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10 WAYS TO MOTIVATE YOUR EMPLOYEES And improve their performance, commitment, and loyalty

10 WAYS TO MOTIVATE YOUR EMPLOYEES - Talentsoft...INTRODUCTION - 10 ways to motivate your employees 3 Introduction In 1993, the world of knowledge was turned upside down. How, you

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Page 1: 10 WAYS TO MOTIVATE YOUR EMPLOYEES - Talentsoft...INTRODUCTION - 10 ways to motivate your employees 3 Introduction In 1993, the world of knowledge was turned upside down. How, you

10 WAYS TO MOTIVATE YOUR EMPLOYEES And improve their performance, commitment, and loyalty

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Contents

CONCLUSION

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#1 - Regular and actionable 360° feedback

#2 - Don’t stick with what you’re used to

#3 - The importance of wanting to change the world

#4 - A good manager is a disruptive manager

#5 - When Accor trusts young employees

#6 - “Come as you are”

#7 - Air Liquide and the three-year rule

#8 - Google, the next Harvard University?

#9 - Determine the impact of personal contribution on common goals

#10 - Understanding leads to better performance

3INTRODUCTION

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33INTRODUCTION - 10 ways to motivate your employees

IntroductionIn 1993, the world of knowledge was turned upside down. How, you ask? Microsoft launched its first online encyclopedia, Encarta. This encyclopedia was a revolution. Everything you could wish for was in it. You could watch videos, listen to the national anthems of the world, do quizzes, and lots more! But in 2009, Bill Gates’ company decided to shut it down and said, “People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past”. (Source: The Mercury News)

The competition was too strong. Wikipedia and its business model based on individual, anonymous, and free contributions was unrivalled, despite information reliability criticisms. What lessons can we learn from an employee motivation point of view?

The death of Encarta in the battle against Wikipedia shows us that paid contribution doesn’t always win against unpaid universal contribution. Microsoft paid their writers and editors, while Wikipedia draws its strength from contributors from around the world, who are passionate about sharing information.

A number of studies (carried out by Dan Ariely, Dan Pink, Karl Dunker, etc.) have shown that money doesn’t always play a role in employee performance and motivation. This e-book aims at improving the debate and going off the beaten track. We explore different ways (other than financial) of encouraging your employees to do their best.

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#1

Regular and operable 360° feedback

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Regular and operable 360° feedbackThis is the most important point: there’s no such thing as too much feedback. There is scope for improvement with respect to feedback -- a number of managers are uncomfortable with feedback. Many employees also feel that the annual evaluation system is useless as there are no real, concrete conclusions to such meetings. And yet, feedback has the power to engage and motivate your employees, and align your business strategy at all company levels.

Here are four ways to improve your feedback:

Companies should implement social feedback templates, such as those found on Amazon, YouTube, and Uber.

#1 - Regular and actionable 360° feedback

As HR and managers, establish a process that encourages regular feedback in a clear-cut manner. Be objective with your observations. Concentrate on employee performance rather than personality. Advice for managers – stick to the following structure when you give feedback: 1) talk about your perception and your feelings, 2) tell your employees how they could improve their performance, 3) ask them what they think.

Regular feedback is indispensable: in addition to regular feedback, organise a meeting every two months. This way, you can discuss recent events concerning employee performance. On the contrary, a biannual appraisal is usually based on the employee’s performance two months prior to the appraisal. The first four months are almost always forgotten.

Finally, develop a holistic vision of your employees’ work by having discussions with their professional ecosystem. A contextualised 360° appraisal will help you make comments you would have not made otherwise. There’s more weight to the appraisal as it goes beyond the manager’s point of view. The Human Resources department must provide a framework in which these different contributions can be made. For example: Who appraises whom? How much importance do you give to external contributions (partners, clients, etc.) ? How should the context be taken into account?

Ask your employees for reverse feedback to make them feel at ease. They’ll be more accepting of your remarks. Set up good processes which will help you have constructive, positive discussions. Employees will perceive this as an opportunity to improve. For example, David Consulting encourages its employees to appraise their line managers.

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#2

Move beyond the influenceof the company’s habits

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Provide a physical, technological, and cultural framework that fosters innovation. How do you collect and evaluate new ideas? How do you differentiate good and bad ideas? Keep the process transparent and simple. Employees will then know what they’re getting into when they suggest a new idea.

