high potential” more than the perception that “performance doesn’t really matter in this organisation”.

This is a problem that plagues organisations the world over. People feel that it’s all about office politics. It’s all about who you know rather than what you do. “As long as you’re close with the boss, they’ll let you get away with murder.”

In this kind of work culture, workers become experts at “managing” and “handling” their bosses, rather than improving their actual work performance. The name of the game becomes how to impress the boss rather than how to get things done. Once the worker sees a disconnect between his/her effort and the reward, you can forget about motivation, where the real work is concerned.

The solution of course is to put into place a comprehensive and well-executed performance management system that has clearly defined and measurable hard targets. I like the use of hard targets because it minimises manipulation.

The system needs to be fair and it needs to be seen to be fair.

How true !

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She reduced altitude and spotted a man below.

She descended a bit more and shouted: 'Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago but I don't know where I am.'

The man below replied, 'You're in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You're between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.'

'You must be an Engineer,' said the balloonist. 'I am,' replied the man, 'how did you know?' 'Well,' answered the balloonist, 'everything you have told me is probably technically correct, but I've no idea what to make of your information and the fact is, I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip by your talk.'

The man below responded, 'You must be in Management.' 'I am,' replied the balloonist, 'but how did you know?' 'Well,' said the man, 'you don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise, which you've no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault.'

Power of Recognition

Tapping into the Power of Recognition

There’s certainly no shortage of research and expert opinion on the positive impacts of recognition in the workplace. Studies continually show that recognition fosters job satisfaction, builds self-esteem, and reinforces desired performance. It supports quality, strengthens trust and loyalty, and helps shape a “magnetic” culture that attracts and keeps the very best people. Yet, despite these (and a lot more) widely accepted and well-documented benefits, too many recognition opportunities are being missed in too many organizations, every day.

Here’s a short, two-question survey that you’ll probably be able to answer without much thought:

Ever feel unappreciated or under-recognized for the good work you do?

Ever miss opportunities to recognize people reporting to you for the good work that they do?

If you’re like most folks, there’s a good chance your two answers were DUH! and OOPS! (a.k.a., yes and yes). Of course, all of us occasionally feel taken for granted. We know firsthand how lousy that feels. And when we fail to give recognition to our employees, we pass along that same lousy feeling. We do it not because we’re bad people, but because we’re human … and we sometimes lose sight of what’s truly important. But as a leader, you have an opportunity to change that. In fact, you have an obligation to change that. You owe it to your team members … you owe it to your organization … and considering the benefits to be gained, you owe it to yourself.

Recognition is about acknowledging good results and reinforcing positive performance; it’s about shaping an environment in which contributions are noticed and appreciated. And that’s a responsibility shared by leaders at ALL levels.

Fact is, we’re all creatures of habit. Repeat an action enough times and it becomes habitual … it becomes an unconscious, ongoing behavior. So, here’s a worthwhile habit to work on developing: Each day, “catch” at least one person on your team doing something good – and praise him or her for it. Over time, you’ll acquire a natural tendency to focus on the “good stuff!” And you’ll likely find that even more of that “good stuff” will come your way. When that happens, EVERYONE WINS!_____________________________________________

Great Vision

GREAT VISION PRECEDES GREAT ACHIEVEMENT

"Every team needs a compelling vision to give direction. A team without vision is, at worst, purposeless. At best, it is subject to the personal (and sometimes selfish) agendas of its various teammates. As the agendas work against each other, the team's energy and drive drain away. On the other hand, a team that embraces a vision becomes energized, and confident. It knows where it's headed and why it's going there."
John Maxwell - The 17 indisputable Laws of teamwork.

Leaders in crisis times

The other day, I was reading the online Fortune magazine and I came upon an interview the magazine did with Michael Collins (the writer of 'Good to Great' and 'Built to Last') in regards the current economic crisis. One particular phrase caught my eye, when he said, "People who take credit in good times and blame external forces in bad times do not deserve to lead". I could not help but smile wryly at the situation as I agree wholeheartedly with the statement.

Leaders take responsibility both in good as well as bad times!

Every day, when I read the papers and magazines, I see many so called 'leaders in the corporate world' blaming the current economic crisis for all their organisation's woes. Let me make one thing clear from the start and that is I do not deny that the economic situation has affected business especially in certain industries.

However my point is, 'Isn't it the job of senior management to prepare for bad times during good times and to prepare for good times when times are bad"? And if they want to take credit during good economic times when sales were soaring, surely they should also take responsibility when the negative economy affects company's performance?

The bottom line is 'Leaders should take responsibility both in good as well as bad times'. That's why they were put into that position in the first place. The time now is not to play the blame game or to moan and groan, but to go about tackling the problem effectively and efficiently.

My view is that in good times 'anybody' can be the CEO of an organization. It is in bad times that we see their true mettle. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I do hope all of you will have a great month ahead. Take care!