Tools to Motivate and Manage the Workforce

Spurring employees to action is an age-old problem employers have been attempting to address for ages.

How do we get employees to do what WE want them to do?

The crux of the problem is the central misconception. The fact is, we cannot motivate people to do what we want them to do. People do things for their OWN reasons, not for our reasons.

YOU cannot directly motivate them.

One can not assume that people will learn to like a situation or job that does not call for their own strengths and workplace preferences. The more they try to adapt and to change their behaviors and values for the sake of job success, the more energy they have to expend in order to do so. This is stressful, and demotivational, and a person who is having to adjust constantly will never be as successful in an adapted style as a person for whom that is the natural style.

In terms of productivity, the energy being used to maintain the fascade would normally be directed toward doing the job itself.

Those who are in well-matched jobs still need motivation, but actual motivation is considerably different from those de-motivating processes.

The interests of all concerned are better served by managing and motiving armed with the knowledge of each person's strengths, preferences, and priorities.

We can help.

 

One's needs by priority - their values - determine what motivates them.

 

A one-size-fits-all approach to motivation doesn't work. Decades of study have finally made companies realize that not all employees are motivated primarily by money or even recognition.

U.S. studies have indicated other key motivators as well - the quest for knowledge (theoretical), the desire to help others (social), the need to influence others (political/individual), the need for inner harmony and wholeness (aesthetic) and the need to have direction from outside (regulatory).

Values change as needs are met and others take priority, but they do tell us how this individual makes decisions and how he/she prefers to be compensated. Add that to specific behavioral style management and motivation tips, and you'll have a much more targeted ( and probably much less expensive) motivation program.