Move beyond the influence of the company’s habits

#2 - Don’t stick with what you’re used to

One of the best things you could do for your company is getting your employees to do something new. Make sure this mindset is at the core of the culture of the company. This is not only good for business, but will also engage and motivate your employees. Encourage them to come up with new ideas and to speak up. Avoid burdening them to follow the same processes, business model, management, etc. that may brought success to the company. A proactive employee will thrive in such a set-up.

To do this, HR and managers should take three points into account:

1 2 3Reward attempts. It may be hard to fail, but what’s even worse is not trying. This does not mean rewarding setbacks, but rather including positive reinforcements, with statements such as “Takes on extra tasks” in job descriptions. William L. McKnight, former CEO of 3M, one of the most creative companies of our time, believed that companies should hire good people and leave them alone. He also thought it was extremely important for companies to be failure tolerant.

Don’t let the process kill innovation. Stop interfering at every step. Follow up on your employee’s progress. Employee mistakes are usually not fatal to a company, except in a handful of industries (and in the startups). For example, The Family, that calls itself “a long-term, strategic and minority shareholder”, allocates no budget to its teams. Their only rules is: “Do what’s good for the company”. Budget follow-up is done a posteriori. No one spends excessively, as the repercussions would be too strong.

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The importance of wanting to change the world

#3

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The importance of wanting to change the worldTalentsoft aims at streamlining the work market, by offering an application that aligns the skills and aspirations of everyone with the companies’ requirements. This vision encourages our teams to offer the best software and service to our clients. This is why Alexandre Pachulski, Chief Product Officer and co-founder of Talentsoft, makes it a point to meet with all his new employees during their onboarding. He motivates each and every one of them, by sharing the company’s history, the difficulties that had to be overcome, and aspirations yet to be fulfilled.

Being empathetic by nature, human beings tend to be motivated by the idea that the fruit of their work will have a positive impact on society. KPIs may be necessary for managing short-term goals, but an inspiring long-term project, which is destined to change the world will motivate employees a lot more.

Gary Vaynerchuk, founder and CEO of VaynerMedia, organises a one-on-one meeting with all his new employees following their arrival. He meets with his employees, creates engagement, and ensures everyone shares a common cultural foundation by conveying his vision to each employee.

To win your employees over, state the company’s vision on your career and corporate websites, through CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities, and organise regular meetings between the top management and employees. The ultimate goal is to give employees a purpose, so that they can be proud to contribute towards a challenging project.

#3 - The importance of wanting to change the world 99

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#4

A good manager is a disruptive manager

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A good manager is a disruptive manager

An increas ing number o f b ig companies are setting up in-house accelerators and labs that focus on industry trends, and innovate to eventually launch new products and services. These companies cultivate their own “uberisation”. Instead of being outplayed by external players whom they have no control over, companies today prefer developing future trends in-house to smoothly adapt and sustain innovation.

For instance, we can draw a parallel with managers who have to develop

high performers in their team, who are likely to outshine them, to anticipate their succession plan. HR must encourage managers to ensure that their team’s development is at the heart of their managerial concerns. Allowing the development of this vision is a simple question of corporate culture.

Instead of a performance-based system, why not invent a reward system for managers who successfully develop their team members?

#4 - A good manager is a disruptive manager

Leonardo da Vinci once said, “Poor is a pupil who does not surpass his master.” To this, we can add: Poor is a master who is not outperformed by his pupil.

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#5

When Accor trusts young employees

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When Accor trusts young employeesAt the start of 2016, Sébastien Bazin, CEO of Accor, launched a Shadow Comex.

“Over 90% of our in-house decisions are taken by the over-50s.” This is a striking contrast in an industry where all the latest innovations have been created by people in their twenties and thirties: AirBnb, Trip Advisor, etc. The objective is to involve young employees in the decision-making process regarding topics that they know better than members of the traditional executive committee, such as digital transformation, new business models, innovative management practices, etc.

