Certainly money has its place in the area of motivating
employees, particularly for people in the selling role. If nothing else, it is
a symbol of accomplishment and without a positive perception of compensation
and incentives, employees could feel cheated or unappreciated. However paying
money is not a prime motivator for employee performance. This has been proven
through many studies over the years. The reality is that we will always find a
way to spend/invest the money we earn regardless of our level of income (within
reason). It has been discovered that the key motivators to improved performance
are more typically: work satisfaction, being challenged, a feeling of
importance, being appreciated or recognized, the opportunity to grow, a chance
at acquiring higher level skills and work/home balance.
leaders it is critical that we find ways to help our people feel highly engaged
and proud of the work they’re doing. When we can help them to see that they
really do make a difference in other people’s lives (clients, co-workers,
management) as well as the success of the firm, we motivate them to try harder
and improve work outcomes and performance. When we give them a compelling
vision of the future, this clear destination brings greater meaning to what
they are doing. This can change their perception from one of just performing
mindless daily repetition of tasks to one where they feel they are doing
something really important. In the same way when employees see that the
people around them are making a difference, they want to be like them. This
creates healthy competition.
create an environment where the positive attributes I describe above are consistently
employed in a genuine and sincere way. And to get them to go viral! In order to
do this we must communicate with team members on a deeper level so that we can
fully understand what is important to them. In addition, we need to have our
“arms around” the entire team perception as a whole and the collective values
embraced.