Employee Motivation - 10 Tips to Boost Job Performance

Increase Employee Performance by Harnessing the Power of Motivation

Employee motivation and productivity can be enhanced and improved by creating a work environment that maximizes the factors that affect performance. These factors are simple to understand, easy to measure, and can add tremendous value to any organization that is willing to implement them. Use these 10 tips to make sure that your employees are energized and inspired to produce the best results possible.

1. Interesting Work

Intrinsic motivation comes from the shear joy and pleasure of doing a task. When you read a great book, no one has to pay for each page you read. It is a pleasure to learn how the story unfolds and watch the plot develop. It is the same way with employee motivation. To maximize employee performance, find out what employees like about their jobs and then try to add more tasks that align with their own natural interests and talents.

2. Appreciation & Recognition

William James said, "The deepest desire in human nature is to be appreciated." It does not matter how much you pay someone, everyone want to know that their efforts are being seen and appreciated, especially by their manager. Don't just send them a thank you e-mail - that just means you care enough to hit the "Enter" key. If you really want to thank someone buy them a real "Thank You" card and describe how their behavior and performance has added value to the team and organization. Make it a point to catch people doing things right and they will inevitably do things right more often.

3. Feeling Involved In the Work Process

Research shows that when people get to participate in creating a system or process, they are much more likely to follow it than one simply imposed upon them by an outside expert. Recognize that the people doing the job have the knowledge of how things can be done better, faster, and cheaper. If you want them to tell you, then make it easy for them to offer suggestions and reward employees who contribute ideas that add value to the bottom line.

4. Achievement

Napoleon once remarked, "It is amazing how willing men are to risk their lives for a little bit of tin and ribbon to wear upon their chest." Awards and prizes can serve as a great motivator to harness the power of healthy competition. It is always better to use rewards that are meaningful and inspiring. When an employee exceeds your expectations, then make sure you recognize their achievement. On the day someone retires, they will pack up these awards and prizes to serve as fond reminders of a wonderful career.

5. Job Security

If everybody had what it takes to be an entrepreneur, then there would be no General Electric or Toyota and we would all be buying products from artisans and craftworkers. Thankfully, many people prefer to be part of a large organization and can be more productive when they get to focus on doing their job instead of worrying about developing a business plan or marketing strategy. Telling people that they are lucky to have a job creates an atmosphere of fear and worry that decreases job performance. Instead, tell your employees that the company is lucky to have such a skilled and committed workforce and people will take pride in their work and their company.

6. Increased Responsibility

We all know that some employees lack ambition and have no desire to advance on the job, but the vast majority of workers want a chance to take on more responsibility and add more value to the organization. Always be aware of opportunities for training that will equip your employees with the skills and tools they will need to advance in their career. Always try to fill open positions with internal applicants before looking for an outside candidate. This will create a culture of career development and preserve institutional memory and organizational knowledge so that it can be transferred to rising employees as they advance in their own career.

7. Good Wages

Robert Bosch, founder of the world's largest automobile parts supplier, said, "I do not pay good wages because I have a lot of money; I have a lot of money because I pay good wages." If you want motivated, high productive employees you have to pay such people according to their ability and performance. Good employees are motivated by more than just good wages, but never allow low wages to be the wedge a competitor can use to steal away your best people.

8. Good Working Conditions

If you want to get the most out of people you need to create an environment that facilitates success. At the minimum, you must offer a safe, clean, and sanitary work site. To get the most out of employees, help them take pride in their workspace, even if it is only a cubicle or workstation. Allow people to personalize their own work sites with photos or small trinkets so they will feel like they have a place that belongs solely to them.

9. Being Part of a Team

Being part of a dysfunctional team is an emotionally draining experience that results in low morale, low productivity, and high turnover. The great coach, Vince Lombardi, once remarked, "Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." We are all social beings and we all want to be part of a healthy team where we can give and receive support, help, and encouragement. Organizations can harness this natural human desire by aligning employee efforts to achieve goals that are mutually beneficial to both the organization and its employees.

10. Help with Personal Problems

How many times have you heard about a bad boss who told their employees to leave their problems at the door so they could focus on their job? Unfortunately, they probably left their motivation and productivity at the door as well. Smart managers know that it is not their job to be a counselor or therapist, but it is there job to recognize when one of their employees is having personal problems that are affecting their job performance. They need to have open lines of honest communication so that employees can feel encouraged to ask for help and then be directed to their Human Resources Department or their Employee Assistance Programs.

Thomas Haizlip is an executive coach who works with college educated, mid and senior level managers. He specializes in three types of clients:

1. High Potential- clients that need fast track development,

2. Valuable, But Risking Derailment - clients who are competent, but are not performing well now because of poor people skills,

3. Diamonds in the Rough- clients who are technically competent but are not advancing because of a lack of emotional intelligence and limited leadership competencies.

Tom 

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Excellent public speaking tips

Public speaking is the number one fear ranking above death in many psychology polls. People are gripped by fear and phobic when it comes to public speaking. Even trained public speakers still feel butterflies in their stomach when getting ready to present a public speech. The famous Greek orator Demosthenes actually put pebbles in his mouth to help him with his speeches to alter the sound quality. Whether public speaking presentations inspire a crowd or instill fear in an audience, many of the key techniques for convincing an audience remain the same. While there may be some argument in the field, and there may be variations on the theme, this article will focus on two key areas, and throw in some of the more classic thoughts. The two key areas deal with audience. Is your audience friendly to your ideas or hostile or of an opposite point of view. This is of vast importance for a speaker. Exploring these factors as well as others is a good starting point for a new public speaker, as well as an excellent refresher course for even veteran public speakers.

First and foremost one must consider whether your audience favors the topic you may be presenting. Do they agree with your point of view? In a debate will they support your points or would they oppose them. While we will look at ideas like credibility of a speaker, and the demographics of the age range, gender, and other aspects of population, we will focus here on the first basic. If your audience agrees with your point of view then it alright to focus or concentrate on the topic to the exclusion of opposing points of view. If your contention is the legalization of marijuana and you think that it is a good thing, because it could be taxed, has great possibilities for medical assistance, and does not have enough of a detrimental effect on motivation to merit being illegal, then that would probably be all you would have to say. If you are addressing Pot Farmers of America, then you obviously are addressing a hypothetical audience that is in your camp, on your side. Studies in social psychology have found that if you present your supporting points for your argument ot a group that is in favor of your main point then they will quickly support or buy into the other apects of your speech. They will listen with some detail and probably even be able to remember the supporting points. Why you may ask? Because it agrees with their preconceived notions, it agrees with the opinion they already have and therefore is appealing to them at the outset.

This is also a good reason to craft your speeches towards a specific audience and even IF it seems your topic does not tie into Protect the Rare Soon to Be Extinct Cockroach, then you had better tie your speech into that belief system somehow IF you can. This of course can go towards credibility, so on should not stretch your powers of persuasion too much. What is key here is, does your audience agree with your presentation, and if not you might be able to craft it to fit. In the final analysis though, you might have to approach it from another angle altogether, and that is the second major section of this article, convincing those who oppose your point of view.

When an audience is in opposition to your point of view, studies in social psychology have proven that it is of primary importance to address the oppositions arguments. If you just present your arguments or supporting points in favor of your topic, then you will lose your audience. They will shut down, turn off, tune out and others feel you are not a credible speaker. Primarily because they do not feel you are being intellectually honest. You are not addressing the real issues, the real arguments you are not basically addressing them. Therefore you must present your argument, then your main points, and then state the oppositions primary argument, then rip it to pieces. Discredit it. By doing this you address the opposition and give them something new to think about. They look at the weak spot in their position as well as the supportive information you have give them. You have planted the seed of doubt. You may have swayed them to your way of thinking. You might be a fine public speaker with excellent credibility, vocal tone, good body language, hand gestures, excellent research and material in the body of your speech, a powerful beginning, a rousing ending, good humor and a key joke. But if you fail to address the opposing point it will all have been for naught. If the argument is that the United States is a parallel model to the Roman Empire, with similar economic, social and political structures and you present that, but the audience doesn't agree, you have a problem. Some of the audience members may feel the United States has pulled out of an economic slump similar to that of the Roman Empire, where the middle class was being unduly taxed and it destroyed the finances of the Empire. The opposing point is that the United States will not repeat history, will not decline and fall. The speaker will have to address that issue even if it is not voiced, IF that is one of the strongest arguments against his or her thesis. It might be addressed by stating that economics are cyclical and fluid and that the United States might be experiencing unprecedented economic boom right now, but that eventually unless are changed in a more permanent mode, depression will follow, or at least the continued erosion of the middle class. If you as a speaker feel the opposition might have several strong points address several of them being sure to be balanced but to plant the seed of doubt at the very least, and try to undermine the foundation of the opposing viewpoint. This allows you the balanced view of being fair and educated in the eyes of your audience.