A few days before the real executive board meets, a group of 12 young employees, between the ages of 25 and 35, gather to discuss the same issues and make some recommendations. Thus, Accor has come up with a great way to motivate and retain its young employees, making it clear that the latter can have a big influence on the company’s long-term strategy. Give your employees access to the company’s confidential data and let them have a say in the strategy. In short: give them power and delegate decision-making! Good ideas come from everywhere, especially from employees who are in direct contact with clients and face operational issues. This is why the Blockchain concept is currently making so much noise in Human Resources.

THE ICEBERG OF IGNORANCEThis concept was invented 25 years ago by Sidney Yoshida, a Japanese consultant, who defined an employee’s knowledge of problems encountered by clients by their hierarchical position.

100%

74%

9%

4% Top Management is only aware of 4% of the problems

Middle management only knows 9%

Managers know 74% of the problems

Front-line employees who are in constant touch with clients know all their problems

#5 - When Accor trusts young employees 1313

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#6

“Come as you are”

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“Come as you are”We’ve witnessed an underlying trend for the last few years now: apps making their APIs public-ly available. Indeed, these apps can now con-nect and communicate with one another. In the long run, employees could have their own apps (those they use in their personal lives), which they could connect to those used by the compa-ny. This translates to saving time and increasing productivity.

Being comfortable with professional tools, and using them to their maximum potential, takes time; in some cases, this may never happen. If employees have their own tools that they are fa-

miliar with, they will spend less time on getting started and will be more productive.

This is another way companies can engage em-ployees and develop their employer brand. You can now tell your candidates to “come as they are”, with their own tools, and mean it. Imagine a plumber going to see a client with tools that they don't know how to use. It makes no sense! It's just as insane for a Community Manager to use a phone she/he is not comfortable with and live-tweet a conference, or to impose Internet Explorer on all your employees who browse on Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari at home.

If you want to give your employees the best possible experience, let them use good, easy-to-use, professional tools similar to ones they are used to.

This is why the enterprise social network by Facebook, Workplace, is a step ahead of its competition. We are now experts at using this social network (more than 1 billion active users per day). Making a debut in the corporate world is sure to be a big asset for Facebook.

#6 - “Come as you are” 1515

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Air Liquide and the three-year rule

#7

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Air Liquide and the three-year ruleOn 20 June 2016, at the Grand Rex in Paris, François Abrial, Air Liquide’s HR VP, collected his HR VP of the year trophy. A few minutes later, he was joined by Benoît Potier, CEO of the French industrial giant, who came to praise Air Liquide’s HR team.

This doesn't come as a surprise. Air Liquide is known for taking care of its employees and providing them with interesting and original development prospects.

Every three years, employees at Air Liquide change positions within the company. In the course of their career, each employee will work in multiple departments and industries, developed his/her own network, and train in several jobs. And all this within the same company.

This system requires knowing which positions are available and vacant, the skills of each employee, and the final goal. The biggest advantage is that it retains employees, in addition to keeping them motivated and successful. After three years in the

same job, employees figure out the little tricks of the trade and tend to do less, without it showing. The work is done, but without much application or accuracy.

Air Liquide focuses on employee development. As François Abrial said on the company’s career website: “We recruit for the long term. This means helping each employee reach his or her highest potential. The Group’s performance and continued growth depend on this commitment.” This is an interesting vision all companies can apply.

#7 - Air Liquide and the three-year rule 1717

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#8

Google, the next Harvard University?

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Google, the next Harvard University?There is a lot of talk right now, in the marketing world, of how companies must become a media company. They should aim at delivering quality content to their audience, build authority in their field, and earn the market’s trust. Content is king: for instance, Hubspot has become a respected media in marketing, especially for producing high-quality marketing content. Snapchat, on the other hand, has just set up its webzine dedicated to technology.

Similarly, companies must become universities too. Give your employees the opportunity to undergo continuous training on relevant topics, either in a formal or informal set-up. It is unacceptable that an employee transferred to Germany learns German via Duolingo, instead of asking the company’s training department for help. Your employee is deprived of the opportunity to grow and improve due to these inadequate and cumbersome processes.

Trust your employees to informally train each other, and find a way to record these training sessions. Why hire a Spanish teacher when you have an employee who speaks the language perfectly and can train his/her colleagues? For instance, come up with an objective-based system, where each employee trains a certain number of colleagues.

