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Your Obligation to Motivation

August 20, 2015 By Trans Detective Leave a comment

Motivation

Motivation is the reasoning behind the way someone acts or behaves – the general desire or willingness of that person to do something. Each person on this earth has a different set of reasons for why they are motivated to do something.  As a leader, finding what motivates each of your employees will not only help them grow as individuals, but help your business grow.

Here’s an example:

Carl is a good employee. He knows what he’s doing, rarely makes mistakes, and customers love him. He’s a natural competitor who likes to succeed. Outside of work, Carl likes to play sports and spend time with his family. He really, really likes his time off and would rather not have to think about work outside of work.

You have a project that’s perfect for Carl’s skills, but, given his already full days, it may require him to take home work or work more than his normal schedule.

As a manager, you have options:

Option A – Set aside some time in Carl’s day where he can log out of the phones and have a teammate cover his accounts so he can concentrate on this project without any other distractions.

Option B – Carl may be the best person for the project, but assign it to someone else. Even a poorly done task is still a completed task, right?

Option C – We all have lives outside of work and we all have things we’d rather be doing. But this is your project now, Carl. Do your job.

If you chose Option A, you chose the most motivating option. By being flexible to Carl’s needs, it shows him that you respect his time outside of work and are willing to work with him to get this project finished because he’s the right person for this task.

If you chose Option B or C, you chose to ignore what motivates your employees. Even in doing so, Carl’s motivating needs haven’t gone away. In fact, you’ve managed to compound a situation into a legitimate problem. Option B doesn’t respect Carl’s skills. And Option C doesn’t respect Carl’s time. And neither one is going to make Carl want to stick around long.

How do you find out what motivates your employees? Have a conversation with them. Learn about their skills. Talk about their goals. Find out what tasks they do and don’t like. And discover what makes them enjoy working at your company.

Whether it’s making money or the thrill of the sale, finding out what motivates your employees and using that knowledge to help them reach their goals benefits all parties involved. Your employee is happy with and fulfilled by their job and you’re getting an employee that wants to work hard for you.

photo credit: © crazymedia / Dollar Photo Club


AVA_MDrewsFor Megan, The Trans Detective, motivation isn’t a one-size-fits-all thing. Each person has their own set of needs that make them tick and the key to success as a leader is to discover what motivates them. Do you know what keeps your employees productive and engaged? Comment below or email Megan directly!

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