Managing Employees

Companies invest lots of money to find ways to motivate their employees for higher productivity.   They gravitate towards creating rich reward programs to stimulate their employee’s motivation and guide them towards stronger performance.

I believe that it’s difficult to motivate an employee –
rather, motivation is something that comes from the individual.

It’s easy to de-motivate an employee.

Look at the new employee, most of them are highly motivated when they first step through the door, so what happens to them after 6 months on the job.   If an employee loses a percentage of their motivation after 6 months, image the loss to the company as the employee increases their longevity.

Employees are responsible for motivating themselves.   Yet, you know, in managing employees, that you are an integral part of an employee’s success.   So how can you do your best in elevating your employee’s well-being and productivity?

1. Employees are different – this does seem obvious, yet managers, because of lack of time, want to motivate their employees with the same offering.     Find out what is important to each person on your team.  One person may want money, another wants challenge, while another wants to interact more with people.    The more you can customize your motivational techniques, the more your employees will blossom.

Work-life balance has been a theme in the workplace for over twenty years now.  What is your team’s stress index?   Are your employees reacting to constant change in business priorities, long hours or 24/7 mentality?  Do you support and incorporate the employee’s right to create balance in their lives?

Work-life balance is defined as a balance between one’s work and personal life.  Technology has increased the discussions and concerns around this issue.  If an employee feels out of balance, either with their work or with personal life, it influences their ability to perform.  In managing employees, their problems are the problems of the organization.

Employees leave for many reasons and some of them can be beyond your ability to manage.  Yet studies indicate that one of the main reasons for leaving is because of their relationship with their supervisor/manager.    Since you manage employees, this is important information for you to consider regarding your performance. 

The Most Important Reason

I’ve been in HR for many years and have found these two points to be significant in the turnover of a company.

The Seasoned Employee

The final section on the retention series is the seasoned employee.   This employee performs efficiently and at a high quality level.  They are an expert in their role within the company.  A manager’s dream…an employee who knows what to do and just does it.  Enjoy it!  

Yet…keep an eye on this employee because you can lose them without knowing you are vulnerable.   Employees have different styles when dealing with their careers.  Some are quite vocal about needing additional challenges or if they are not happy, while others quietly decide to look elsewhere when they are bored.   The cost of losing an experienced employee is up to 150% of their annual salary (Ernst & Young, 2003).  That includes a lot of time and money.