Happy New Year! It's time to go out there and explore new markets, find new ways to add value for clients, improve the company's systems and take another step toward realizing your vision as an organization. Along with the new year comes great potential and excitement, but do employees feel the same way?
On Jan. 4, will you enter your workplace only to find the same old problems you have been dealing with for years?
How do you get employees excited and refreshed about the future of the company?
What won't work
Hiring a brilliant speaker or hanging an inspirational poster of a kitten dangling from a clothesline with the caption "Hang in There!" won't do the trick. A fiery speech or an inspirational poster is a short-term fix. In fact, giving a great speech on a new future of the organization followed by business as usual is a recipe for low morale. As Jim Collins says in his book "Good to Great," "You don't have to motivate people, you just have to not de-motivate them."
The bad news is that you cannot motivate your employees because the human mind doesn't work that way. There are many studies that show people are internally motivated. Anyone with a teenager knows this. If you try to wake a teenager early in the morning to get them somewhere they don't want to go, it is like herding cats. Yet when our church youth group wanted to get seats at an early morning worship service given by a Christian rap artist, the entire group managed to get themselves out of bed very early without any help.
Bolster the troops
The good news is that employers can create an environment where people are more likely to feel motivated. The secret comes in establishing the three factors that lead to motivation: competence, autonomy and relatedness. Competence means having the strengths and experience to accomplish something. Autonomy is freedom within a framework. Relatedness is feeling a common purpose.
In order to rally employees around the vision of the organization, it is very important to focus on three factors. First, make sure that you include employees in at least some part of the vision formulation and the plan for the year. Next, make sure staff members feel qualified to execute the plan. Finally, discuss how each employee will contribute to the plan and how working together will yield more exciting results than any individual could possibly yield alone.
Beware the busters
One particularly bad morale buster is when an organization lacks a clear vision for its future. I have encountered some organizational leaders who avoid talking about the challenging economy with their employees due to fear that it will lower morale. This approach actually leads to lowered morale. If you have no clear view of the future or the role your organization will play in the coming years, it is natural to feel powerless. It is far better to deal with challenges head-on and united. Given the choice of going down swinging or getting a surprise envelope in the mailbox on Friday, most would choose to fight - and the former might prevent the latter.
The world is entering into a new economy with unprecedented communication tools and increasingly savvy consumers. This is not good or bad. It is just different, and different can be exciting. Organizational leaders need to work with their people and utilize the strengths and innovation inherent in their teams to find a path forward.
Develop a strategy and implement tactics that match the skills of employees. Give your people a role in determining their fate, and even the most seasoned employees will get excited about the opportunities ahead.Don Harkey owns Galt Consulting LLC in Springfield, working with clients to reduce costs, improve quality and establish clear visions. He may be reached at
donharkey@galtconsulting.biz.