First, make a list of all the used and unused skills of your employees. Then ask them if they’re capable of and willing to train their colleagues.

Google#8 - Google, the next Harvard University?

A report commissioned by the British Parliament in May 2016 to reflect on education system reforms suggests that big companies like Google and Facebook could be allowed to create their own certifying institutions. The aim would be to create institutions that challenge traditional universities, give everyone access to education, and make sure the skills required and those taught are better aligned.

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#9

Determine the impact of personal contribution on common goals

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Determine the impact of personal contribution on common goalsIn any team, each member contributes in his/her own way, as best as they can. However, as the Greek playwright Euripides said: “None of us knows what we all know, together.” In the same way, team members don’t always realise the potential of the team. They don’t know about their colleagues’ skills and knowledge and are often unaware of their own.

In recent years, companies have gone against Scientific Management, at the origin of Taylorism, that was developed during the industrialisation of the late 19th century. The extreme division of labour has drawn to a close, and workers are no longer reduced to just being mere operators. In this regard, Laetitia Vitaud, a member of Switch Collective, which advises workers in their career management, announced the end of the age of experts and the arrival of

versatile talents. After the hyper-specialisation of the last two centuries, we now turn towards a necessary versatility of skills. Employees with polyvalent profiles are skilled at several things, and it is becoming essential for managers to involve their teams in the company’s long-term projects.

The manager's role will therefore be to allow everyone to clearly determine the impact of his/her personal contribution on the common goals. This way employees feel they are entrusted with significant responsibilities. While the worker who assembled the doors of the Ford T in 1919 was fully aware of his contribution to the car building process, it has become less apparent today.

To this end, the manager should explain how each employee complements the others, and how each of them can participate to make the project a success. This will create a sense of belonging among the team members, empower, and motivate them. After all, who doesn't like to feel unique?

#9 - Determine the impact of personal contribution on common goals 2121

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#10

Understanding leads to better

performance

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Understanding leads to better performance

#10 - Understanding leads to better performance

In sport, there are countless examples of teams that failed even though they had the best players of the time (think of the Belgian and German football teams, widely favoured in the last European Championship). Finding the right chemistry in a team is no easy task.

When selecting employees for a project, place more importance on human relationships than on skills. Think about the rapports that have already been created and those that are likely to emerge. A united team is always the most difficult team to set up. Skills can eventually be acquired. It is the relationships among the team members that creates better performance.

The vast majority of employees are motivated as a result of working with people they appreciate, not just with competent people. What we’ve forgotten is that work was initially an excuse to be together. It creates social bonds as the sociologist, Mickaël V. Dandrieux, explained during our User conference in June 2016: “People are happier and work more when they understand that the product of their work matters to someone else, that it makes sense in a social context. Above all, people are looking to connect with others and share a common goal.”

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Conclusion

CONCLUSION - E-learning, everything you should know

It is obvious that everyone has his/her own aspirations, and we all are motivated by different things. The primary role of HR and managers is to listen to their employees and understand them through continuous conversation. The authenticity of the relationships that you have with them is essential. Show them that you truly want to help them thrive.

Fulfill on these aspirations as quickly as possible. This will create a virtuous circle of performance. Motivation is contagious. Give a bonus to a young employee who is looking to travel, offer flexible hours to a young mum, or ask a senior who is lacking recognition to speak at your annual conference. Appeal to the personal ambitions of each employee.

Always remember that you cannot truly motivate an employee. You can only create the conditions for motivation, by influencing external factors and aligning the ambitions of each employee with those of the company.

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About TalentsoftTalentsoft is the European leader in Cloud-based talent management. The Talentsoft solution allows users to efficiently manage employee recruitment, training, performance, competencies, careers and compensation.

With over eight million users in 130 countries, the Talentsoft solution is perfectly adapted to European specificities and global HR challenges. Its functional depth and unique flexibility enable it to meet the requirements of all types of companies, whatever their activity sector or global presence.

Talentsoft is the fastest-growing software developer in France, and ranks 3rd in Europe in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and Fast 500 EMEA 2013.

Originally designed for the Cloud, Talentsoft is fully optimised for the Microsoft Azure Cloud.

+33 (0)1 41 86 05 60

[email protected]

http://www.talentsoft.com