PERFORMANCE IGNITED
5 Ways to Stop Demotivating Your People
CONTRIBUTOR
Ph.D., Author and Speaker
APRIL 15, 2016
Millions of dollars have been poured into thousands of
studies, all asking the same question: "How
do you motivate people?" Unfortunately, it’s the wrong question. The right
question is “What are you doing to demotivate people?”
To drive home the point, I’ve asked thousands of leaders
if they’ve ever hired anyone that hated the job, belittled the
products, berated the customers, disliked their colleagues, and distrusted the
management. Of course, they all say no.
Then why do companies have so many people like that?
Something happens to employees that turn them off. During the course of their
employment, situations occur and actions are taken that demotivate them.
Of course, you could
take Spiderman’s approach and respond by saying, “I missed the part where that’s my problem.” But most
companies cannot afford to take that approach anymore … especially during times
of economic challenge, company-wide change, or any number of things that tend
to demotivate employees.
So what can you do to stop demotivating the people in your
company?
1. Stop being stingy with your recognition.
As Tom Rath and Donald Clifton indicate in their book,
"How Full Is Your Bucket", the
number one reason people leave their jobs is they don’t feel appreciated. And 65 percent of Americans received no
recognition in the workplace last year.
Stop the excuses. Don't say you're too busy to go around
praising people. Don't justify your lack of recognition by saying your
employees already know if they're doing a good job. The fact remains --
unspoken recognition demotivates employees.
Everyone needs to hear that her work counts, has quality,
and is done right. Just like the kid at the swimming pool who shouts,
"Look Mom. Look at me." Your employees are saying the same thing,
“Look at my work. Let me know that you've noticed."
2. Stop information hoarding.
Employees continue to rate “a lack of communication” as one
of their top three complaints on employee surveys. And in an environment of
information scarcity, negative emotions run rampant. So you had better keep
your employees informed, or they'll make it up, and it won't be flattering.
Of course some leaders think, “I don’t have the time to
keep my people up to date on everything.” But if you don’t have the time to
keep your people informed now, how will you find the time to correct their
misunderstandings later?
If an employee doesn't know exactly what's expected of him,
he can't feel confident that he's doing the right thing the right way. And in
that environment, many employees get lost and demotivated.
3. Stop minimizing the value of
education.
Most employees want to do a good job, at least initially.
They want to give you what you want, and they have every intention of
performing at the level you desire.
Then the company goes through a lot of change. And to make
matters worse, the company may fail to give their employees the training they
need to be effective in the new environment. The result is a further decrease
in employee motivation.
Of course, the company may rationalize their lack of
continuing education by saying it doesn’t work. Oh really?
As Monika Hamori
and Burak Koyuncu reported in the July-August 2012 issue of the "Harvard Business Review", there is
a connection between a lack of formal development (training, mentoring, and
coaching) and the early exit of young managers. In fact, 95 percent of them left their companies 28 months after they
were hired … a very clear sign they were demotivated in their present work
environment.
4. Stop thinking big.
If you think little acts of recognition don’t count, you’re
wrong. Oftentimes the little things are remembered more vividly and impact
motivation more strongly than some formal reward or fancy recognition banquet.
Indeed, most employees will express more excitement about the personal
handwritten thank-you note from the President of the company than the $50 gift
certificate put in the note.
Certainly, there’s a time and place for big formal rewards.
People want to see a prize at the end of a big and time-consuming
project. But if that’s the only recognition they get, it tends to
backfire. So praise the process as well as the product. Praise the little
things that people do right along the way as well as the end result … if you
want long-term motivation.
5. Stop squashing the thinking
process.
Sometimes employees are given the subtle message that “You’re not paid to think.” The
company buys the employees’ physical time and energy but not their minds. It
feels somewhat like prostitution, which invariably makes the employee-provider
feel cheap, used, and demotivated.
Waiting in a post office line, I heard the postal agent explain to his customer that he could send
his package via Priority Mail quicker and cheaper than the First Class he was
requesting. But no matter how much the
agent tried to explain it, the customer replied, “No, my boss told me to send this First Class.” The boss had
squashed the employee’s thinking process; cost the company some money, and
belittled his employee’s ability to make a decision.
By contrast, there is mounting evidence that says employees
who are given the freedom to think are happier, more productive employees.
According to Cameron Doody, the co-founder of Bellhops, "People don't just
want a job anymore; they want a fulfilling job. And fulfillment at work comes
with the freedom to make decisions and own your position.”
In following this thinking principle, Bellhops, a company
that contracts local college students for small-scale residential moving jobs
in their city, gives its employees complete autonomy over their schedule, who
they work with, and how much money they make. As a result, Bellhops grew from
2,000 to 10,000 employees in just one year.
