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The productivity challenge Keeping employees engaged and motivated will pay dividends for your business, says Royston Guest
John doesn’t feel the same about work anymore. Something’s changed. He used to approach it with commitment and drive, happily doing extra hours because he believed in where they were going and what they were doing as an organisation. They were in this together. But now things are different. A new management structure has made him voiceless and depressed. Decisions he was once part of are now made behind his back. And the result? Discretionary effort; going the extra mile; working beyond contractual obligation have been withdrawn. Emotionally, John has checked out. The goodwill has gone. He takes more sick days now. This hypothetical example describes a common and real scenario in businesses all around the world today, and worryingly, for many it may be considered the norm. You may not even realise, but the chances are high that within your own business you may have at least one John, perhaps even more. Since 2007 UK productivity has been broadly flat and the economy has suffered as a result. Productivity growth is crucial to what happens next in the UK economy and this means getting more from your existing people. One of the greatest assets of your business walks out the door every night. What are you doing to get them to return next day inspired, motivated, and enthused to be the best they can be? 1. Understand your people’s WHY. One of the keys to unlocking a motivational environment is to clearly understand your people’s personal goals and how being successful at work can be one of the vehicles
and enablers in helping them realise their goals. The moment we create the bridge in their mind – the link between their personal goals, business goals and what they do daily during work – self-motivation kicks in. This is the defining moment a person changes from someone with a job to someone with a purpose. Whilst the motivation to do so must come from within, the triggers that compel them to make the switch are ones an organisation and its leaders can create. Do you truly understand your people's personal WHY? 2. Acknowledge your people’s emotional wellbeing on an equal footing to their physical wellbeing. I often encounter stressed managers in the hospitality trade; despairing bankers who don’t see their children; pressured recruitment consultants trying to seal the deal. Their emotional well-being is not a luxury; it’s the energy source powering their performance. When it’s low, their performance is low, which has both a short and long-term impact on the business for which they work. Their well-being is measurable beyond business performance, too; their lack of happiness has an impact on their health. A recent study by economists at the University of Warwick, England, found that happiness in the workplace led to a 12% spike in productivity, while unhappy workers proved 10% less productive. 3. Set your people up for success. Do your people know what great performance looks like, feels like and acts like in their role from both a behavioural and numerical/KPI perspective? If you asked your people this question how aligned would their answer be with your version? There should be one version of the truth – in my 49
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PERSONAL JOB SATISFACTION IS DRIVEN BY FAR MORE THAN FINANCIAL FACTORS SUCH AS SALARY AND BENEFITS. YOUR EVP THEREFORE MUST HAVE THE RIGHT BLEND OF NON-MONETARY REWARDS
experience perception and reality are often misaligned. If you haven’t created absolute clarity about what the expectations are for their role, explained and demonstrated what great looks like, and set them up for success, it’s almost predictable that you and your people will be working to different models and interpretations of what great looks like. This is not good for productivity and it certainly isn’t good for their wellbeing and happiness. Create clarity of purpose for your people. Enable them with the mindset (attitude, determination, will), the skillset (technical or soft skills) and the toolset (tools to do their job) to truly unlock their potential and deliver excellence within their role, fuelling their inner self-worth, igniting their self-motivation, building their confidence: their happiness will be inevitable. 4. Get the right people in the right roles This may sound obvious, but most people challenges come about because the wrong people are in the wrong roles. The right people in the right role can accelerate productivity and therefore business growth, exponentially. The solution is not complicated. Simply define the type of person who will thrive in your business – their skills, attributes, personality, experience. There is no right or wrong. Just what’s right for you and your business at this point in time. 5. Your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) A Compelling Value Proposition (CVP) is a key differentiator for your business in achieving competitive advantage. Similarly, your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is a key differentiator in your people strategy. Your EVP is critical in helping you achieve Employer of Choice status and put simply, it’s the balance of
the rewards and benefits received by your employees in return for the skills, capabilities, experiences, and performance they bring to your organisation. Your EVP should be employee-centred and designed based on a deep understanding of what is important to your existing and potential employees. It must be unique, relevant and compelling if it is to act as a key driver of talent attraction, engagement and retention. Your EVP is the centre point of all your employee communication and should be one of your most compelling and exciting tools to inspire and motivate your people. Gallup released numbers in 2015 indicating that only 13% of employees worldwide are truly engaged in their work. The other 87% vary from partially to fully disengaged. They come to work, go through the motions without any sense of enthusiasm that would encourage them to take ownership and push to improve their own performance and productivity. Now that’s terrifying!
performers. Organisations that value people as their greatest asset and demonstrate it through their actions are positioned to get the best out of all employees whilst retaining their top performers – a catalyst for business growth. Employers that have highly-energised and engaged teams deliver superior and sustained results, with people who are committed, motivated and prepared to go the extra mile. The worker will experience his / her job as meaningful and fulfilling and both will benefit from a mutually-beneficial, long-term relationship.
6. It’s not all about the money! In a world that has become impersonal, where the big things make little difference, it’s the little things which make a big difference. Personal job satisfaction is driven by far more than financial factors such as salary and benefits. Your EVP therefore must have the right blend of non-monetary rewards. Increasingly, non-monetary rewards are becoming key differentiators, highly valued by employees. These include relocation services, career development, choice of work location, and flexibility to spend time with children and attend school functions and sports days. Organisations that consider people as merely a paid resource have difficulty retaining good people and generally end up over-populated with under-
ROYSTON GUEST IS AUTHOR OF BUILT TO GROW, A BLUEPRINT TO HELP ENTREPRENEURS, BUSINESS OWNERS AND PROFESSIONALS UNDERSTAND THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF ACCELERATED, SUSTAINED AND PROFITABLE BUSINESS. BUILT TO GROW IS AVAILABLE TO BUY FROM AMAZON. JOIN ROYSTON’S BUILT TO GROW FACEBOOK OR LINKEDIN GROUP AND ACCESS EXCLUSIVE CONTENT, ARTICLES AND INSIGHTS ON HOW YOU CAN DELIVER ACCELERATED, SUSTAINED AND PROFITABLE BUSINESS GROWTH. WWW.ROYSTONGUEST.COM 50
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