Motivating Employees and Moral Building

8/7/2019 Motivating Employees and Moral Building

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Key Factors Influencing Employee Passionby Drea Zigarmi and Scott Blanchard

There are 12 main ways in which the workplace environment can impact engagement.

1. Meaningful workEmployees perceive the organization' s larger purpose through products or services produced,

consider their work to be worthwhile and are proud of their individual actions and contributionsthat help the organization serve its customers.

2. CollaborationThe organizational environment and culture enhances collaboration, cooperation andencouragement between all organizational members.

3. AutonomyEmployees have the tools, training, support and authority to make decisions.

4. GrowthEmployees have opportunities to learn, grow professionally and develop skills that lead to

advancement and career growth.

5. Task varietyEmployees' individual job roles have the right level of challenge, complexity and variety.

6. Performance expectationsEmployees have clear indicators of what is expected of them and how they will be evaluated.

7. FeedbackEmployees receive timely, relevant and specific information on how they are performing.

8. WorkloadEmployees' workload is reasonably proportioned for the time they have to accomplish it.

9. Distributive fairnessPay, benefits, resources and workload are fair, balanced and equitable; people treat each other

with respect; and leaders act in an ethical manner.

10. Procedural fairness

Policies, procedures and decisions are reached in a fair and impartial manner.

11. Connectedness with leadershipEmployees trust their leaders and their leaders make an effort to form an interpersonal

connection with them.

12. Connectedness with colleaguesEmployees trust their colleagues and their colleagues make an effort to form an interpersonal


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connection with them.

[About the Authors: Drea Zigarmi is a founding associate and Scott Blanchard is executive vice

president for The Ken Blanchard Companies, a provider of training and organizational

development services.]

How Do We Revive Employee Morale and Make Our Workplace Enjoyable?

[Workforce Management | March 18, 2010]

Rebuilding team spirit requires you to create opportunities for work groups to collaborate andinteract in addressing pressing business issues.

Q: My organization has a very strong "work hard" culture, but over the past year or so it feels

like we've completely forgotten how to have fun. How can we recapture the magic?

- Down in the Dumps, HR generalist, manufacturing, Dallas

A: Following a brutal 2009, your organization is not the only one that forgot how to have fun. Torebuild some team spirit, you need to do something fun, either on- or off-site. An important

aspect of any work group is a chance to build cohesion among attendees. Activities should beintegrated throughout the meeting that give participants a chance to meet and interact with

different individuals on a variety of tasks and activities pertinent to the goals of the group - orjust to add a break or variety to the workplace.

Some activities provide an opportunity to learn more about co-workers, while others function to

move discussion forward, drive decision-making or identify follow-on actions. Since mostprofessionals tend to be pretty active in their jobs, it is often difficult for them to simply sit for

long periods of time without being more engaged in the discussion.

You can easily build such part icipation activities with your work group and encourage a little fun

along the way. Here's a sampling of participation activites I find to be of value that could get youstarted in the course of meetings and discussions at work:

1. Break the ice.Give each attendee a blank index card with five items on it (e.g., a person's hobbies, hometown,

favorite sports team, favorite food, vacation preference) and ask them to find someone else in theroom who shares their preference for each item. As an alternative, ask each person to find out

one unique thing about five different people in the group. Have people report on the most


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unusual items people learned about others in the group.

2. Drive team discussions.Have group members "number off" so that you end up with groups of five to six members. For

example: "All No. 1s meet over here; No. 2s meet there," and so on. Give each group an item to

discuss pertinent to the meeting. Topics could include ideas on how to grow your business in atight economy, cut costs in operations or similar themes. Ask people to brainstorm and select thebest ideas, then report to the larger group. Collect ideas from each group, have them typed up,

and distribute to everyone.

3. Live in a fish bowl.Forget PowerPoint slides. Instead, have a "fish bowl" discussion in which two or more

participants discuss an issue, problem or pending decision facing the company. Have thepresenters sit in a small circle of chairs in the midst of the group. Any other group attendees can

enter the discussion by tapping an individual in the "fish bowl" and taking their place. Once allpoints of view seem to have been expressed, summarize the discussion and move to action items

necessary for finalizing any decisions.

4. Take a fast break.Have all attendees stand and face to the left. Ask each person to grab the person in front of them

and knead their shoulders. After a couple of minutes, ask everyone to face the right and returnthe favor.

5. Use billboard rankings.

List ideas generated during discussion on a flipchart. Allow each person in attendance to vote fora preferred strategy by sticking Post-It notes on the flipchart.

