Motivating Unmotivated People

Motivating Unmotivated People

By John Strelecky- Author of The Why Are You Here Caf้

If you walk around a Walt Disney World resort or theme park,
you are likely to witness something that in most other settings
would seem bizarre. Not the presence of a large animated
character, although you may witness that also. Rather, at any
given moment, a person in dress clothes will be walking from one
destination to another and will stop, pick up a piece of paper,
a cup, or other piece of trash someone dropped, and throw it in
a trash can. Executives do it, front line managers do it, hourly
employees do it, everybody does it. There is no special monetary
compensation for this behavior. No point system exists where $5
bonuses are given out for every fifteen pieces of trash that
someone picks up. There is also no special monitoring system in
place which watches for people who don’t do it and then issues
penalty points or demerits. Yet, people are motivated to do it
anyway. Now, picking up trash may not be your top concern, but
are there other things in your department, division, or company
that you would like your employees to do? Are you looking for
ways to motivate your people? The answer is not pixie dust or
magic. The key is being very good at employing five essential
motivation steps. To some leaders these steps can seem
intimidating. First time managers in particular, who were
promoted because of their individual skills are often
uncomfortable with these ideas. Many times they feel people
should just do what needs to be done “Because that is what they
get paid for.” Or they believe the only way to motivate people
is to give them more money. Successful motivators don’t think
that way. They know that by following the five steps, people can
be motivated far beyond what they get paid for, and far more
effectively than when money is the only incentive.

Step #1 Clearly Articulate What Needs to be Accomplished and Why
Often the problem with getting people to accomplish things is
not that they are unmotivated, it is that they are uninformed.
Leaders discuss goals with their peers and superiors on a
regular basis and are therefore intimately familiar with them.
Because of this familiarity, they mistakenly assume all of their
employees also know them. Usually this is not the case. Take
time to explain to all of your employees exactly what needs to
be accomplished and the reasons why. Don’t forget the “Why?”
Knowing that enables people to make educated choices in their
day to day decisions. For example, the output from a team at a
market research company whose goal is to launch three new
products, will vary greatly depending on if they know that the
“Why?” is because the company is losing market share to
competitors with products that can be downloaded from the
Internet. Goals should always include specific numeric
objectives and timelines. A goal of “Improve Customer Service”
is nebulous and people won’t know how they are doing in their
efforts to achieve it. However, “Decrease customer wait times to
10 seconds by June 1st” is something people can visualize and
work toward.

Step #2 Involve People in Finding the Solutions People are more
motivated to succeed at something if they personally choose to
attempt it. Therefore, managers should involve their people in
choosing the goals the group needs to accomplish. If this is not
possible, then involving people in the creation of how to
achieve the goals is the next best thing. Their involvement will
generate buy in and also opens up the opportunity for an optimal
solution. Successful coaches use this technique on a regular
basis. While it is true they watch hours and hours of game films
looking for weaknesses in their own team as well as their
competitors, they also involve their players in finding the best
way to win. They do it because no matter how much film they
watch, or how close they are to the game, they aren’t in the
game. The perspectives of players or employees who are in the
midst of the action can be drastically different from a coach or
a manager who is near the action. If those perspectives aren’t
incorporated into the solution, two things will happen. First,
those in the midst of the action will feel that no-one is
listening to them, and they will become unmotivated. Second,
decisions will be made without incorporating all the relevant
data. Both of these will negatively impact progress toward the
goals.

Step #3 Explain the Rules of the Game Have you ever played a new
sport or game against people who are experienced players? In the
early stages of learning how to play, every few minutes you do
something which you think is correct only to be told that it is
illegal, or against the rules. It can be exceptionally
frustrating. This scenario often plays out in the workplace.
Employees are given a task, but are not told all the parameters
or rules. Weeks into a project they present their work to
someone only to be informed that they need to change direction
because of something they were never told about. This is
particularly demoralizing and should be avoided at all costs.
People can find solutions to almost any problem, but they need
to know the rules of the game.

Step #4 Link People’s Personal Goals with the Organizations
Goals There is a reason that each employee goes to work.
Successful motivators know what that reason is for every person
who works for them. Each day they help their employees fulfill
those reasons. Really successful motivators understand not only
the reason, but how the reason ties into the person’s bigger
life goals. When necessary, they help their people think about
and articulate those bigger life goals. When a person no longer
thinks “I work so that I can make money,” and instead thinks “I
work so that I can enable my daughter to attend a school that
will give her a chance to go do what she wants in life,” there
is a significant mental and motivational shift that occurs.
Understanding that someone comes to work because they thrive on
personal interaction, are trying to gain experience so they can
run their own corner deli, or whatever is their personal goal,
enables a manager to talk in that person’s language. It also
enables the manager to assign responsibilities in that person’s
area of interest, and remind them of how what they are doing is
tied to their bigger goals. Managers who enable people to
fulfill their life goals through work, never have to worry about
how to motivate their people. The act of fulfilling their life
goals is enough to keep them motivated. All the manager has to
do is find the links between those goals, and the organization’s
needs, and match the two up.

Step #5 Move Negative People off the Team Nothing can halt
progress like someone who is discontent simply for the sake of
being discontent. It is demoralizing to others and it draws
energy and time from the tasks being attempted. That doesn’t
mean you don’t want good “counter-point” people on your team.
Someone who says “Look, I know what we are all trying to do, and
I think there is a better way,” can be a valuable resource to
help make sure the team is on the right track. However, someone
who just regularly says “We’ll never get there,” will just hold
everyone back. Move them off the team, and bring in someone who
will assist and support the group’s efforts.

Whether you are trying to motivate people to help create a
clean environment for guests, or something more pertinent to
your organization, remember that anyone can be a great
motivator. All it takes is an understanding of the appropriate
steps to take and a willingness to do them. This article
contains the steps. The willingness is up to you.