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Article Series: Motivation
What Will It Take To Motivate Me?
A
Motiviating Work Environment:
Minimize Rules and Restrictions
People are motivated by a variety of things.
A person’s motivation can be as different or unique as they
are. Some people are motivated to change their appearance while
others are motivated by their own happiness or their family’s
happiness. Others are motivated by money. When it comes to
work, many people are not motivated to do much of anything
except show up and collect a paycheck. It is our job as managers
to create an environment in which employees are motivated to
do a better job and move forward.
A popular Gallop Poll stated that about 20%
of people questioned described themselves as “actively
disengaged” at work. Most
of these people also said that they were not given the proper
tools to do their job or that they were not given clear directions
for completing the task. From this Poll, we are shown statistics
that are amazing. These employees who are being described as
“actively disengaged” are costing employers more than 300 billion
dollars a year! This same Poll showed that these people are
more likely to miss work or to be late and are also described
as less loyal to their jobs.
One of the most common mistakes that employers make is creating
too many rules and regulations for employees to follow. This
is highly un-motivating for the employee! They feel that they
are not being allowed to creatively carry out tasks for fear
of constantly breaking a rule! Furthermore, their feelings
were likely not considered when these rules were created in
the first place. Feeling as though you are an active member
of the team and that your feelings are considered when making
decisions (even when they are not) is very motivating for an
employee!
Making employees feel that they are not
trusted is another
major mistake that management often makes. Creating rules and
polices that question an employee’s trustworthiness is common
practice in major businesses. For example only allowing a certain
number of days off when a family member dies assuming that
if there was no limit on the number of days, the employee would
take advantage of their time off.
These are some tips for how to create a work environment in
which employees do not feel like they are not trusted and that
they can express themselves: An environment that fosters motivation
in the workplace.
Guidelines for a Motivating Work Environment
Keep rules and policies to a minimum. Rules are there to protect
your business and create organization, if a rule does not serve
that purpose only, then you will need to consider retiring
that particular policy.
After the rules are established, it is essential that all
employees know what is expected of them. Make sure that the
rules and/or policies are published and posted in a manner
in which all employees are aware.
Create a code of conduct. Make this a collaborative effort
which involves all or most of the employees that work with
you. Use this to identify values that should be held on high
in your organization.
Follow the rules. As a manager it is your job to be sure that
not only the employees are following the rules, but that you
are as well. All members of management should follow the rules
that have been established. The employees should notice a sense
of consistency from the management team rather than employees
knowing which managers will let them “get away” with things
while others will not.
Management should recognize and address inappropriate behaviors
on an as-needed basis rather than picking and/or “waiting”
for someone to mess up. Use counseling or a progressive discipline
approach rather than a “you’re in trouble” approach.
Clearly communicate work place expectations and guidelines
for professional behavior.
Ask for employee feedback on rules and policies that are in
use. Also ask for ideas about editing the policies. Sometimes
your employees have great ideas; after all, they do the job
everyday!
Be sure that these newfound ideas of consistency in enforcing
policy don’t come as a shock to employees. IF you have been
letting employees “get away” with things in the past, you should
meet with them and explain the policy as it is published and
let them know about your change and the change that is expected
in them.
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by SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
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