6. Use polling preferences.

Similarly, allow each attendee to rank the ideas on a sliding scale of 1 through 5, with 5 beingthe highest score and 1 the lowest. Regardless of the results, allow participants to share

comments, especially if there is disagreement on items that seem to have the strongest consensus.

7. End with a bang.At the end of the meeting, bring a bag of balloons of various colors and distribute one to each

participant along with a small piece of paper. Ask each participant to write a message on thepaper to be inserted into the balloon on topics such as "Something I promise to do as a result of

this meeting." Ask everyone to insert the paper into the balloon and blow it up. At a commonsignal, have the balloons tossed and ask each person to grab a new balloon. Have participants

pop their balloon and read aloud the message they received.

[Source: Bob Nelson, Nelson Motivation Inc., San Diego, January 29, 2010]


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Fostering a Passionate Workforce

by Agatha Gilmore

Although the worst may be behind us, most organizations are still cautious when it comes to

their economic forecasts. Frozen budgets and downsized workforces persist, and some may findit difficult to entice and energize employees when traditional incentives remain impractical.

It is during these hard times that culture and workplace environment become absolutely critical.After all, according to a recent research report by Catalyst, even in the current recession high-

potential workers aren't afraid to jump ship, with 20 percent of respondents choosing to leave forother opportunities.

Passion - both for and within the company - is what retains and engages these crucial workers,

said Dan Bobinski, president and CEO of Leadership Development Inc., director at the Centerfor Workplace Excellence and author of Creating Passion-Drive Teams: How to Stop

Micromanaging and Motivate People to Top Performance.

"We're seeing a lot of cutbacks. Unemployment is up. People are being asked to do more withless. And that can be very overwhelming, " Bobinski said. "It's incumbent on the managers and

leaders that they stay focused on creating those conditions for passion."

Bobinski said he defines passion as when an employee has a thorough understanding of the bigpicture and how his personal activities and drives contribute to that big picture.

"When the whole team does that, and they openly share information back and forth, and they

openly contribute without being stepped on, stolen, misused or abused, when they have a senseof camaraderie and commitment, then you can start to see passion emerge," he said.

Although passion can't exactly be taught, it can be fostered, Bobinski said. A big piece of that

involves learning leaders linking training directly to the strategic objectives of the company - andmaking that connection clear both to front-line employees as well as to the C-suite.

"The CLO has to really work on emphasizing the value of the training and how the ROI happens

and letting people see that," Bobinski said.

To underline the importance of strategic learning in creating a passionate workforce, Bobinskipointed to an Emerging Workforce Study that found that in companies where training is

perceived to be poor, about 4 out of 10 employees are thinking of quitting; and in companieswhere training is perceived to be good or excellent, only about 1 in 10 is considering leaving.

"When you consider the cost of replacing an employee versus the cost of training that employee,

[it's more economical to train]," he said. "[Further], if you've pared down your workforce inlayoffs and you've kept your best talent, you don't want to lose them."


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Learning organizations also should train managers to serve as teachers in the workplace, helpingsubordinates learn and develop on the job, Bobinski said.

"[You want to] not only train [your people], but let them put into place whatever it is you've

trained them on," he said. "That goes back to aligning all the training with the strategic vision of

the company."

[About the Author: Agatha Gilmore is a senior editor for Chief Learning Officer magazine.]

Find Creative Ways to Motivate Employees

by Andris Strazds

Talent managers must continuously motivate and inspire employees in order to get them torealize their full potential. There are a number of creative approaches to do so that can yield

positive business results.

1. Ask newcomers to observe the organization and learn about its values by finding examples ofbehavior representing them.

The traditional approach to welcoming newcomers has been to organize an induction courseduring which new employees can learn about the mission, vision, goals and values of the

organization; they will also likely be told a few stories exemplifying desired workplace behavior.While that is certainly an option, better motivational impact can be achieved by involving new

joiners in participant observation and asking them to come up with their own examples ofbehavior exemplifying the values of the organization. It goes without saying that the organization

should live out its values for this approach to work, as any inconsistencies between the declaredand the actual will quickly become apparent.

2. Provide positive and negative feedback instantly; use performance reviews to emphasize only

the positive feedback.Traditionally, performance reviews have been designed so as to provide balanced feedback.

However, experience shows that this often leads to employees spending more time on thenegative feedback they receive, as it is typically more detailed. Thus, a reviewee often leaves

such a meeting thinking about his or her past failures rather than being inspired. To avoid this,focus only on the positive feedback during performance reviews. One way to do this is by

bringing up a few examples of recent situations in which the performance of the reviewee has

been truly outstanding and encouraging him or her to replicate them in the future. Criticalfeedback - as well as praise, of course - can be delivered instantly throughout the year. Thisapproach will not yield results when managers are dealing with below-average performers,

though.

