Human Resource Development

In many companies, work has become a place of disillusionment. Employees start with enthusiasm and creativity, but day after day they feel more and more helpless, as if they don't have any real choices anymore. Employees are overwhelmed, exhausted and bored. They feel like they have been shot down. Complaining and ridiculing others becomes the norm. The ""romance"" is gone. If this scenario sounds like your company, don't despair. Deep down, employees are begging to gain a sense of hope and enthusiasm again, but they need your help. If you make a genuine effort to follow these ten tips, you will not only notice attitude shifts, but real changes in behavior among your employees. Give it a shot, and watch the fun return!

1. WALK YOUR TALK. Instead of talking about better communication, start communicating better. By developing open two-way conversations that are energetic and contagious, your employees will feel comfortable to speak their mind. Make sure you listen to what is not being said. Include employees in meetings to get their perspective. Make your meetings interesting by surprising your employees with a new incentive or a message of appreciation. These ideas show that you are not just the leader, but one who really cares.

2. BE SUPPORTIVE. Discuss the weaknesses in the system without blaming individuals. Look at employee wish lists and follow-up with their requests. Ask them what they need from management to feel more valued. Employees need to know that their concerns are being heard. They need not only constructive feedback, they also need positive comments. When employees meet deadlines or suggest creative solutions that positively affect the bottom-line, recognize the behavior immediately. Include their names in a company newsletter, write a personal note and send it to their home, or place an advertisement in the local newspaper showing how much you appreciate your great people.

3. BE A LEADER WITH VISION. True leadership requires foresight, integrity and trust from both sides. Leadership liberates employees, by giving them direction and letting them do the job. Set up periodic reality checks to evaluate their progress, to make sure they are moving in the right direction. They need to know you are willing to hear about ideas they have - to make the company better than it already is today. Share your vision with them so they feel in the loop. Employees tell me rumors and back- biting would stop if only leaders would share future goals and visions of the company.

4. USE STRAIGHT TALK. Straight talk means being able to communicate without alienation or hurt feelings. Many managers have found straight talk to be very difficult. They cannot communicate criticism or compliments without feeling uncomfortable. Managers and employees need to learn to be direct and truthful. Encourage straight talk by thinking about what you really want to say, writing it down and practicing it. After you've practiced, how do you feel about yourself? If you feel good, try it with your employees. If you still are not sure, start from the beginning and figure out a better way to communicate your message. Make straight talk a habit. The more you use it, the more comfortable you will feel. It is important to tell others what they need to hear, not necessarily what they want to hear. I encourage leaders to tell their employees that constructive feedback is a gift. This is an area that some people still feel uncomfortable with, however, necessary in order for us to continually improve and grow.

5. BUILD SUPPORTIVE TEAMS. Build teams within departments, and throughout the entire company, to allow an open discussion of dreams and obstacles. Remove job descriptions that keep people stuck in a box. Reward employees who help others and contribute to the company as a whole. There are many exercises that can help teams to find their strengths and weaknesses. These exercises can remove barriers and blind spots and move the team forward. The ""we versus they"" attitude must be eliminated in order to make the team work. We don't need tolike each other. We do need to respect each other's differences. The most successful teams are the ones with diverse members. They bring in different ideas and a variety of strengths.

6. ENCOURAGE CREATIVITY AND LAUGH AT MISTAKES. When employees aren't afraid to take risks, their creativity will soar. Feeling ""in"" on things is still a major concern of employees. They have great ideas, yet are afraid to voice them. This is such a waste of possible solutions to key challenges of a company. Front line employees have a different perspective and must feel comfortable to share their ideas. Encourage this creativity on a regular basis. Les Wexner from The Limited has meetings called ""The Hall of Shame,"" where he tells his employees the biggest mistake he made during the week. He then asks each employee to reveal his or her biggest mistake, and encourages them to describe how the entire group can learn from that mistake. This idea works wonders when the leader begins the process. The question following this exercise is, ""What did we learn from it?"" Make sure to add some fun in order to make people feel comfortable with this idea.

7. EMPOWER EMPLOYEES TO FEEL LIBERATED. Managers and employees need time alone, time to think creatively. Intense and important work requires reflection. Companies that are obsessed with productivity usually have little patience for the quiet time essential for profound creativity. An element of fun lifts morale and increases productivity. Have each employee bring in his or her favorite dessert one day, and listen to the laughter begin. Ask them what they need to do in order to improve morale.

8. HELP EMPLOYEES FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH CHANGE. Learn how to start over and let go of ideas that may have worked in the past, but are no longer effective today. Remind your team that status quo is the kiss of death. We need to constantly look for new ways of doing business. The minute that someone says how good you are is the minute you need to improve. Companies that fail start believing in their own hype! Confront today's challenges while simultaneously probing new opportunities. Eat change for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

9. INSIST THAT EMPLOYEES ALWAYS KEEP THE CUSTOMER IN MIND. You have a lot of competition. Make sure your employees know why customers keep signing your contracts. Realize that curiosity will always lead employees down new paths. Ask employees ""How can we exceed our customers' expectations by knowing their needs, emotions and wants?"" Get employees involved with customers. This way employees feel like part of the team. They will be able to get into the customer's shoes and hear what ""keeps them up at night."" They can take the ideas back to the team and figure out how to go the extra mile to help the customer. An employee with a customer focus will naturally be creative and intuitive.

