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How to Hold Employees Accountable for Their Own Motivation
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March 15, 2004 "We cannot solve the significant problems of today with the same level of thinking we used when we created them."
A. Einstein |
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The Challenge
Managing employee motivation is one of the most critical challenges confronting modern organizational leaders. My experience has been that most leaders tend to assume all of the responsibility for motivating their people. Although some leaders do "ask" their people what motivates them, most leaders avoid placing any meaningful responsibility for motivation on the employees themselves. To address this challenge, try
using the strategy of an Individual Motivation Plan (IMP).
The Strategy: Developing and Using Individual Motivation Plans
1. Begin By Educating Your Employees
The first step is a conversation with your people to educate them on the need for them to accept some responsibility for their own motivation. The need is quite simple: you must have accurate and meaningful information about what motivates and what demotivates individual employees in order for you to provide the most wholesome and accommodating work environment possible. This is a classic win/win situation: you, as the
leader, need and gain information that you probably do not have that will enhance your leadership effectiveness and the employee needs and gains participation in the process of managing his or her own performance.
2. Develop Parameters
The next step is to establish parameters that must apply to all employees to ensure consistency and fair treatment. The following have been effective in organizations I have coached:
- Clarify that you and the individual employee will develop the Individual Motivation Plan (IMP) together.
- The IMP will be written and "signed off" by both the employee and you.
- The IMP will become part of the personnel records of the employee and therefore will be subject to the same confidentiality that pertains to all other aspects of employee personnel files.
- You should review the IMP twice annually with the individual employee to ensure it is current.
- It should be understood that the employee may update the plan at any time by processing changes with you.
3. Design The Format and Implement The Process
The format for the written IMP should be simple, short and concise. The following format has worked well for me:
- You and your employees should complete the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) process under the guidance of a certified and competent coach. The results will yield a core of information about each employee
that can become an essential part of the IMP when managed ethically and appropriately. I recommend that you communicate your personal results to your employees before asking them to share their results as a part of the IMP process.
- Employees should then be asked to respond in writing to the following items:
- My top three motivators on the job:
- My top three de-motivators on the job are:
- The reasons I come to work for this organization:
- I function best in a work environment characterized by:
- I may become frustrated on the job in the following circumstances:
- What I value most on the job:
- How I motivate others that produces positive results for me:
- I prefer to be recognized in the following manner (in private, in public,
examples):
- The MBTI information and the responses to these items become the written IMP. Be sure to include the parameters immediately above the signature and date line.
Final Thought
E-mail me with comments and/or questions, or if I can assist you in any way to implement this effective process for developing and using Individual Motivation Plans (IMP).
Let me know what topics you would like addressed in future editions of Strategies & Solutions. Copyright 2003 Jim Jose Associates LLC. All rights reserved. We encourage you to reprint with appropriate credit. |
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