One of the questions I frequently get asked is how do you keep highly skilled staff motivated. More specifically, how do you keep highly skilled staff motivated to perform low autonomy roles.
The amount of employers that say their ideal employee is hard working, enthusiastic and highly motivated would border on 100%. These same employers wonder how it all went so wrong when their highly skilled staff become highly skilled headaches.
The first point of consideration that I try to make people realise is that highly skilled staff will invariably be seeking opportunities to showcase their skills. Whilst this may appear like I am stating the obvious - please indulge me for just a moment.
Enthusiasm can quickly turn to resentment or complacency if the right direction or outlet for their skills is not provided.
Simple you say - if they are motivated they will naturally be promoted into higher positions where these unique, highly sought after skills can be utilised. Well let us consider for a moment that you have, on average, one manager to roughly every 10 direct reports. This means that the opportunity for promotion for your team of highly skilled workers is roughly 10%. Given that the median time that a person stays in a job is about 4 years (as of 2008) this can mean that your business contains a large team of demotivated employees who will be looking for their promotion opportunities elsewhere.
Let us further consider that in a lot of industries - especially professional occupations - many employees do not aspire to enter into a management position, nor do they necessarily possess the inherent skills to be effective managers. This means that competing for the 10% chance of promotion may be workers who, even if successful, may not be overly motivated to succeed. I will come back to this point.
The most correct answer I have generally found is the most obvious and simple solution. When it comes to motivating staff I have found that the simple answer is clear and frequent communication.
'Wow thanks for that obvious insight you might say! Talking to my staff I would never have thought of that...' but you have indulged me this much so please indulge me just a little more.
Highly skilled employees don't just want to be given promotions. They want validation that the work they are doing is critical to the success of the business. They also invariably want to feel like they are gaining new skills or becoming more employable. They want to feel like their employment will shape the future of the organisation. If they feel there is a dissonance between their direction and the direction of the organisation their motivation levels can drop rapidly.
The easiest and most cost effective way to ensure that you are not caught offside by an alienated or disaffected employee is to have clear communication channels that require regular interaction between management and staff.
This evidences the need for communication. Which brings me to my next point for consideration. Training. Training. Training.
I generally get a groan when I suggest training demotivated employees. Because invariably the business owner or manager who is dealing with the employee see training as an additional cost and the employee can misinterpret it as a performance management tool.
In my experience just as change can be as good as a holiday, training can be as good as a promotion. I personally really like providing employees with as much training as possible. If chosen properly targeted training can be a very win-win scenario for both parties; the worker gains a wider skillset which in turn makes them a better resource to the business.
Training can also help workers make the transition from team member to manager more effectively. Even if a worker has the inherent skills, training can make them more relevant to requirement of the organisation and the position.
Highly skilled workers love becoming more highly skilled workers. They also love the opportunity to network with other highly skilled workers. Training programs can be a great opportunity for networking with like minded professionals.
Now I could go on and on about other methods that I have tried in the past but hopefully this has been a bit of food for thought.
Any questions or comments - please feel free to get in contact.
Regards,
Chris Turner
Director
No comments:
Post a Comment