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There are two widely divergent schools of thought when it comes to comes to how work teams and the individuals in the team can be optimally motivated to give it their best shot, not just once or twice, but all the time, and consistently:
The contention that motivation must come from within
Here, we are regularly told that no manager on earth motivate his staff from above and get them to perform at an optimum level - they maintain that all motivation must ultimately come from within.
Output and performance is directly related to financial and tangible rewards
There is a strong culture in primarily sales-focused companies to reward their front-line sales executives by way of monetary incentives which can be directly related to their measured against their sales performance in the field.
Regrettably, these dollar-based incentives are usually made on an individual basis, with the star performer most often coming off best. On the face of it, one could assume that there is little inherently wrong with this approach. But what happens in practice belies this, as it often deteriorates into an every man for himself situation, and even a dog eat dog scenario.
The unintended consequences are often yet further disharmony and division permeating, first the sales staff bickering over whose territory is whose and this then trickles on to the support staff who can be justifiably peeved that they deserve a proportional slice of the cheesecake.
Beyond doubt is that every one likes to be at the receiving end of some form of recognition, especially extra cash. From a managerial perspective, it always makes good business sense to bolster a desired performance level with an appropriate reward. Across a wide spectrum of business models it is accepted that rewards play an important part in job performance, motivation and productivity.
The royal road to recognition of employee achievement, properly handled, can make your workplace a haven for high productivity, if you take the trouble to follow some simple guidelines which have been shown to work at the coal face.
The formula must be: Performance = Reward
- The company incentive scheme can only be effective and have real meaning if employees can easily draw a parallel between what lands up in their back pocket related to actual job performance.
- The criteria used for the assessment of rewards must always be totally transparent, and also easy to understand at every level. Length of service should not be a factor in an incentive-based reward scheme.The reward or bonus should be directly related to the financial benefit - the bottom line of the company
Ensure balance and congruence in the scheme by resorting to company-wide consultation
- Establish a forum of innovatively minded managers, and then rope in past, and good performers to oversee incentive plans. Make sure the forum does not get bogged down, by ensuring that you periodically introduce new blood into the team.
- Bottom line: Scheme benefits must reach every segment of the organisation, and a t every level across the board. You cannot afford to exclude anybody from top executives to the excavator operator. Ignore him at your peril, as he will dig the hole you fall into! Avoid paying strictly time-related benefits, such as the traditional end-of-year bonus. This type of incentive loses its impact when employees just expect it to be paid, irrespective of their level of performance.
- Adopt a two-pronged payment approach by rewarding both individual and team performance. This will serve to ensure that you get a good team spirit, and then stellar individual performance.
- Encourage managers to acknowledge staff and team performance in writing, and to document accomplishments in a specific way.
- Insist on input from top managers to ensure that their participation will encourage their enthusiasm for any performance output.
Identify any rewards that your staff will prize
- The saying goes, somewhat mischievously perhaps that everybody has their price. The fact is though, any incentive scheme must provide rewards that are valued by members of your staff. Some credible research has shown that they are generally in the following bracket, in order of importance:
- A good income, and the opportunity to advance within the organisation
- Being paid on merit, emanating from inherent and acquired skills
- The opportunity to work in a creative and challenging environment with concomitant financial rewards and incentives.
- Being able to participate in meaningful decision-making, which encourages loyalty to the objectives of the organisation.
- Attractive fringe benefits, including paid medical aid, pension and share options
Extra-curricular incentives
There are many creative ways of rewarding staff when related to excellence, which can further accelerate their performance, such as:
- Tickets to sought-after sporting events, and,
- Shares and access to the company gym
- Wall plaques and certificates
- A weekend in the company seaside cottage.
- A visit to a Wine farm, including samples to take home
- Team conferences at a game ranch.
- Overseas research trip
- An upmarket restaurant dinner.
You will discover that this sort of variety is appreciated by most staff (you always get the cynics) if it is awarded judiciously for due performance. Not just handed out like sweets.
Act quickly, don't ever dilly-dally
When performance results are made available (and make sure it is done without delay) respond with rewards as soon as possible. People will respond accordingly
Don't be shy about making it all public
Find a way to make a big deal out of excellent performance - but always keep it real: Artificial functions are always a major put-off. Sincerity will win the day in the form of a brief presentation during the day - not waiting for when people need to get home in the traffic, and to their families. Be flexible - it will pay YOU huge dividends.
