no moneyStudies show cash rewards can lower performance

Looking to get employees more involved and engaged in their work?

Unless your employees do mostly repetitive, mechanical jobs, you might want to skip the cash incentives. Not only don’t they work, they may actually lower performance, says business author Dan Pink.

Incentives work for specific jobs

Pink cites two studies in which people were asked to take on various challenges for different-sized cash rewards.

Some challenges were simple, such as throwing a ball. Others were more complicated. The results:

  • When people were asked to perform repetitive, non-cognitive jobs, cash incentives improved performance.
  • But when they needed to use their cognitive skills, cash lowered performance

Surprising? Not really, says Pink.

They want satisfaction more than money

When employees use their creative or cognitive abilities, they do a great job just for the personal satisfaction – not for the money.

So if cash doesn’t inspire people, what does?

Pink says there are three things people want from their jobs even more than money:

  • Self-direction
  • Improvement and
  • A sense of purpose

 Self-direction

As a manager, you’ve probably seen these motivators in action. People want to have the ability to choose how they do their jobs.

If they have more freedom, they feel more ownership over their work. And that gives them a sense of pride.

To use this, ask employees if they have ideas to improve their work process. When possible, let them try their ideas.

Example: One company gives employees one day a month to work on anything they want. At the end of the day, employees report what they’ve done. It’s been a big success – and likely generated more successful ideas than cash bonuses would have.

Improvement

Most people want to continue to learn and grow. That’s one reason many companies offer training programs for employees.

Remember to encourage staffers to attend any training sessions your company offers.

You may want to even take it a step further and look for opportunities to cross-train staffers.

The time investment can pay off by giving them a motivational boost.

A sense of purpose

More companies are realizing how important it is for employees to feel they ‘re doing something bigger than their jobs.

To help employees see this purpose, give them a connection to satisfied customers. One way to to do this: Put customer pictures and quotes on the wall.

It is great for everyone – when your employees can see how their work is contributing to the greater goal – and creating delighted customers.

 

stealing food from workThe Scenario

“I can’t believe it!” yelled Mike Robinson as he stormed into Stu Capper’s office and slammed the door behind him.

The HR director looked up from his paperwork to see Mike toss and empty paper lunch bag on to Stu’s desk.

“Someone took my lunch again!” said Mike.

Food thief strikes again

Stu stared at the empty bag, then took a deep breath and rubbed his temples with his hands.

“This is getting ridiculous,” he said.

“You’re telling me!” said Mike, his hands on his hips. “This is the third time someone has stolen my lunch from the office fridge in the past month.”

“Is your name on the – ” Stu started.

“Yes, Stu, my name is on the bag, like you suggested,” said Mike, shaking his head angrily.” “And you know I’m not the only person this has happened to.”

“Mike, my hands are tied,” said Stu. “I can’t just assign someone to sit in the kitchen and make sure everyone only takes their lunch.”

“Stu, I know time are hard for a lot of people, but this just isn’t fair,” said Mike.

“I have better things to do at work than worrying if my lunch will be in the fridge come lunchtime.”

“And this is straight-up theft – the food I paid for is being taken by someone else.”

“Sop what are we going to do to stop this from happening again?”

If you were Stu, what would you do next?

Reader Responses

Bonnie See, HR Manager. Illy Cafe North America Inc., Rye Brook, NY

What Bonnie would do: Our initial response would be to send and email to all employees. We’d let everyone know that this behavior needs to stop, and that HR would be keeping an eye on this area. When the person responsible is caught, the company would have grounds for immediate termination.

Reason: We cannot tolerate employee theft. This behavior goes against our core company values. we apply those standards consistently. We don’t want to send the message that any type of theft will be condoned – whether it’s embezzlement or stealing lunches.

 

Pat Roome, HR Manager, Center BMW, Sherman Oaks, CA

What Pat would do: The first course of action I’d take would be to put a sign on the refrigerator. Then I’d monitor the situation, and if I caught the culprit, I’d probably give a written warning, unless there was some extenuating circumstances.

Reason: This is an issue of respect for co-workers. Our in-house looter needs to know we’re aware of the situation. That realization may stop the behavior immediately.

 

Ellen McManus, HR Manager, Direct Success Inc., Farmingdale, NJ

What Ellen would do: Obviously, Mike isn’t entirely comfortable using the refrigerator right now.  Since he has a valid complaint, I’d acknowledge the problem and suggest packing his food in an insulated lunch bag with freezer packs. He could keep it at his desk.

Reason: We don’t want employees to suffer while we’re trying to solve the problem. Added bonus: The thief may stop when there’s nothing good left to pilfer from the refrigerator.

 

Every manager has at least one difficult employee – the one who crushes the morale of all who cross their path.

