Articles tagged 'Motivation'

How Do You Motivate Employees Who Really Don’t Need the Money?

by Eric Chester on Apr 11, 2013, 7:00 AM | 4 Comments

If you woke up today and discovered that you had won millions in last evening’s lottery drawing, would you still work?

Always a great conversation starter, the number of Americans responding “yes” has declined from over 80 percent in 1955 to 66 percent in recent years according to Psychology Today.

So what happens when there are people on your payroll who are in a similar financial situation? Those that have all the money they need and are not motivated by a paycheck. Can they be managed to consistently perform up to their potential? Read more…

HR Management, Talent Management

“Remember – As a Manager, You Cannot Motivate Anyone”

by Derek Irvine on Mar 15, 2013, 7:00 AM | 3 Comments

The quotation in the title is from one of my favorite blogs on leadership: Blanchard LeaderChat.

This particular post was on a mini case study on motivation. While I encourage you to read the entire post, it’s the final recommendation for leaders and managers that we all too often forget or don’t even realize:

Remember that as a manager you cannot motivate anyone. What you can do is create an environment where an individual is more likely to be optimally motivated. Ask (and genuinely care about) how a person is feeling, help them recognize their own sense of well-being regarding a particular issue, and provide them with rationale without trying to ‘sell’ it.” Read more…

Culture

Setting Company Culture? You Better Understand Employee Motivation

by Derek Murphy on Mar 7, 2013, 11:30 AM | 11 Comments

People in the business community love their clichés.

“There’s no ‘I’ in team,” “work smarter, not harder,” and my personal favorite, “think outside the box.” Ugh.

When it comes to describing a workplace culture, clichés are abundant here as well — especially with our open-door policies and expectations of giving 150 percent (how is this even possible?). These general statements don’t provide the employee with a lot of useful insights into what it really means to work, and fit in, at the company in question. Read more…

Best of TLNT

What Motivates Workers? Most Employers Seem to Guess Wrong

by Derek Irvine on Dec 28, 2012, 10:25 AM | No comments yet

To Our Readers: This week, TLNT is continuing our annual tradition by counting down the 35 most popular posts of this past year. This is No. 15. Our regular content will return Wednesday January 2, 2013.

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What motivates us at work is ultimately a very personal and individual topic, though generalities do apply.

That’s why I get a chuckle out of research study after research study showing we nearly always guess incorrectly what would motivate others.

Case in point, research out of Duke University and George Mason University discussed on the Blanchard LeaderChat blog: Read more…

Rewards & Recognition

What Motivates Workers? Most Employers Seem to Guess Wrong

by Derek Irvine on Nov 15, 2012, 8:00 AM | 3 Comments

What motivates us at work is ultimately a very personal and individual topic, though generalities do apply.

That’s why I get a chuckle out of research study after research study showing we nearly always guess incorrectly what would motivate others.

Case in point, research out of Duke University and George Mason University discussed on the Blanchard LeaderChat blog:

In research from Duke University subjects were asked to rate what motivates them individually, and what motivates peers and superiors at different levels in an organization. In most cases, the subjects rated their peers and superiors as more interested in external incentives than they said was true for themselves. Read more…

Culture, Talent Management

3 Insights on Motivating by Not Focusing on Motivation

by Derek Irvine on Oct 29, 2012, 10:25 AM | No comments yet

Today, I’m pointing you to an excellent article by Scott and Ken Blanchard in Fast Company. There are several important points in the article, a few of which I highlight here.

1. The greatest motivator is freedom to do the job

You hired smart, capable people. Why not let them do the job you hired them to do? Yes, they need (and want) guidance and direction, but they don’t need (or want) micromanagement. Give them control. Read more…

HR Management, Talent Management

Management Insights: Sometimes, You Need to Motivate in Different Ways

by Devora Zack on Oct 17, 2012, 8:10 AM | 1 comment

By Devora Zack

For more than 12 years I was a regular at a local gym. It is safe to say I was well known, and although there was a policy to check all gym identifications upon entry, this formality had long since been waived for me.

One day, a new guy showed up at the front desk. Turnover tended to be high, especially for the 5:00 to 10:00 a.m. shift, so this was a typical occurrence. However, within a couple of weeks life would revert to normal and my gym ID would be tucked back away, allowing easy, fast entrance, unencumbered by the time and formality of showing and scanning a card.

This new guy, however, relentlessly demanded to see my ID every day — in a monotone voice, to make matters worse. There was only one logical explanation: He was a jerk. I decided I hated him. Read more…

Talent Management

What Motivates Employees: Do You Ever Wonder “Why” They Work?

by Derek Irvine on Oct 16, 2012, 7:00 AM | 4 Comments

It’s interesting to me how often themes seem to converge across the various news and blog sources I follow. Today is one example – “Why” seemed to crop up rather frequently.

Here are just three examples.

Why am I here?

From a perennial favorite of mine, the Blanchard Leader Chat blog, is this post on what motivates you at work. I was most fascinated by the list author David Witt started the post with – a list for meeting attendees on “why are you here?” These were the possible answers (quoting): Read more…

Classic TLNT

10 Ways You Can Really Motivate Employees – Without Using Money

by Patty Azzarello on Jul 27, 2012, 9:12 AM | No comments yet

Editor’s note: Sometimes, readers ask about past TLNT articles that they have heard about but may have missed. That’s why every Friday, we’re republishing a Classic TLNT post that some of you have requested.

Just because people work for you (and therefore are supposed to do what you tell them) doesn’t mean it’s not better to motivate them to actually want to do the job.

Here are 10 ideas from my recent podcast and webinar on Motivating Without Money: Read more…

Culture, Talent Management

How to Inspire and Motivate High Performance Employees

by André de Waal on Jul 5, 2012, 9:10 AM | 3 Comments

To become an HPO (a High Performance Organization) it is a precondition to hire and retain the right employees. ]

These are people who have an incurable curiosity, want to be challenged, need to have responsibility and at the same time ask to be held accountable, and want to perform better — everywhere and anytime. These high performance employees perform better than the average employee, and because of that, contribute more to the effectiveness of the organization.

With this type of employees, an organization can transform into a true High Performance Organization.

But, you need to inspire them. Read more…

Articles tagged 'Motivation'

How Do You Motivate Employees Who Really Don’t Need the Money?

“Remember – As a Manager, You Cannot Motivate Anyone”

Setting Company Culture? You Better Understand Employee Motivation

What Motivates Workers? Most Employers Seem to Guess Wrong

What Motivates Workers? Most Employers Seem to Guess Wrong

3 Insights on Motivating by Not Focusing on Motivation

1. The greatest motivator is freedom to do the job

Management Insights: Sometimes, You Need to Motivate in Different Ways

What Motivates Employees: Do You Ever Wonder “Why” They Work?

Why am I here?

10 Ways You Can Really Motivate Employees – Without Using Money

How to Inspire and Motivate High Performance Employees

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