The Perils of Motivating Without Listening
By Erin Douglass
Exhorting workers to do their grandest only when times are tough and money short is rarely wise. It risks coming across as Shot in the Arm Inspiration at best and Too Little, Too Late Cant at worst.
It's best to approach motivation as on ongoing part of the workday, rather than a kneejerk reaction to a negative situation in the workplace. This helps to ensure that employees feel valued and encouraged regularly—a recipe for higher worker productivity and retention success.
There are a number of instances, however, when there is a crying need for motivation beyond the daily pats and weekly bagel powwows—for example, times of low morale, financial trouble and Under the Gun Deadlines. Thoughtless or misguided approaches to motivating the troops during these tense times can make or tank a company.
Bad Morale
A workplace in a funk is a workplace on hold. When employees toil beneath a cloud of negativity, resentment, fear or sadness, less work gets done, fewer new ideas are generated and calls in sick go through the roof.
It's up to you to determine whether or not the down in the dumpiness is the result of one or two soured souls—or a more widespread, strange malaise. Be careful about missing the mark at both ends of the spectrum.
- Scenario: One man worked at a company that was suffering from low morale. To rectify the situation, management gave each employee an aluminum can emblazoned with the words "Success comes in CANS, Not in Cannots." No one felt any better—and many took to ridiculing the desk dˇcor as more evidence of management's cluelessness.
- Solution: In cases of barrel bottomed morale, the earlier the intervention by those in HR and management, the better. At the first sniff of discouragement or departmental grumblings, insinuate yourself—or urge supervisors to insinuate themselves—to find out what or who seems to be fouling the bathwater. Talk with a variety of employees, listen well and then act. You or a specific department manager may have to call a meeting to address frustrations with a new policy. Or you may need to pull aside an individual worker and offer counseling services because of troubles at home. Be prepared for anything. The refocused involvement will likely motivate workers leagues more than cans with slogans.
Financial Trouble
Rocky financial times for companies can deal lethal blows to morale and productivity. The question that all will want answered: "Is my own job on shaky ground?" Ignore that concern at your peril.
- Scenario: A young woman worked for a book wholesaler that was clearly having financial troubles. Rather than explaining the situation to the staff, the CEO passed out logo mugs and exhorted everyone to work harder. Weeks later, the company laid off two thirds of its staff and filed for bankruptcy. Workers grumbled that the money spent on the mugs could have gone into their final checks.
- Solution: Company leaders must communicate to and with employees during rocky times. Often, workers detect trouble sooner than management does, since they are the ones on the frontline receiving customer feedback, noticing the dip in orders, watching partners back out of deals. Some situations call for tact and careful stepping—even tightlipped mouths—when communicating troubles companywide. But that doesn't mean a short, reassuring e-mail or an honest We'll Let You Know How Things Progress gathering can't and shouldn't be tried. In the end, those attempts will come across as far more motivating than token gifts.
Critical Deadlines
Tight work schedules are a management testing ground. Under pressure to get workers to deliver quality quickly, those at the helm need to muster all the organizational and motivational moxie they can. Dangling carrots is one oft-tried way to get employees to deliver. But watch over whose heads they hang. Rewarded workers who are otherwise unhappy in their jobs bounce quickly back to frustrated once the carrot is digested.
- Scenario: An advertising agency rewarded its lead designers with a five day, all expenses paid trip to a tropical paradise after they completed a project well within deadline. The rosy glow the designers felt for their company lasted for several weeks. But then familiar old problems, including management's failure to address—or even acknowledge—employees' ongoing concerns and needs, reared their heads. In no time, one designer quit and the other's morale plummeted back to ground zero.
- Solution: Lavish trips or gifts can make a big impression on hardworking employees and their co-workers, particularly at a time when noses are pressed to grindstones. But such pricey praise doesn't wipe away management's sins or flick an All is Well switch in the workplace.
Consider instead rewarding toilers with one-on-one interviews about how projects progressed and what would have helped them work better. Your willingness to listen and involve employees in solving organizational troubles such as bad management or bumpy communication will impress workers and be remembered long after a flashy prize. And if you or a department manager conduct these interviews over a nice lunch or dinner, all the better.
As these examples illustrate, employers often have the best intentions when trying to motivate the troops. In some cases, their efforts are downright generous and impressive. But motivation at the expense of communication—the common thread in each botched scenario—is clearly counterproductive and often outright damaging.