3. Encourage people to improve further on their strengths; focus less attention on their relativeweaknesses as long as they don't jeopardize minimum performance standards.


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A common approach has been to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each person and thenencourage them to maintain their strengths and improve on their weaknesses. While there is

certain logic behind this approach, it has a negative impact on motivation, as people startspending more time improving on their weaknesses than on continuing to develop their strengths.

In the long run, it might even breed mediocrities - people who are relatively good at many things,

but not really excellent at anything. A more motivating approach is to require people to improvefurther on their strengths, to become outstanding with respect to some competencies and justestablish a minimum performance threshold with regard to the others. Another tactic is to team

up people so that their competency profiles complement each other. For example, a greatsalesperson who isn't proficient at doing administrative work could be paired with an

administrative assistant.

4. Actively nurture relationships with former colleagues who have left the organization byestablishing an "alumni association."

Usually managers at best quickly forget about former colleagues who have chosen to continuetheir careers outside the organization and at worst try to downplay their past contribution or point

out their weaknesses behind their backs. This has a negative impact on the motivation of theremaining people, who often have developed good relationships with their former colleagues. It

might also indicate that team-building efforts actually lack sincerity. Besides avoiding thesetypes of negative effects, actively nurturing relationships with former colleagues might also be

beneficial for the organization in the future.

[About the Author: Andris Strazds is a lecturer at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga

and a senior economist with Nordea Bank Finland. He has been teaching business strategy andmanagerial economics for more than a decade. In the past, Strazds has served as strategy

development manager at Lattlecom, a company partly owned by Telia Sonera, and worked asvaluation and strategy manager at PricewaterhouseCoop ers.]

Appreciating Employees Can Do Wonders for Engagement, ROI

by Deanna Hartley

It doesn't always take gigantic raises, bonuses or promotions to keep a workforce engaged andproductive. Sometimes, all that's needed is a simple pat on the back for a job well done.

High levels of engagement have been linked to tangible business results - and recognition is one

of the key drivers of engagement, a recent study confirmed. "There's a general understanding outthere that employee satisfaction isn't enough anymore," said David Chittock, president of


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Incentra Inc., a company that delivers comprehensive incentive management services, andmember of The IRF Research Committee.

"Organizations that have a high level of employee engagement are going to have workers that are

more productive; they work harder; they're happier; they stay longer; they come to work every

day - and the study showed that recognition is one of the key pieces of the puzzle that lead topeople being happy and engaged in an organization. "

The report - titled "The Value and ROI in Employee Recognition: Linking Recognition toImproved Job Performance and Increased Business Value - The Current State and Future Needs"

- was conducted by the Human Capital Institute, the Forum for People PerformanceManagement and Measurement, and the Incentive Research Foundation.

Sometimes, employers tend to use recognition, rewards, awards and incentives interchangeably

even though they're inherently different, Chittock explained.

"Recognition is an after-the-fact display of appreciation or acknowledgment to individuals orteams for behaviors and actions that drive organizational goals," he said. One of the key factors

to achieve success in the recognition process is for managers to know their people.

"Some people like to be recognized in front of others and some people don't," he said. "If thereare people who need to be put up on a stage and given a lot of [attention], then do that; and if

there are people who need [you] to close the door in the office and tell them you appreciate thejob they did, do that."

The types of recognition can be classified under three broad categories.

1. Day-to-day recognition:

"Day-to-day recognition is really anything that managers or individuals can do to showappreciation to employees in the workplace - a pat on the back, a thank you note or gathering the

troops in the department to talk about Betty's great accomplishment, " he said. This type ofrecognition doesn't necessitate distribution of any tangible items and can be very cost-effective

yet valuable. It should occur frequently in an organization, Chittock explained.

2. Informal recognition:"[Here,] there's some type of a process in place, such as a nomination process, where people can

write in examples of employees who have done a great job in an above-and-beyond way [rather]than a day-to-day thing," he said. This could include on-the-spot recognition, where the

employee receives something tangible such as a certificate or points in a points bank, Chittockexplained.

3. Formal recognition:

This type of recognition is reserved for high honors and only needs to occur on a quarterly orannual basis, Chittock said. "[This is when employers should] take the best of the best and have

them nominate people, or if by some metrics certain teams or individuals have performed at high


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levels, employers could mention their efforts in a newsletter or have an annual banquet forthem," he said.

Recognition programs become truly meaningful and impactful only when employers take into

account all three types of recognition, he explained.

[About the Author: Deanna Hartley is an associate editor for Talent Management magazine.]

