With so much time being spent on developing strategies to grow and scale their business, I find that business owners spend little time on developing strategies geared at motivating employees and inspiring them to greatness. Yet it’s clear that if you have any hope of growing a successful business, you need your employees to be engaged and to consistently deliver their best work.
Here are the 2 things to consider when seeking to motivate your staff:
True Employee Motivators vs Hygiene Factors
American psychologist and business management guru, Frederick Herzberg’s ‘true motivators’ and ‘hygiene factors’ provides a simple framework. These two concepts help unpack motivation, as what business owners think motivates people is often far from the truth.
- True motivators are factors such as:
- Recognition
- Responsibility
- The opportunity to do something meaningful
- Involvement in decision-making
- Challenging work and
- Feeling important in the business.
These factors give positive satisfaction that provides motivation.
Motivated people = productive people = high output.
Unmotivated people = unproductive people = Low output.
2. Hygiene factors are factors such as:
- status
- job security
- salary/wages
- fringe benefits
- work conditions
- paid insurance
- holidays
These do not provide positive satisfaction nor do they motivate BUT their absence can create significant dissatisfaction.
It’s important to get the mix of the two right to bring out the best in your people. While certain basic principles apply to everyone, what makes the task of management so fascinating is that the mix differs from person to person.
Some people need constant guidance and reassurance; give a job to others and they are happy to get on with it. Some have high status needs; others do not give a fig about status. Some perform better with moderate but secure levels of pay; others respond better to low guaranteed pay levels and high incentives. Then there are some people (and I have met some) who don’t seem to care much for money. Some respond incredibly well to loads of work; others fret, worry and suffer nervous tension causing performance to suffer. The skilled owner recognises these differences and adjusts his or her management style accordingly.
The true motivators are difficult but they can be implemented successfully by any thinking leader and are what really matter. The hygiene factors are the easier to implement and often form part of the business strategy. When determining how to motivate your employees, remember that what might seem like a small thing to you could be a big deal to your staff. Understanding what motivates your people and getting this mix right will ultimately create excellence in your business.
Keeping your staff motivated is not a once off event
Keeping your staff motivated and engaged is certainly not a once off event either. Zig Ziglar, the internationally recognised motivational speaker, trainer and author said, “Of course motivation is not permanent. But then, neither is bathing; but it is something you should do on a regular basis”. So when it comes to employee motivation, you’ll need to keep at it. Let me know if you’d like to chat about how to go about doing that – I’d be happy to engage with you. Email: james@grow.za.com
