Tag Archives: motivating people

Leadership, motivation, Performance Management

Motivating people to improve performance

inspiration

We have consistently observed that most high-achieving organizations are able to develop and sustain high performance cultures in which team members are inspired, engaged and highly motivated.

During a discussion with Human Resource, Quality, and Continuous Improvement leaders, various approaches to the motivational component of performance management were shared.

Individual v. Group
Some organizations focused on personal quantitative measurements to motivate individuals and to encourage and inspire them to achieve important goals. Tying these individual goals to the organization’s KPIs was cited as an effective way to align behaviors with goals and make sure everyone is aware of exactly what they are expected to do.

However, others said that group rewards and recognition were more effective than focusing on individual metrics. For example, one participant described how teamwork deteriorated to the detriment of the organization as a whole after his organization switched to individual metrics and rewards instead of rewarding everyone based on achievement of the company’s key strategic metrics.

Show me the money?
We also discussed experience with financial rewards as opposed to intrinsic rewards, such as recognition, and financial rewards did not necessarily produce the best results.

One participant explicitly pays people for participating on improvement teams in some of their facilities, while one of their Midwestern plants is prohibited from paying for participation. The Midwestern plant relies on intangible rewards such as recognition and “thank you notes.” Surprising to many, the Midwestern plant had a much higher rate of participation than the others, seeming to demonstrate that intangible or ‘intrinsic’ rewards can be more effective than monetary rewards.

Another organization found recognition, sometimes coupled with small gift cards, was an effective method for their organization.

Two Critical Factors
Everyone agreed that two keys to effective use of recognition as a motivational method are timeliness and making the recognition public.

Several examples involved peer-recognition programs, in which people were empowered to recognize one another by giving-out stars or some similar token when observing a co-worker exhibiting certain behaviors. When someone receives a certain number of stars, they get a gift card and the ‘star of the month’ gets a party, recognition, and a preferred parking space. It was noted that guidelines for the awarding of stars or tokens were set in advance.

Another perspective relative to timeliness involved making motivational and performance management activities an “everyday job,” and basing strategies on more than just past data. Over-reliance on past data when crafting improvement or motivational plans was referenced as working through the “rear-view-mirror.” A better approach not only enables managers to identify opportunities for team improvement based on analyzing past activities and results, but to also identify preemptive action steps and strategies that can impact outcomes and future results.

Conclusions & Best Practices

  1. Performance Management and motivation must be about much more than individual performance measurement. As Deming said, over 90% of problems are caused by the system not the person. To manage performance, we must manage the system by which people, plant, process interact to produce results.
  2. Frequent observation and feedback is more helpful to people than formal annual reviews. Motivation and engagement levels were consistently rated as “much higher” when team members received frequent, consistent feedback on their work, and also when they felt they had input to improvement plans.
  3. Frequent communication about what an organization needs and wants greatly increases the odds that the organization will get what they need and want.
  4. Group rewards encourage teamwork, while individual rewards encourage an individual to optimize his or her own goals even if it may sub-optimize the organization as a whole.
  5. Tying money directly to performance appraisal can be a two-edged sword – raising stress and reducing the intrinsic rewards and personal satisfaction from doing a good job for the team.
  6. Intrinsic rewards tend to increase motivation over time as opposed to financial rewards. Recognition is among the most effective. The keys to effective use of recognition as a motivational method are timeliness and making the recognition public.
  7. Avoid performance management in the “rear-view mirror.”
Continuous Improvement, Engagement, Performance Management, Rewards and Recognition

Rewards & Recognition Best Practices

Recent posts have focused on “rewards and recognition,” a crucial component of enterprise engagement.

