mo·ti·va·tion
n.
1. The act or process of motivating.
2. The state of being motivated.
3. Something that motivates; an inducement or incentive.
Ok, now we know the definition, but what does that get us? (These are the questions your employees may be asking.)
The Art of Motivation:
What do you know about your employees? Do you know their tenure with your organization? What their performance is like? How many days they have been absent?
If you can answer each of these questions, my question to you would be: What do you know about your employees?
I would suggest a good tool to access your knowledge of the team you manage is to complete the following exercise from memory:
1. Write down the name of each of your employees. (First and last name!)
2. Write how many pets each have. (Bonus points if you know a pet’s name!)
3. Write how many children they have and each child’s name.
4. Write a hobby or interest outside of work.
5. Write down the last accomplishment you recognized for each person.
6. Write down their birthday.
Ok, if you answered 5 or more, you are on target! If you were able to answer 4, you seem to know some things about your team, but it may be time to schedule another round of one on ones. If you only got 3 or less, it may just be time to start talking to you employees.
Why is this important? Well, there are a number of reason why you should “get to know” your team. It promotes teamwork, increases morale, grows loyalty, etc. It is also essential for true motivation. If you are a trying to motivate a rabbit, you may decide to use a carrot. But if you never took the time to “get to know” the rabbit, you may never discover that this particular bunny is allergic to carrots! It is critical that you spend time understanding your team, so that you can make better decisions as their “team leader”. Sure life would be easier if there was a grid that you could divide your group into two kinds of employees and then simply create a “reward systems” for each of these two groups. Is it money? Time off? Recognition? Fun? The answer for your team is within your team.
If you’re not talking to them, who is?