In today's turbulent economic market, even the strongest
and most powerful corporate icons are challenged to find ways to improve
their efficiencies. As they require more work from fewer numbers of
people, their top priority is having effective leaders and motivators who
can propel their group to greatness. Unfortunately, many young
managers and leaders have never seen a tight economy, or at a minimum,
have only a faint memory of what it can be like. It's during these
times that leadership skills are put to the test, because employee motivation
becomes more difficult as the resources for motivating are pulled at the
same time.
Understanding human psychology is critical during tough times because we need to be beyond the fluff. Yes, ice cream socials
are fun for employees, but they aren't the be-all and end-all to
employee motivation. Contests are interesting, but people find them
disconcerting during tough times.
The fact is that there are four critical elements of
leadership that are extremely valuable during robust times and absolutely
essential during challenging times. Implement these leadership
qualities in your organization today so you can nurture a motivated
workforce for years to come.
1. Lend an empathetic ear.
Guilt, fear, and paranoia, as well as a few other destructive
emotions, can freeze people's performance during tough times. The
natural response is for a leader to click his or her heels with the
hopes of ending up in Kansas. Denial is the natural response when
things get tough, but many leaders never move beyond that. The
thought of talking about feelings openly sends shivers down the spines
of most managers, and ignoring those emotions only causes greater
challenges.
To increase motivation and performance, create a forum
for people to share their feelings so that they can release them and move
on. Put on your tomato suit and listen to the whining in a
structured forum. If you don't, your employees are sure to keep
whining for months and months past the time people would normally let it
go.
The funny thing about emotions is that if we don't sense
that the other person truly understands our emotions, we tend to stay
charged. If you don't want to be listening to the same complaints
over and over, then listen with emotion. If someone's voice is
loud and angry, say back in a loud voice, "I feel terrible because
I see you're so upset." Then continue the conversation by
dropping your voice slowly to a normal range. Watch the magic as
they defuse by simply knowing you "really got it."
2. Don't buy into the "ain't it
awful" story.
Everything you hear could be true. Quarterly
profits could be down, market share may be shrinking, and turnover could
be high. These and other measurements are feedback that an
organization isn't doing what it should be doing. For many, this
information is the confirmation that the sky is falling and they're
hoarding hard hats. The problem is that it's hard to restart the
engines and fly when you're dragging extra hardhats.
Lead your people to the understanding that even during
the darkest times, many do well, and you intend to be one of
those. Your team needs to shift out of their doomsday story and
into one of possibilities. When people say, "We can't
because," the broken record response needs to be, "Well, how
CAN we?" With enough repetition, people will soon come to
understand that results can be achieved no matter what the
circumstances. Let them know that you are choosing to vote out a
down market or recession because customers need what you have, and
you're willing to work harder to get it to them.
3. Shift the focus to making a difference.
Think back to the last time you were depressed.
Where was your focus? Of course, you focused on you. That's
where all of us focus when we're depressed. The same thing happens
with organizations. When they focus on themselves and their petty
concerns, the downward spiral is sped up. But when people start
thinking about making a difference in the world, suddenly they're
energized and desiring to do great things.
One of our basic human needs is to do extraordinary
things with our lives and to be energized by them as they happen.
And, yet, within months of any employee's tenure with a new company, the
original passion for doing extraordinary things is often gone. The
drive they possessed during the interview to do great things turned into
a desire to cope and get by. The passion is gone, and the
performance potential went with it.
Many of the practices we learned in business college
about management are exactly the things that rob people of that passion
and "soul." When asked what they're most frustrated
about with their employees, most leaders answer, "They just don't
think out of the box." That same manager will then do a
performance review and tie it into the "job description" that
puts that person into a box. Without an inspirational vision that
lays out precisely what extraordinary results you expect, your employees
have no place to go but in the box.
The problem is that during tough times, managers often
focus inward. "A 20 percent growth rate" and "
return on equity of 10 percent" are things they tell their front-line
people. However, most front-line people don't change their
behaviors with those instructions. The reality is that the vision
you share needs to be focused on making a difference in the world
- a
rallying cry for being so extraordinary that the world is forever
changed.
The vision of "a head in every bed every
night" for a hotel chain, "over 100 applicants for each job
opening" for an HR department, "every customer in our market
area can retire with financial independence" for a financial
planning firm, or "every customer comes back asking for one of our
sales associates by name" for a retail sales firm are clear
examples that you expect to be extraordinary during good times or
bad. You'll discover that the bad times go away when your vision
is focused on making a difference for others.
4. Appreciate the steps along the way.
Frustration runs high when things aren't working
well. Employees' confidence is shaken. When confidence is
low, performance weakens, thereby feeding into the cycle of lower
motivation and performance. It doesn't have to be this way.
Appreciate the little steps along the way during
challenging times. Let your employees know that you appreciate not
only the things they do, but also who they are and the efforts they
make. Build fun into your appreciation. It's amazing how
little juvenile things will get adults to work harder. A bell in
the middle of the building that people run to when they have a major
sale gets everyone appreciating them on the trip there and back and
keeps the workplace lighthearted and silly. It is our childlike
energy that drives the extraordinary. Grownups are too serious to
do extraordinary things-they prefer to fit in. However, fitting in
is the kiss of death for a high performance organization.
Good organizations, departments, and managers thrive
during rough times because they learn to hone their skills like never
before. They've discovered that it's the bad times that make them
so much better during the good times. When you can keep your team
motivated and productive during the most challenging of events, your
organization will stand out and your employees will lead your company to
greatness.
Roxanne Emmerich is listed as one of
the top 12 speakers for national sales meetings in the country
today. She is the author of "Thank God It's Monday: How
to Build a Motivating Workplace", and she can be reached at
1-800-236-5885 or Roxanne@EmmerichGroup.com
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