We shared a range of perspectives based on discussions with our Partners in Improvement groups, who agreed that these programs are typically designed to achieve one of three objectives:

  • increased commitment
  • increased desired behavior or motivation
  • increased measurable results

Based on their collective experience the Partners identified the following eight criteria or best practices for an effective rewards and recognition program:

  1. Keep it simple: The most cost effective method of all seemed to be the simple thank you note. The notes, if done well, are widely appreciated and cost nothing more than the time and attention to set up a system of information when an individual or team deserved a thank you.
  2. Be very careful about extrinsic rewards: these can cause more trouble than benefits. Extrinsic rewards require very clear metrics, auditing, and careful, even elaborate design to ensure a focus on the rewarded metrics will not lead to deterioration of other facets of the organization. Obviously, this makes it hard to ‘keep it simple.’
  3. Be specific: it is much more effective to recognize a team or a person for a specific result or accomplishment than for generally doing a good job.
  4. Be timely: the closer in time the reward or recognition is to the accomplishment being recognized, the more impactful it will be.
  5. Be consistent: Be sure that you respond to comparable accomplishments in comparable ways.
  6. Be authentic: Sincerity in words of appreciation and praise are essential to an effective system of reward and recognition.
  7. Communicate widely: Publicity helps extend the celebration and communicates widely what is valued by the organization.
  8. Use team rewards to encourage better organization-wide results.
Continuous Improvement, Performance Management, Rewards and Recognition

Rewards & Recognition Part 2: Strategy

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Our previous post noted  that a Rewards & Recognition program is an important component of a comprehensive engagement plan, and that there are different approaches or “reasons” to implement the practice.

During discussions with our Partners in Improvement  groups details associated with each of three distinct strategies for implementing a rewards and recognition program  were summarized as follows:

Strategy #1: To Increase Commitment and ‘Team Spirit”
Service awards are an example of recognizing people in order to strengthen the commitment to and satisfaction with their jobs.

Many organizations announce service anniversaries and offer public congratulations and appreciation. In some cases a paper certificate is ceremoniously handed to the individual. Some organizations award gifts of increasing value for milestone anniversaries, such as 5 year, 10 year, 20 year anniversaries. Gifts bearing the company logo were also intended to increase association with and commitment to the organization.

Strategy #2: To Increase Certain Behaviors or Accomplishments
A good deal of our discussion of rewards and recognition focused on ways that were intended to reinforce behavior that the organization wants to see more of.

For example, the CEO of a global engineering corporation with 8,200 employees has made a practice of sending a personal thank you to people who have really contributed to process improvement, with a “cc” to the person’s supervisor. These notes are highly valued. Similarly, the CEO of a defense contractor also described how powerfully motivational a simple thank you can be. He was walking through one of his manufacturing plants and saw the operator of a machine that was under repair, cleaning the machine. He stopped to thank her, saying he really appreciated her effort because he would like the work place to be cleaner. The comment was so motivational that when he walked back
through several hours later, long after the repairman had left and the machine was functional again, she was still cleaning the machine.

Another organization has instituted a ‘Six Star’ program to recognize and reward people for giving excellent service.
Customers and employees can award ‘stars’ for service that they feel deserves recognition. Once employees receive six
such stars they are given a fifty dollar gift certificate. Another Partner described a high five on-line recognition, with a “cc”
to the Director. If the Director saw an accomplishment that was especially good, he or she could promote it into a “Round of
Applause” that would involve a gift.

Strategy #3: To Achieve Better (Measurable) Results
Some organizations used rewards to encourage extra effort to achieve specific goals.

Examples included a one year lease on a BMW that was awarded to the store manager with the best results, and a $20,000 President’s award that was given to the employee who generated the most profitable business.

At another organization, an additional one-week vacation was given to the employee who was deemed to have done the most for the organization in the previous year.

While each of these was awarded to an individual, the intent was to motivate many people to compete for the award. The assumption is that an unusual and substantial reward will inspire people to try and outdo one another in order to win — thereby increasing the results produced by all those who failed to win as well as the winner. These rewards rely on publicity and  extravagance to generate enough interest to get everyone trying to win.

But strategies, goals and objectives do not always translate into the desired results. In fact, some rewards and recognition programs produced unintended consequences, which we’ll discuss in our next post.