10. KEEP EMPLOYEES FOCUSED ON THEIR CHEERLEADERS AND FANS. Have your employees make a list of ten clients or co-workers that are thrilled with them and the way they conduct business. Ask your employees to figure out new ways to service their clients to help them in any way they can. Employees will shape their own future as they build relationships with their fans.

These ten tips will WOW your customers and make your competition drool. Your employees will feel like they are part of the company, as they come to work energized and full of passion. Have fun being an intuitive and creative leader. Encourage others to follow in your footsteps. Don't be surprised if YOU end up falling in love with your job again.

Source: http://www.cpsa.com/knowledgecentre/SRCArticleRead.aspx?articleID=159

Almost all employees want to do interesting work, secure a good salary and earn recognition for their contributions. But motivating employees takes more than money and an occasional “thank-you.” It requires a strategy tailored to each worker’s needs.

In HR, you work with your company’s managers to get the most out of your employees. Here are 10 ways to make your motivational techniques work for every employee.

1. Ask what they want out of work. Just knowing that an HR manager or boss is interested in a worker's goals will make many employees feel better about their jobs. It can be difficult to get a quick and accurate answer to this question, however. Some workers may say that they want to work on a prestigious project, for example, only to discover once they have been assigned to the project that it isn’t what they expected.

It may help to ask a more specific question. Have workers describe a previous project that they felt good about, then see what aspects of that can be repeated, suggested Michael Beasley, a career-development and executive coach who owns Career-Crossings in Portola Valley, Calif.

2. Consider each employee’s age and life stage. There are exceptions to every generalization, of course, but workers nearing the end of their careers are often less focused on the next promotion than those who are just starting to climb the corporate ladder. Younger workers may also be less accustomed than older ones to waiting patiently in a job they don’t find interesting.

3. Match motivators to the company or department culture. Again, there are exceptions, but engineers are likely to be motivated by working on cutting-edge projects. On the other hand, sales professionals tend to use money as a way to measure how well they’re doing.

4. Pinpoint each employee’s personality. Some people love public praise; others are mortified by it and would much prefer a sincere, in-person “thank-you.” Make sure you take this into account if you are planning a ceremony to give awards or other recognition.

5. Use flexibility wisely. Allowing employees to telecommute some of the time or to set their own office hours can have big benefits. It makes employees’ lives more manageable — and it shows them that they are trusted.

Still, as with other motivators, one size does not fit all. Some jobs simply can’t be done effectively outside the office. And some workers actually like going in to the office to escape the distractions of home or to preserve a line between home and work. “As long as the commute is not bad, some people would rather go in to work,” said Marianne Adoradio, a Silicon Valley recruiter and career counselor.

6. Put money in its place. How well does money motivate workers? The answer isn’t simple. An employee who demands a raise might really be unhappy because his or her suggestions are being ignored, for example. And surveys and experts offer different answers about how important money is, depending on how the question is phrased.

Dee DiPietro, founder and CEO of Advanced-HR Inc., described money as “a baseline”: too little of it can make workers feel unappreciated and resentful. “You don’t want compensation working against you as a motivator,” she said. “People just don’t want to feel like their employer is taking advantage of them.” However, motivation to work hard rarely comes solely from money. If your employees are being paid fair salaries and still seem unwilling to go the extra mile, throwing more money at them is unlikely to be the answer.

7. Don’t rely on stock options. If money is an unreliable motivator, stock options are even less likely to motivate most workers. Employee worth goes up and down with a company’s stock price — something very few workers feel they can control.

DiPietro considers options “more of a retention tool” because they vest over several years. But she said that most employees simply lump them together with their salary when they consider how much they’re being paid for their work. “People tend to look at the whole cash package,” she said.

8. Offer help with career goals. When you ask workers what kind of work they enjoy, also find out about what they’re hoping to do in the future. Giving workers opportunities to build the skills and make the connections they need to get ahead in their careers will build loyalty and motivation.

9. Help employees learn. It’s very important for workers to keep learning new skills on the job. With people changing jobs more often than they used to and companies no longer promising long-term employment, younger workers in particular realize that continuing to learn is the way to stay employable, said Leslie G. Griffen, managing partner of Career Management Associates, in Overland Park, Kan.

“Kids today are really under pressure to keep adding knowledge,” Griffen said. “I think learning is huge: the ability to gather new knowledge on the job.”

Organized classes and seminars are one way to help with this, as are tuition-reimbursement programs. But in many cases, it’s a matter of listening to what skills a worker is interested in acquiring, then giving the person a chance to work on a project that will develop those skills. 

10. Recognize that motivation isn’t always the answer. If your motivation efforts aren’t working, it may not be your fault. “Not everyone can be motivated for that particular job,” Beasley said. If an employee would really rather be doing something else, it may be best to encourage him or her to pursue something new.

Source: http://www.hrworld.com/features/ten-motivational-tips-112807/