Regular contributor FRANK NEWBERRY concludes his two part article on Motivating People. The first part focused on self motivation - in this issue he turns his attention to motivating others.


Top Ten Tips for MOTIVATING PEOPLE


Definition


As in part one, Frank is taking the expression 'low motivation' to mean: 'lacking the will to work well'.


Top Tips for Motivating Others


Before we look at each of the top five in turn, let's get a few things clear from the outset. For example you may be thinking 'it's got to be money at number one surely?'


Sounds reasonable and many people have taken the time to make this clear to me. Their assertions go something like: 'If you just give a groundsperson a decent wage he or she will be motivated. There will be a lot less whinges and a genuine feeling of well- being which, in turn, will bring about the desire to work well'.


I hate to be the bringer of bad news to those who think this is true. What is actually true is that some of us have a belief that more pay will motivate people. The evidence is far from conclusive. Here are some research findings about what motivates and what de-motivates people in the work place. Brace yourself, for there are ten key factors above pay in the list of what motivates people most. This is not all bad news because few of us can directly use pay as an incentive to motivate others.


Motivators


1 Achievement 2 Recognition 3 Work Itself 4 Responsibility 5 Advancement 6 Personal Growth 7 Employer’s Policies & Administration 8 Management 9 Relations with boss 10 Working Conditions 11 Pay 12 Relations with colleagues 13 Personal Life 14 Relations with staff 15 Status 16 Job Security


These factors have proven to be more of a motivator than a de-motivator


These factors have proven to be equally a motivator and a de-motivator


These factors have proven to be more of a de-motivator than a motivator


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It doesn’t seem to make sense! How can Personal Growth and Job Security be equally a motivator and de-motivator?


Personal Growth


Well, sometimes ‘personal growth’ can be painful. For example some people may not want to learn new skills in a modern work place and, whilst they are striving to come to terms with the realisation that their old skills are no longer needed, they have to buckle down and learn new ones in order to stay employed.


Job Security There are three things to consider here.


First there is evidence that amongst those people who know that they can never be sacked there is a group who do not bother to work very hard.


Second, fear is a great motivator. Apparently in the years prior to Margaret Thatcher’s term in office, improvements in productivity had been jogging along comfortably at a few percentage points per year. Once job security had been all but taken away by the Tory government, productivity increased to 14% year on year.


Third, fear in the form of job insecurity can be as great a motivator as the worry and the uncertainty of job insecurity can be a de-motivator.


Let’s have a look at the top five de- motivators. Apart from pay being the fifth highest de-motivator the other factors on the list seems less controversial:


Number One Demotivator: Employer’s Policies and Administration


People always seem to have something negative to say about the way the place is being run. Many are baffled that ‘after all these years they are still getting it wrong’ and this can affect their confidence in their employer and pretty soon words like ‘What’s the point in making an effort?’ come to mind.


Number Two Demotivator: The Management


In this instance what seems to de-motivate us is the way we are managed or the appropriateness of the management style adopted by the organisation or even the lack of management and decision making. It is often hard to get the balance right when the management know little or nothing about turf care or the supervision seems to be either ‘too close’ or ‘too far away’.


Number Three Demotivator: Relationship with the boss


In my own experience the number of average or poor bosses I had in my career seems to easily outnumber the good ones and the research bears this out. We seem to take it as normal to whinge about the boss and most of us 'lump' the boss in with a general dissatisfaction about the way the place is run.


Number Four Demotivator: Working Conditions


Bad weather and poorly maintained equipment and facilities are often stated as reasons for not completing the work on time or to the standard expected. There is a belief that people will feel more motivated if their equipment is shiny and new and the sheds are clean and tidy. From the motivational point of view we all know how good it feels to have the sun on our backs when we are working.


Number Five Demotivator: Pay


So pay demotivates people eh? This better be good.


Absolutely. Pay has always been a de- motivator; to prove it here's your starter for five:


1 It’s true that things can feel good for a while. When you get a pay rise you feel happy looking at the bigger numbers on your pay slip but a year later - you want more.


2 When you find out that others with similar responsibility and experience are earning more - you want more.


3 When you find out that your friends and relatives are earning more - you want more.


4 When you find out that a job being advertised nearby is paying more - you want more, or you will leave and get that job.


5 Then after a while in the new job - you will want more.


Pay makes people feel dissatisfied. Dissatisfaction with pay leads to de- motivation in the workplace. So let us turn our attention to what we can do to motivate other people either as a boss or as a colleague. First let’s tackle the de- motivators. Your task is to ensure that the top five above do not go below a certain level. You should strive to ensure that relationships, policies, conditions and pay are seen as fair and reasonable in the circumstances. If they are not seen as fair you will lose good people to other employers. If you can work hard on the five


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