Motivating Employees _ Bringing Out the Best in Your People - Barry Silverstein [18]
In this case, you will have to decide whether the issue also affects more than one employee and whether it is something you can legitimately bring up to senior management. If you know the issue will be difficult or impossible to settle, you should seek guidance from your boss. Then you will be able to tell the employee truthfully that you have made every effort to take care of the problem.
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“After you start doing the right thing, that’s when the motivation comes and makes it easy for you to keep on doing it.”
—John C. Maxwell, author of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
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If the issue is within your limits of authority, determine whether anyone else is involved. If the issue involves a conflict with a coworker, the resolution you facilitate must involve both parties. Try to get the two individuals to appreciate each other’s roles and find common ground. If they seem to be unable to work with one another, get them to concentrate on group goals rather than their own issues. In an effort to move their focus away from the dispute, for instance, you might give them both assignments that involve helping other team members.
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Plan B
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SELF-RESOLUTION
Giving an employee the responsibility to handle a problem that is bothering him can be motivational in itself. Self-resolution can be especially effective with employees who lack self-confidence.
Before you make this choice, identify the issue at fault, and determine what information or resources might be needed to resolve the difficulty. Offer to collaborate with the employee—but give the individual as much freedom as you can to work through the issue. Provide guidance and support, holding periodic progress meetings with the employee until the issue is resolved.
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If the issue is related to the employee alone, determine what you can do personally. If the problem involves the job responsibilities of the individual, you may solve it by modifying or changing job responsibilities. If the difficulty is job performance, reviews, or advancement, evaluate how you can ameliorate the situation. If necessary, work with your superior or your human resources department.
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CASE FILE
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A WORKPLACE FREE OF RULES
A radical experiment called “Results-Only Work Environment” (ROWE) at electronics retailer Best Buy allows salaried employees to decide how, when, and where they work to accomplish what they need to get done. In this program, first implemented in 2002, the only measurement in evaluating employees is whether or not they successfully complete their work and meet the agreed-upon objectives they establish with their managers.
Sixty percent of Best Buy’s divisional employees have converted to ROWE. Employees report better family relationships, higher company loyalty, and greater enthusiasm for the job. Statistics show the productivity of ROWE workers is 35 percent higher than that of employees not on the plan, and turnover is down more than 3 percent.
SOURCE: “Throwing Out the Rules of Work” by Patrick Kiger, Workforce Management (October 7, 2006).
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POWER POINTS
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REVERSING DECLINING MOTIVATION
Resolving motivational issues will have a dramatic impact on morale. Various approaches can be successful:
Some employees simply need someone to listen and empathize.
Modifying or changing the individual’s job responsibilities will solve some problems.
To resolve conflicts among coworkers, get both parties to appreciate each other’s roles and empower them to brainstorm their own solution.
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Sometimes, working collaboratively with the employee to come up with an acceptable resolution is the appropriate course. Empowering the employee to play a direct role in resolving issues in itself may transform the unmotivated employee.
Ultimately, the time and effort you put into identifying and resolving the issues