Every organization wants to have productive, satisfied and loyal employees and a lot of time and effort is spent attempting to achieve this goal. Managers and supervisors have a direct opportunity to influence the productivy of their employees but often they go about this incorrectly, assuming they understand motivation, but failing to deliver real results. Following are some commonly held notions about motivation that are truly myths.
Money is an Effective Motivator
While employees certainly need and want to make a competitive wage, once that wage reaches a certain level and assuming it is a wage that is consistent with others doing similar work, more money really does not motivate. May be hard to believe, but it is true.
What employees really want, they say, is recognition for the work they do, an opportunity to contribute ideas and the ability to learn and grow in the job - and perhaps be promoted into new jobs.
Managers can Motivate Employees
Employees like to think so, and certainly managers have an impact on employee motivation, but when it comes right down to it employees must motivate themselves. What managers do is provide the right environment and the right opportunities to nurture the employees' ability to be motivated.
Mangers Don't Need to be Motivated
Managers set the tone for all of those around them. Disgruntled, unhappy managers will have disgruntled, unhappy employees. It is very important for managers to set a positive, motivated tone for employees to observe and replicate.
Happy employees are Productive Employees
While this a widely held opinion it is not necessarily true. In fact, happy employees may be very non-productive if they don't have the training, tools and environment necessary to allow them to perform their jobs effectively. Happy is good but it doesn't necessarily lead to high performance.
Motivators are UniversalNot so. One employee could be delighted that the manger cares enough to remember his or her birthday - another might sneer when awarded the Employee of the Year Award. Some employees simply want to do a job and do it well based on their own assessment; others need feedback and confirmation from customers and managers. To find out what motivates employees, it is important to ask them and to not make assumptions based on personal preferences.
Employee needs are changing constantly as the world changes around them. To be effective in motivating employees, managers must be constantly alert for these changes and should spend time interacting with employees frequently to best understand their needs.
Linda Pophal - Linda Pophal, owner/CEO of Strategic Communications, LLC, is a marketing and communication strategist with 20+ years experience. Pophal ...