While there is a vast amount of material on public speaking studies do not lie. Credibility of the speaker is important. Knowing the age of the group, their political affiliation, their religion, their gender and more are all important. Having a commanding presence, charisma, a strong voice, excellent posture and so many other tricks of the trade are polish upon a gem in the rough. However the two key secrets of public speaking success are found in the field of social psychology and are reflected above. Know thy audience. Are they most likely to be in favor of what your present or oppose it. Is it a mixed audience? If so be prepared to address the opposition. With these two keys you map out victory in your presentations. All the rest is really just window dressing.

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Career Development: 20 Tips for the Young

After watching careers for almost forty years, I've got a clear idea of what you should do to build yours. Here's some advice if you're starting out.

1. Seek and use feedback. Feedback will turbocharge your career and put you on the path to continuous improvement.

2. Get help. You can't know it all yourself. Get help from mentors, friends, peers, books, classes and role models.

3. Seek out challenges. That's how you grow.

4. At some point you will fail. It will be painful. Instead of sitting in the ashes of your life and shaking your fist at the sky, pick yourself up, learn from what happened and keep going. Ask my mother's favorite question for all challenges: "What good can we make of this?"

5. Build on your strengths and help others build on their strengths. Figure out what you do both well and joyfully. Do the same for your team. Spend your time on developing and using strengths. Make weaknesses irrelevant.

6. Admit your mistakes, graciously. Forgive the mistakes others make. Figure out how to move on and learn from experience.

7. Say "Thank you." Write thank-you notes. Send thank-you emails. People will remember you.

8. Learn to write lucid memoranda. You can't communicate if you can't write.

9. Learn to make good presentations. In today's world this is a requirement. Learn to marshal the research. Learn to tell relevant stories.

10. Help your boss and your employer look good. That's part of your job and it pays dividends over the course of a career.

11. Learn to keep your mouth shut when it's important. Don't discuss sensitive issues or your customer's business on your cell phone in a public place. Don't gossip. Keep sensitive documents secure.

12. Clarify expectations until they are crystalline. Make sure you understand what your boss wants from you. Make sure the people who work with you understand what you want.

13. Fight for the important stuff and give in gracefully otherwise. There are very few things in business or in life that are worth messing up a relationship for.

14. Develop habits and checklists that help you get the routine work done routinely and well. You will develop a reputation for reliability.

15. You don't know when an opportunity to stand out from the crowd will appear. Read and study and listen so that you're ready when a big opportunity comes your way. Create learning programs for yourself.

16. Ambition can be a driving force but it needn't be obvious and self-serving. It certainly needn't be aggressive. Let others become known for their ambition while you build a reputation for excellence.

17. Keep your promises. Nothing can destroy a career faster or more thoroughly than a reputation as untrustworthy.

18. Every day identify the most important thing you need to do. Then do it.

19. Work hard. Some people succeed without working hard, but some people win the lottery, too. Very few people achieve meaningful and lasting success without working hard.

20. When in doubt about what to do, act like the person you want to become.

Remember that careers are built from the things you do every day. You're more likely to succeed in the long run if you take every opportunity to develop yourself, your skills, your friends, and your relationships. Good luck.

Wally Bock helps organizations improve productivity and morale by selecting and developing great leaders at all levels. He coaches individual managers, and is a popular speaker at meetings and conferences in the US and elsewhere. This article first appeared in the Three Star Leadership Blog ( http://blog.threestarleadership.com/ ). Check out Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit ( http://www.threestarleadership.com/supervisorsupportkit/ ).

By Wally Bock

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Organizing Tips

Manage your time - don't just "walk" through the room. Look around and take a moment to plan and then straighten up the cushions, pick up the old newspaper, and remove the clutter. This is what the organizational part is all about. You'll leave the room with a better organized appearance than when you walked in and you won't have to make the second or third trip back to remove clutter or straighten the magazines. That's what planning and organizing is all about!
Make every effort to finish what you begin. It's easy to be distracted, lose your train of thought and actually forget what you were doing when organizing. Stay focused. If you must tear yourself away from what you are doing, get back to it before you quit for the day and finish it - if it is at all possible.
Whether at the office or at home, be aware of those around you. You may need help from a co-worker to shoulder a load, or who can give you advice on a better way to accomplish your goal. At home, your family needs to be involved in helping to keep the house tidy and organized. Encourage them to help with the dusting and de-cluttering.
Do you procrastinate? You aren't alone!! Once you are distracted from completing a task, it's hard to get back into the groove. Here are a quick fixes to avoiding this pitfall:

• turn off the computer and forget email until you are done with the job at hand.
• turn off the TV and turn on the stereo. Play a little "salsa" music to get up to speed.
• turn off your cell phone and turn the volume on your land line to "low". 
  

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