F. Approaches of moral

It generally refers to esprit the corps a feeling of enthusiasm, zeal, confidence in individuals or

group that they will be able to cope with the tasks assigned to them.

Three types of an approach

y Classical approach: the satisfaction of basis need is the symbol of morale. If the basic needsof the employees are satisfied, their morale will be.

y Psychological approach: psychological approach emphasizes that not only the basic needsbut psychological need also influences the morale of the people.

y Social approach: for a social scientist, the morale is social phenomenon which pulls the mento live in society or group in pursuit of a common goal.

G. Keeping employee: morale up

Let employees express their feeling about the difficulties and changes that are going on. These feelings

will only fester and turn into anger and resentment or result in employees becoming disengaged. Dont

focus all of your efforts on getting buy-in to the changes you seek. Remember, Seek first tounderstand. People need to know you understand their perspective and their feelings before they will

listen to your exhortations.

I.Support constructive criticism.Make it safe for employees to express dissent or criticism

without being labeled as not being a turn player. If you dont, you will miss out important


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information and will create a work force that learns not to care. Give employees as much

opportunity as possible to solve problems and take constructive action. Thus, engaging

employees in constructive action place a centralrole in keeping morale up in times of

uncertainty and difficulty.

II. Amp up your communication.Make sure employees know what is going on each step of the

way. When people are feeling vulnerable, their tolerance for ambiguity decreases dramatically.

To feel safe and secure, they need to know as much as possible about what is going on. To

increase the efficacy of your communication would be most useful.

H. Morale and productivity

Productivity will also increase where morale is high because worker put their heart and soul to achieve

the organizational goal. High morale and high productivity are positively correlated.

The following four possible ways:

I. High morale, high productivity: the cases results in high productivity but only when the workersmotivated in the right spirit and supervision is of right type. There is a circular relationship

between morale and productivity. High morale pushes up the productivity and high productivity

in turn, pushes up morale and so on.

II. Low morale, low productivity: morale and productivity both will be lower being lower. In theabsence of the proper motivation. Low morale pulls down the productivity and low productivity

shrinks the morale of employees.III. High morale low productivity: the found in circumstances where the men are not fully trained

and supervisors are not fully competent getting the work done. This is also seen in organizations

where supervisors are of the view that workers should not be unhappy.

IV. Low morale, high productivity: low morale and high productivity go together when themanagement dose not co-operate with the workers and mealiest the feelings of the men at

work or where management uses penalties and punishmentsand provides better machines and

equipments to carry on the production. Thus, low morale with productivity exists only when

management is highly production-oriented.

I.Improving morale

For improving workers performance, managers should provide training for employees: create specific

performance goal for workers to strive for: provide performance feed back on a regular and frequent


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basis: encourage neat, orderly work areas: arrange and increase the number of operation performed by

each employee whenever possible:

I. Creation of whole jobs: under this procedure, complete jobs are assigned to the workers. Jobsshould be enlarged-this is , the complexity of a job should be increased so that it may appeal to

their higher needs

II. Job enrichment: which are intended to motivate the worker rather than to ensure hiscontinuing satisfaction with the job he performs. Job enrichment opens up for the employee an

opportunity for greater recognition, growth, advancement and responsibility.

III. Building responsibility into a job: employees should be encouraged to take risk decision. Thiscan be by delegating authority to then.

IV. Modifying the work environment: this involves the use of teams or work group:V. Flexing working hours; the introducing flexi time and flexible working hours so that an

employee may have enough time to look after his children and his family as well as after his

personal affairs.

VI. Job sharing or twinning: under this system, two workers divide a full-time job betweenthemselves, splitting not only the hours of work but also the salary.

J. Measurement of morale

The indicators of morale are the various attitudes and behavior patterns of employees, which have to be

properly and correctly interpreted to determine thee kind of organizational climate and mores, which

prevail at a give time. Since it is an intangible and subjective concept, it cannot be directly measured or

evaluated.

JohnM.Pfiffner has suggested two ways of measuring morale:


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1. DirectMethod: it directsMethod persons at work are contracted to express their feeling.Morale is measured in terms of the extent of increase or decrease in the profitable. Productivity

and other direct benefits, which indicate of high low moral.

Following techniques are employed in measuring the moral under this method:

i. Observation techniques

ii.Interview technique: a) guided interview

b) Unguided interview

iii) Attitude survey technique:

i) Productive Techniques:

2. IndirectMethod : in this method the men at work are not directly approached but in-depthstudy is made of variations in out put, profitability, rate of labor turn over absenteeism, and

accidents, number of grievances and accident and their severity.

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Motivating Employees and Moral Building