Step 2 to Engagement - Motivation
I have been writing about the 4 steps to engagement over the last few days...starting with attraction and attraction part 2. Today I want to talk about motivation. Motivation can be different to different people. Part of your role is to understand what is important to the individual, what makes them tick. How? Well, you need two key skills - listening and curiosity. You need to want to understand what motivates people, and listen to the person. People often say "Why should I bother?" Well, for me the reason is clear - if you want to excel in your role, you need the team to excel. A manager is a manager of people and I would question if you should be in the role if you don't want to motivate other human beings!
In general there are 3 key areas
People want to be valued and respected. Key skill here is to listen to their ideas, thank them for their work, and treat them with dignity.
People want to develop. Without development people get bored. Even if the person is not capable of promotion, bring some diversity to their work. Cross train, projects, train them to train....anything that plays to their strengths.
People want to understand what they are doing. Ensure that they have the right tools for their job, the right training, the right to ask for help in removing roadblocks. Also make sure that they have clear objectives- how they can achieve them, and how they are progressing. People need feedback.