Continuous Improvement, Developing People, Process Improvement, Teams and Motivation

Social Recognition & Continuous Improvement

Continuing from an earlier post on social recognition in the workplace, a recent report by the Aberdeen Group indicates the power of employee recognition is one of the fastest growing areas of talent management.  The results found 67% of Best-in-Class organizations have a formal recognition program in place and are quickly embracing recognition as a way to spark engagement and drive success.

“The act of recognizing someone creates a special feeling for both the person being recognized and the individual who is providing recognition,” says author Melissa Meunier.  “When employees and their work are valued, their satisfaction and productivity rises, and they are motivated to maintain or improve their good work.  The person providing the appreciation feels empowered to motivate and acknowledge good behavior.”

The article goes on to explain that leaders should understand that recognition should take place in the moment or as close to it as possible to have the most lasting impression. In addition, a corporate culture that is strong in recognition is one where all employees flourish, and formalizing methods for recognition is a good step toward promoting a culture of continuous improvement.

Read the full article… | Comment…

Continuous Improvement, Developing People, Teams and Motivation, Workforce Engagement

Social Recognition & The Bottom Line

thanksA recent article published by the Enterprise Engagement Alliance shares data indicating, once again, that social recognition and reward programs have a direct impact on employee engagement and business outcomes.

The article references a Gartner’s report, “Social Employee Recognition Systems Reward the Business with Results,” which is a comprehensive analysis of the impact that social recognition can have on business results – including sustained employee engagement and culture alignment. The data shows that, when implemented as stand-alone programs, social reward and recognition programs deliver significant business value, as measured by performance across employee engagement, employee success, and customer and business success.

These findings are consistent with findings from one of our Partners in Improvement roundtable discussions, during which the Partners identified criteria for effective recognition and rewards that achieve increased commitment, more desired behavior or motivation, and more measureable results. The top three criteria were:

  1. Keep it simple: The most cost effective method of all seemed to be the simple thank you note. The notes, if done well, are widely appreciated and cost nothing more than the time and attention to set up a system of information when an individual or team deserved a thank you.
  2. Be very careful about extrinsic rewards: these can cause more trouble than benefits. Extrinsic rewards require very clear metrics, auditing, and careful, even elaborate design to ensure a focus on the rewarded metrics will not lead to deterioration of other facets of the organization. Obviously, this makes it hard to ‘keep it simple.’
  3. Be specific: it is much more effective to recognize a team or a person for a specific result or accomplishment than for generally doing a good job.
Continuous Improvement, Developing People, Process Improvement, Teams and Motivation, Workforce Engagement

Your Business “R” Factor II: Words from the Wise

As noted in our previous post, it is becoming increasingly evident that now, more than ever, relationships, and the quality of relationships in the workplace, do matter.

For example, Mike Morrison, VP and Dean of Toyota University in a recent interview went so far as to boldly say, “My message to leaders is actually quite simple:  It’s the relationship…. stupid!” 

He went on to suggest that human capital is useless without relationships—particularly in our fast-paced, global economy—and that leaders can be best measured by their ability to create social capital or the sum total of all their relationships.

“It is through this network of relationships that their work is conducted,” Morrison stated.

“As leaders, we need to be relentless relationship-builders and be 100 times more deliberate about relating to people. Work is much more relational than it was twenty years ago… today we get work done through others. In today’s world we achieve results primarily through relationships.”

Morrison concluded that relationships are truly the most effective pathway to the highest levels of commitment, creativity, and performance within organizations. The reason is that positive relationships have a transformational impact on the individual. They draw out the best in each of us.

Management guru Peter F. Drucker has also commented on the need to focus on workplace relationships.

“Increasingly, command and control is being replaced by or intermixed with all kinds of relationships,” he said.

“Alliances, joint ventures, minority participations, partnerships, know-how, and marketing agreements… these are all relationships in which no one controls and no one commands. These relationships have to be based on a common understanding of objectives, policies, and strategies; on teamwork; and on persuasion—or they don’t work at all.”