Managing to stay in business

After a recent article about the debilitating affects of Productive Minimal Sufficiency, or PMS in the workplace, we received an email from someone who works in a government office. She suggested that a future article might discuss what managers can do to keep employees motivated in an environment where raises are not allowed.

Money can make the world go around for some people, but there are many other ways to motivate employees when funds are scarce. One suggestion from our reader was that her boss holds weekly staff meetings where everyone has priority lists to accomplish before the next meeting. Those who do not accomplish their assignments get the “donut penalty,” which means they have to bring the donuts for the next staff meeting. Here are three low-cost ideas that can help boost performance among those you supervise:

Public Recognition. An employee’s greatest unrecognized need is the need to be recognized. In one survey, 76 percent of U.S. workers ranked recognition at a company meeting as a meaningful incentive. This allows employees to feel that someone noticed and cared about something important. What is the point of going the extra mile if no one notices and one feels like it does not make any difference? Here are three things you can do to successfully recognize employees:

1) Deliver recognition in an open way so that others know what happened and what gets rewarded;

2) Don’t wait until a major project is completed to give recognition, recognize little successes throughout the project. The sooner you recognize a deed, the better. Time delays will weaken the impact; and

3) Recognize and thank people who recognize others. Some people are naturally good at recognizing others, but most people are not. Make a big deal about people who notice the little things to encourage more spontaneous recognition from others.

Give time off as a reward. This can range from a few hours to a couple of weeks. It is universally desired, and if performance levels are met or exceeded, it should not cost anything. According to Michael LeBoeuf, author of The Greatest Management Principle in the World, there are three ways you can use time off as a reward:

1) Give individuals a task, the quality standard, and a deadline. If the task is completed before the deadline, and at the specified level of quality, then give the individuals the extra time as their reward;

2) Award time off for improvements in safety, quality, teamwork, or any behavior you feel is important to measure; and

3) If employees must be present all day, then you can set up a scoring system where employees earn one hour off for maintaining a certain output for a specific period of time. When four hours is reached, they can have a half day off, and eight hours earns a full day off.

Employee development and training. Even though training and development is considered a cost by many firms, it is really an investment that pays back great dividends. In a recent study, it was found that organizations that invest in employee development have significantly higher market values, and have much larger gains in productivity than those that do not. In addition, according to another survey, 87 percent of U.S. workers believe that training is a positive incentive. Here are three more ways you can make training more effective in your organization:

1) Have an effective employee orientation program that sets the right tone for the new employee. This training should discuss the background and philosophy of the organization, expected performance standards, encourage the employee to feel good about their new job, and make them feel like they are part of a winning team;

2) Tie-in training to specific goals and objectives that the organization is trying to reach. The training should improve the performance of the workers and help get them more recognition. People want to feel that their work makes a difference; and

3) Have individuals who go to a formal training session share what they have learned with other employees. This will help reinforce the training and recognize the new skills developed by the individual who attended training.

Sometimes the best ideas to motivate employees can come from the employees themselves. Ask them what would encourage them to become a peak performer. Set high standards, hold employees accountable to accomplish assigned work, and be generous in your praise when someone does something worth recognizing.

(Rik is a business instructor at NMC and Janel is the owner of Positively Outrageous Results. They can be contacted at: biz_results@yahoo.com)