Posted by Celia Couture on Thu, Feb 25, 2010 @ 11:35 AM
The January/February issue of Harvard Business Review wrote a great article entiled, "What Really Motivates Workers?" by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer. I found the central theme of the article quite interesting. Most leaders assume that employees are motivated by money, reward systems or recognition. I would have agreed with them, but the study conducted by Amabile and Kramer over a multi-year study in a wide variety of industries found that workers are MOST motivated by "progress."
Workers want to feel that at the end of a work day they are making a difference in their jobs, or when they receive support to overcome obstacles and their energy level is at its greatest when their "drive to succeed is at its peak." Worker are most disheartened when they feel demotivated or when they are somehow thwarted in their efforts to make forward progress. There exists an inherent connection between employee motivation and meeting job objectives. Even minor accomplishments help workers feel good about what they do.
So why is this important for leaders to know? The key to helping your employees become more motivated and emotionally invested in the job is in your hands! Managers have total control over helping their employees achieve goals. You can provide guidance, assist them with overcoming obstacles in their work and you can encourage them to succeed.
It also means that you have to be decisive, adhere to goals and objectives and hold employees accountable for results. Changes in the work place requiring shifting of responsibilities, downsizing or reorganizing are the most difficult times to keep employees motivated. During these times, continue to make sure that employees are focusing on the goals. Celebrate progress often and on a regular basis and your employees will continue to achieve progress on a daily basis.
Posted by Celia Couture on Tue, Feb 16, 2010 @ 09:00 PM
The recent news coverage of children bullying other children has unfortunately reached epidemic proportions in our schools. Recently, a young student was cyber bullied to such a degree that she committed suicide. We here stories like this and are dismayed, concerned and angered. Why are parents not doing their jobs? Why are innocent children taking their lives? Why do other children feel compelled to treat each other this way? All of these questions have been pondered and studied by school officials, the police and psychologist. I'm not sure anyone has a good answer. We can only hope as adults that if we discover this behavior we intercede in the hope of helping one child. I often wonder then if there is strong link between the behavior by children and similar behavior I see as a management consultant.
As a management consultant, I am in the business of helping companies with employee relations. I am often asked by employees how a manager can get away with treating employees terribly?
According to Teresa A. Daniel, an employment lawyer, author and principal consultant at InsideOut HR solutions, "While it may be disconcerting and unprofessional, it is universally not illegal in the US for managers t threaten, insult, humiliate, ignore, or mock employees. Nor is it illegal to gossip and spread rumors, withhold information, or take credit for someone else's work. Unfortunately, these bullying tactics are not rare; they take place with frequency."
What is workplace bullying? The legal definition refers to "repeat and persistent attempts by one person to torment, tear down, frustrate or get a reaction from another. It is treatment which persisently provokes, pressures, frightens, intimidates or otherwise discomforts another person." (The Harrassed Worker, by Dr. Carroll M. Brodsky)
An even more frightening statistic: In a survey of 1,000 U.S. employee by Employment Law Alliance in San Francisco, nearly 45 percent of the respondents scored that they have worked for abusive bosses. It is further estimated that 37 percent of American workers, roughly 54 million people, would report being bullied at work.
Under federal law, it is unlawful for an employer to harass any member of a protected class based on race , religion, physical or mental disability, sex, or age, but the government still has not extended the law to prohibit workplace bullying.
While we continue to work to improve employee satisfaction in their work worlds it is critical for us to pay attention to the warning signs that employees may be enduring difficult workplace environments at the hands of their bosses. There is a huge difference between a tough boss and a bully. Part of our many responsibilities is to help coach and protect employees while discerning what type of problem you are really dealing with. If a person acts without malice we may just have a tough boss. If a person acts with malice, we have a bully.
While conflict exists in the workplace, groups led by tough bosses work to resolve problems through respectful communication. A bully simply doesn't care!
Posted by Celia Couture on Mon, Feb 08, 2010 @ 11:37 AM
In order to succeed as a leader you must have change management skills. You have to learn how translate what executives in the company are trying to do on behalf of employees who may not have all the details. Organizational change can be easy to understand. The leader must decrease objections to change and help to generate excitement and enthusiasm. Although this may be a fairly easy activity to grasp, it can be incredibly difficult to execute and manage the change process within your organizations. To do so, you must craft a well-organized plan.
Take a look at these key management tips to help you to lay the foundation.
- Find the cheerleader: Who is the person in the organization that is well-respected,a stakeholder that you need to work wih and ensure they are on the same page. It may be that your cheerleaders change depending upon the stage of change you are in, but you must make an effort to find them.
- Justify the change You might be tempted to skip this step. You can't. Even if the change is inevitable, you must be able to help employess understand why this is a good thing for them and for the company. You need to work closely with your "cheerleaders" so that they can help you create a sense of ownership and acountability.
- Create a plan: So many companies make the mistakes of not sitting down and defining the plan for change. You need to have a strategy for how you are going to deliver the major change elements, what type of communication tools you will need to have in place and the frequency of that communication. You will need to determine who needs to be brought in to the change before the communication so that you can avoid any last minute objections.
- Determine the change reasons: Why does the change need to happen? What activity or business condition is pushing the change? Are you responding to competitor information, financial or economic pressures, or events completely out of you control, like work force reduction. Whatever the reasons, make sure you integrate them as you determine your action pla for change.
Finally, remember to give people enough time to absorb the change. Don't underestimate how long it takes employees to internalize the change and respond to it.