Here’s help for troubled managers from Janelle Brittain of the Dynamic Performance Institute. Brittain offers five steps to stopping unaccpetbale behavior, allowing you to create and maintain a more positive work environment for your entire team:

1) Define the gap

What’s the difference between the employee’s current behavior and the kind of behavior that’s acceptable to your company?

Take, for example, the receptionist who’s chronically late for work. In this case, you might say: “Janet, our work day begins at 8:30. You’ve been late three times this week. Customer service is our lifeblood. When you’re not here to answer the phone, customers can’t get in touch with us.” Continue reading »

 

The Scenario

“Wait till your hear this one,” supervisor Bob Wallace announced to Stu Capper as he plopped into the chair in front of Stu’s desk. “Swell, said the HR Director, grimacing. “This wouldn’t be a tale from your recent conference, would it?”

“Who’s cuter?”

“Oh yeah,” said Bob. It happened on our last night in Orlando. Greg Morton, me, Jill Simeon, we’re all in a dinner meeting with a vendor.

“We’re just sitting at dinner, talking – this is after a few cocktails, of course – and the vendor guy makes a remark about how cute the waitress is.

“And then Greg asks the guy, ‘You think she’s cuter than Jill? Who’s got bigger boobs, you think? Her or Jill? Right out of the blue. With Jill sitting right there.” Continue reading »

 

aggressive tigerThe Scenario

This was not an easy conversation Stu Capper was looking forward to. Dennis Gross was not known as an easygoing guy. So when Dennis sat down across from his desk, the HR director took a deep breath and dived right in.

“Dennis,” said Stu,” I need to talk to you about the way you treat your employees.”

“What the heck are you talking about?” snarled Dennis. “I treat ‘em all the same as I have for 17 years. They get the job done or they hear about it from me. Simple as that.” Continue reading »

 

burnt out at workHow to keep productivity up and stress levels down. 

As companies tighten their belts, employees are having to take on more. – which means more employees are at risk of burning out.

That’s the situation manager Terri Bales found herself in when one of her most seasoned workers claimed his workload had grown too large.

‘We’re all in the same boat’ 

“I don’t think I can do this anymore!” employee Brett Jensen said as he slumped into the chair across from Terri. Continue reading »

 

Superstar employees are bright, motivated and business-savvy – a boost to any team. But sometimes these outstanding employees do not play well in the sandbox and become the most difficult to manage.

To solve problems involving these high-achievers, follow these tips:

Set expectations from the start. Let them know during the interview process that they’ll be judged on their ability to cultivate healthy relationships with other team members. No one can succeed in a vacuum; No matter how strong an employee – complimentary teams are needed to be successful. Continue reading »

 

This list is for real managers looking for real solutions to real challenges. This list is not for buzz-word toting weenies, who can be regularly heard throwing around phrases like – leverage, synergy, paradigm shift and managing to our deliverables.

Enjoy the list. Don’t be shy. Let me know if there is a site that deserves to be on this list. In no particular order, here are the Top 9 blogs for Managers who want to be stronger Leaders Continue reading »

 

The pain of delivering bad news to a manager can be lessened if you follow some of these suggestions:

  • Come to the point immediately. During the discussion, avoid any long preambles. You’ll cause tension to build between you and the boss. Also, Don’t dig up some good news to try to soften the blow. It’s poor psychology to try to lift people up, and then drop them down with bad news. This just makes the drop seem steeper.
  • Accept responsibility and then move on. Take responsibility for the part of the failure you are responsible for, no more and no less. If a colleague made a mistake, for instance, you could take the blame for not giving clear instructions, if that was the case. Just don’t blame everyone but yourself.
  • Present a plan of action. Taking responsibility is effective, but it isn’t enough. You’ll need to come up with some ideas for a plan to correct the mistakes before going into the meeting. Then seek the boss’ approval for the correction plan.
  • Choose the right time. Don’t give bad news while the boss is busy with something else. Seek a private one-on-one meeting by letting the boss know you have something vital to discuss. Avoid providing details before the meeting unless the manager insists.
 

What makes some leaders successful, while others quickly lose their steam. Experts say leaders must create and continually nurture three emotional elements to maintain success:

  • Significance. Employees need to feel a conviction that their contributions, no matter how small, really matter. Good people will want to contribute to the “cause” when you’ve convinced them the “cause” is worth working for.
  • Community. A sense of  ”unity of purpose” about the work people are performing is the glue that binds good teamwork. Community is the “human” element: difficult to define, impossible to do without
  • A buzz. Building excitement about the work, the “edgy” feeling, keeps people going. Whether it’s a short- or long-term goal, people work best when they’re charged up. Remind people of the special talents they bring to a project
© 2011 Supervisor Solutions Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha