7 Tips to an Effective Manager
Presented by:Vijay M Shejul Roll No 50 MHRDM Semester IV K J Somaiya Institute of Management Mumbai.
Tips to Managers for Employee Motivation
As a manager your impact on employee motivation is immeasurable. By your words, your body language, and the expression on your face, as a manager, or a leader, you telegraph your opinion of their value to the people you employ. Building high employee motivation and morale is both challenging and yet supremely simple.
1. Your Arrival at Work Sets the Employee Motivation Tone for the Day Imagine Mr. Angry Young Man. He arrives at work with a frown on his face. His body language tells he is upset. He treats the first person who approaches him abruptly. It takes only a few minutes for the entire office to get the signals. Your arrival and the first moments you spend with staff each day have an immeasurable impact on positive employee motivation and morale. Start the day right. Smile. Walk tall and confidently. Walk around your workplace and greet people. Share the goals and expectations for the day. Let the staff know that today is going to be a great day. It starts with you. You can make their day.
2. Use Simple, Powerful Words for Employee Motivation. The 6 most important words: “I admit I made a mistake” The 5 most important words: “You did a good job” The 4 most important words: “What is your opinion?” The 3 most important words: “If you please” The 2 most important words: “Thank you!” The 1 most important word: “WE” The least most important word: “I” You can make their day !
3. For Employee Motivation, Make Sure People Know What You Expect. Management Guru Ferdinand Fournies says inability in setting clear expectations is often a manager’s first failure. Managers think they have clearly stated work objectives, numbers needed, report deadlines and requirements, but the employee received a different message. Most of the time the expectations are not communicated or there is a sudden change in the middle of the job, mangers poorly communicate both the change and the reason for the change. This is bad news for employee motivation and morale. Make sure you get feedback from the employee so you know he understands what you need. Share the goals and reasons for doing the task or project. In a job, don't emphasize on the job to be finished quickly. If you must make a change midway through a task or a project, tell the staff why the change is needed; tell them everything you know. You can make their day !
4. Provide Regular Feedback for Employee Motivation. For improving the quality of the work an employee should be able to know how they are doing at work. They want to know when they have done a project well and when you are disappointed in their results. They need this information from their managers as soon as possible following the event. They need to work with you to make sure they produce a positive outcome the next time. Set up a daily or weekly schedule and make sure feedback happens. You'll be surprised how effective this tool can be in building employee motivation and morale. You can make their day !
5. Give your subordinates TIME ! Spend time daily with each person you supervise. Managers might aim for an hour a week with each of their direct subordinates. Many studies indicate that a key employee work motivation factor is spending positive interaction time with the supervisor. Schedule development meetings on a public calendar so people can see when they can expect some quality time and attention from you. You can make their year !
6. Focus on their personal development for motivation. Most of the people want to learn new things, they want to grow. No matter what, a manager also as a friend should guide his subordinate. If there is something nagging them in personal life which impacts his performance in office, discuss it. Employees don’t expect managers to solve their problems. An ear to hear them is enough. Help them achieve their personal goals along with the organizational goals. Get to know them personally. Ask what motivates them. Ask what career objectives they have and are aiming to achieve. Make a performance development plan with each person and make sure you help them carry out the plan. You can make their career !
7. Finally lead by your own example. Here I would like to quote a story from Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. During one of the wars of Napoleon Bonaparte, after a day of fierce fighting, guards were placed at strategic places around the camp site to guard that camp site against surprise attacks. However one of these guards (exhausted from the fighting of that day), fell fast asleep at his post. It was shortly afterwards, that Napoleon decided to go out for a cool evening stroll to do some thinking, as we all have to do occasionally. He noticed the guard asleep, walked up to him, picked up his rifle, and… placing it to his shoulder, acted as guard whole night till the next morning. When the soldier awoke with fear, Napoleon told him to “Calm down! Be more alert next time” Napoleon, very easily could have picked up that gun, putting it to his shoulder, shot that soldier, because he had left a great big gaping hole in the defence of their camp site. The enemy could have come in and destroyed the lot of them. BUT Napoleon, knew and understood the reasons for him falling asleep, and took over the soldier's duties until dawn. Moral of the story: 1. Lead by example. 2. The best way to get a job done is to do it yourself !
Reference:1. Organisational Behaviour by Dr. Steven Robbins, Tata-McGraw Hill Publication. 2.http://humanresources.about.com/od/motivationrewardretention/a/employ ee_motivation.htm 2. http://epistle.us/articles/siximportantwords.html