How Managers and Organizational Practices Undermine Employee Motivation

Employee Motivation

Are you working in an organization where managers know how to motivate employees? Do employees at your workplace believe they will be justly compensated for a good performance appraisal?

I coach a number of managers who don’t make the effort to know their employees and discover what motivates them to do their best work. Emotionally intelligent managers listen to their employees, and elicit feedback that will improve work place performance.

Myth: People simply lack the motivation to work.

If you believe this myth, think about three things that may be going on in your employees’ minds. Ask yourself:

1. Do your employees believe their maximum efforts will be recognized in performance appraisals?

For many employees, the response is a resounding “no.” Their skill level may be deficient, which means that no matter how hard they try, they’re unlikely to be high performers. Or, if the appraisal system assesses factors like loyalty or initiative, more effort won’t result in a better review. If employees think their best efforts will yield only a mediocre review, they will suffer from low motivation.

2. Do employees believe a good performance appraisal will lead to organizational rewards?

When pay is allocated on seniority or special relationships, employees perceive the performance-reward relationship to be weak and demotivating.

3. Are the rewards that employees receive the ones they want?

Some people want promotions, others desire pay, and still others seek more interesting assignments. When rewards aren’t tailored to employees’ specific wants and motivating drives, then incentives are suboptimized.

To motivate employees, do what’s necessary to strengthen performance-reward relationships. Make it obvious that specific behaviors will be rewarded, and always keep your word to maintain credibility and morale.

The Real Truth: If employees aren’t motivated, the fault lies with their managers and organizational practices—not the workers. If the performance-reward relationship is weak, motivation drops.

Are you working in a professional services firm or other organization where executive coaches provide leadership development for leaders at all levels? Does your organization provide executive coaching to help leaders improve their ability to motivate employees to improve performance? Today’s leaders need to improve their emotional intelligence and social intelligence skills.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Are the rewards that employees receive at my workplace the ones they value?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching for leaders to improve their ability at motivating their workforce.

Working with a seasoned executive coach and leadership consultant trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-I, CPI 260 and Denison Culture Survey can help you discover employees’ passion and drive. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision, mission and strategy of your company or law firm.

About Dr. Maynard Brusman

Dr. Maynard Brusman is a consulting psychologist and executive coach. He is the president of Working Resources, a leadership consulting and executive coaching firm. We specialize in helping San Francisco Bay Area companies and law firms assess, select, coach, and retain emotionally intelligent leaders.  Maynard is a highly sought-after speaker and workshop leader. He facilitates leadership retreats in Northern California and Costa Rica. The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded Dr. Maynard Brusman "Board Approved" designations in the specialties of Executive Coaching and Leadership Development.

For more information, please go to http://www.workingresources.com, write to mbrusman@workingresources.com, or call 415-546-1252.
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Comments

[Kavita]

This is very insightful. The fact that employee motivation depends upon organizational practices and managers’ behavior has been recognized by Vineet Nayar in his book “Employees First, Customers Second”. He asserts that motivation drops if the performance-reward relationship is weak. Thus, he has tried to maintain a fair and supportive organizational culture in his company, which he explains in detail in his book.