The Motivation First Aid Kit

During the economic downturn, the president of a company I worked with wasnabout to send an e-mail to his sales force to demonstrate empathy for howndifficult it had become to meet sales targets, saying that he would understand ifnthey didn't make their numbers this quarter. What he didn't realize was how hisnsales people would interpret that message into their behavior. If he was sonunderstanding, surely it would be okay if they didn't do that last appointment atnfive o'clock, because what difference would it make any way?

Fortunately, we managed to change his message before it went out. Instead henwrote:

"This quarter may be tougher to meet our sales quota, so I am askingnyou to work as hard as you possibly can. Please see as many customersnas you can and do everything within your power so that we can ensurenthat we meet our targets. I know you can do this and we are counting onnyou. The sales managers will support you in this effort."

Times are hard. Companies have shed large numbers of their workforce,nreducing their expenses in order to avoid bankruptcy. The employees who arenleft have much work to do replacing what their colleagues did, and yet they arenstill faced with the possibility of also losing their jobs. Many people arendepressed, suffering from feelings of hopelessness and are paralyzed atnwork.

As a leader, everything you say or do can help your people get motivatednto do their part or can sink them even lower into the hole.

What can a manager do to make sure their people get energized and ready tontackle the present situation? Unfortunately there isn't one solution that will worknfor all your employees. One size does not fit all when it comes to motivation.
Those actions that will motivate part of your workforce may not fit for manynof your people. And yet everyone could use some help right now.

Sure, you need to reorganize how work gets done with fewer people, and makensure they focus on the important tasks. But let's look at how you can helpnmotivate your very different employees. I work with a psycholinguistic tool callednthe Language and Behavior Profile (LAB Profile)*.which enables you to decodenthe individual motivation and thinking patterns of your team. Here is a list ofnthe different Motivation Triggers at work:

Motivation Triggers

Proactive and Reactive: Some people need to take initiative in order to benmotivated while others can more to wait and reflect.

Toward and Away From: Some people need a goal in order to be motivatednwhile others jump into action to prevent or solve a problem.

Internal and Exte
al: Some people prefer to judge for themselves while othersnare more influenced from outside people and factors.

Options and Procedures: Some people prefer to explore many alte
ativesnwhile others are motivated to start and complete a single step-by-step process.

Sameness, Sameness with Exception, and Difference: Some people arenmotivated when their work is the same, some prefer gradual change, while othersnare motivated by constant radical shifts.

Criteria and Values: these are the things a person holds dear at work; what isnimportant to them and triggers their motivation.

With all these different Motivation Triggers what is a manager or HR professionalnto do? It is not an easy task but here is a step by step process that can helpnyou:

Motivating Your Team

First, make sure that each employee has a clear set of responsibilities andntasks to do. Secondly, invite all of your team members for a meeting and setnthe framework for what you expect from then and the environment you wish toncreate.

Here are the key messages they now need to hear from you and see reinforcednby your actions:

1. As their leader you want to make sure that they know that thei
contribution is needed now more than ever, that you are here to helpnthem reach their goals and overcome any obstacles they may encounte
along the way.

2. There are many ways to look at the present situation, and one way is tonseek out and discover how we can find new opportunities andnreduce unnecessary expenses. All ideas are welcome.

3. It is also important to make sure we complete and finish the importantnprojects our internal and exte
al clients need from us on time and onnbudget to ensure we prove our usefulness.

4. Everything may feel different this year, and while there are huge changesnin our environment, it is still even more important to do our best worknand to make sure our customers benefit from that.

Thirdly, figure out the basic motivation needs of your team members so you cannsupport them to perform at their best particularly under pressure. Here are thensigns!

In a crisis here is how people with these different patterns react and what theynneed to perform better:

Proactive people who are motivated by taking initiative, and getting out andnmaking things happen are really frustrated at the moment because it is difficultnfor them to see how to take the initiative. When these people are unable to takeninitiative they become de-motivated and depressed quite quickly. To get out ofntheir negative space they need to proactively create a new reality for themselves.
Here are some of the questions you can ask your Proactive employees to getnthem back in the game:
• What do you really want in your work?
• Why is that important to you?
• What are the steps you need to take right now to make this happen?
• What possible obstacles do you need to prevent now?
• What is the first step you can do today?

These questions are oriented towards action. A Proactive person needs to actnnow and have something specific to do. These questions allow that person to getninto action immediately and start getting results.

But this will not work for someone who prefers to think things out slowly andncarefully. The Reactive employee needs to thoroughly understand what they arengoing to do. Here are some questions you can ask a Reactive person to helpnthem get out of their mental hibe
ation:
• What is important to you in your work?
• Why is that important?
• What steps will need to be in place to make this happen?
• What could be the obstacles for which you will need to have a solution?
• What do you think are the solutions to the obstacles?
• What is the first step that you can start today?

These questions allow the Reactive person to think their situation through. Theynneed to spend some time creating a vision and a plan in their mind and workingnout the steps involved.

About 40% of the population are only motivated when they have a goal.
This is the Toward pattern from the LAB Profile. During tough times many
Towards people panic because they see only the problems around them andnthey have nothing to move towards. This is disastrous for them unless they find anway to develop some goals to get them moving again. Here are some questionsnyou can ask to help them get re-motivated and re-energized:
• What do you want in your work?
• What will that do for you?
• What are the steps you will need to take to achieve these goals?
• What are the obstacles for which you will need to find a solution to achieventhese goals?
• What is the first step you can do today to move toward your goals?

If only 40% of the population are motivated to achieve goals, what is motivatingnthe others? Another 40% of the population is motivated to act to prevent or avoidna problem from occurring or to solve one that is already happening. Thisnmotivation pattern is called Away From because these people are motivated tonmove away from the things they do not want. In an economic crisis there arenmany things they could move away from. The key is to focus on what could benthe principal motivator for them. Here are some questions that they can answe
to help find their way and not get lost:
• What do I most want to prevent from happening?
• What do I want instead?
• If I do not succeed in that, what will happen?
• What are the steps I need to take to move away from what I don't wantnand to achieve what I do want?
• What are the obstacles I will need to overcome?
• What can I start today so that I won’t be stuck?

The last question in each set is critical because it helps get the person movingnand back into action moving towards their goals (or away from their problem).

These are four of the Motivation Triggers from the LAB Profile. As a leade
or HR professional, you can see that it is important to ask these questions in anway that engages each person’s own individual motivation rather thannoffering the "one size fits all" solution. While this is not the miracle cure, whennyou ask the right questions, you can focus your employee’s attention on whatnthey can do to get out of mental hibe
ation and into high performancenmode.
***n*from Words That Change Minds: Mastering the Language of Influence, 2ndnedition, by Shelle Rose Charvet, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, IA