Case Study #21: Team Needs

It's not the employee of the month batch...

Team motivation is a fragile thing.

This company director learned about it the hard way:

Managers noticed people were missing the drive. The director decided to implement the employee of the month nomination.

Every manager could pick someone who performed exceptionally. The goal was to show achievements and work from other teams.

It became a circus. Some managers were nominating people for doing what they had in their job descriptions. Others picked people who were friendly and organized team events. There were a few managers who didn’t nominate anyone because they felt nothing was worth mentioning.

The result, people laughed about how silly the employee of the month was. Worse? It only contributed to the lack of motivation that was creeping into the office.

What would you do better? Or different?

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Inconsistency has an effect

People are motivated by different things.

Read again.

Different things.

Employee motivation is the secret sauce that can make or break a workplace. How do you get them excited about their jobs?

Yes, some love recognition and seeing their face on a board. Others prefer a thank-you email or positive private feedback. I worked with people who loved being in a positive environment with creative people.

Either way, the leadership job is determining what motivates your team.

If you are considering options, think twice. No. Actually. Your idea is probably wrong and ridiculous.

The trouble with an employee of the month the company implemented is obvious. There was no consistency between managers. They competed with each other. One put someone every time, the other never.

Seeing how some managers push their people forward while others are silent is demotivating. Why would you nominate someone for ‘doing his job’? What is the point?

Consistency is a tough cookie. You would need a mechanism to make it as little subjective as possible. But put your hand on your heart. Who has time nowadays to do a 2-3 level evaluation of achievements?

So, you’d better learn to live with inconsistencies.

Lesson no.1: Explain the inconsistencies to your team.

What motivates you?

That is a good question. Isn’t it?

What is it? What should it be for your team, then? I am not going to bore you with theory. Yet, there is one you should know by now.

The famous extrinsic and intrinsic motivation: