by Sharon Daniels
Economic recovery is fragile, and the workplace psyche is just as delicate. As businesses start hiring again, many workers will begin weighing better offers, and top performers likely are already evaluating how well they were treated during the most rugged patches of the recession. Further, the changes wrought by the recession have created a new work and business environment, which means managers have to motivate employees through a new phase of anxiety as employees grapple with change.
Senior managers can lead by example to motivate the workforce. In companies of all sizes, employees at all levels seek cues and reassurance from their leaders. As the workforce churns and reshapes itself in the wake of retiree departures, temporary leaves of absence and layoffs, the need for management guidance is magnified.
Strategic initiatives around employee engagement often gain traction when senior leaders successfully align supervisors to key messages and programs. Think of an automobile with a broken drive-train. Someone could rev the engine forever, but if there's no connection to the wheels, the car won't go anywhere. In organizations, supervisors represent that linkage - they need to be credible with their direct reports. Employees need the right resources, and supervisors need commitment from their workgroups.
Senior executives who lead by example and cascade messages on corporate initiatives and priorities through supervisors extend their credibility, which is a necessary building block today as trust in management and overall job satisfaction waned during the recession.
In a 2010 Conference Board report on job satisfaction, only 45 percent of employees surveyed said they were satisfied with their jobs; this is down from 61.1 percent in 1987, the first year the survey was conducted.
"Widespread job dissatisfaction negatively affects employee behavior and retention, which can impact enterprise-level success," said John Gibbons, program director for employee engagement research and survey services at The Conference Board.
It also can impact retention. According to the report, 22 percent of respondents said they didn't expect to be in their current job in a year.
"This data throws up a big red flag because the increasing dissatisfaction is not just a 'survivor syndrome' artifact of having coworkers and neighbors laid off in the recession," Gibbons said.
Management has a duty to inspire its staff, starting with supervisors, but they may need development to figure out how. In many cases both first-time and experienced supervisors face a set of responsibilities that may be at odds with the abilities and attributes that got them promoted to a supervisory role in the first place. Thus, having models who can lead and teach by example can be beneficial.
Of course, supervisors demand strong leadership examples from management for many reasons. For instance, leaders can show other leaders how to increase diversity and how to mitigate the challenges and maximize the opportunities inherent when leading a more diverse workforce. They also can ease woes brought on by an uncertain economy and the changing relationship between organizations and employees as employees take on greater roles with fewer resources. The aforementioned reasons all have a big impact on today's frontline workers and individual contributors, creating a need for supervisors to have special skills such as the ability to communicate complex messages in a succinct way and a willingness to make tough decisions when necessary.
There are several relatively simple strategies supervisors can emulate or execute to inspire their direct reports.
1. Show respect.
Senior managers must convey to and through supervisors that every employee in the organization is respected. A 2009 AchieveGlobal study of 512 employees from the U.S., China, Singapore, Germany and U.K. revealed that respect is an attribute valued by all employees, no matter what generation. Showing respect and instilling respect for others also is a proven way to promote motivation throughout an organization.
Today's leaders would be wise to treat people like the individuals they are and use performance management tools to measure individual performances, goals and expectations. Leaders also should recognize that just because the economy is troubled doesn't mean there aren't jobs available for high performers elsewhere.
Treating each employee individually can help greatly to increase retention, which is a critical component for any organization trying to recover from the recession. Taking a person's skills, experience, drive, perspective, energy and even personality into account helps to communicate a supervisor's respect for an employee. There are numerous ways to show respect, such as:
a) Encouraging employees to share their ideas and perspectives.
b) Highlighting and utilizing employees' unique skills.
c) Focusing on being a professional coach as well as a manager.
2. Build personal credibility.
As organizations become less hierarchical, personal credibility represents a greater hallmark of leadership than positional authority. Personal credibility is neither an attitude nor a quality. It's a perception others form of supervisors, based on their actions over time. Everything supervisors do and say will be noted carefully by members of their workgroup and others in the organization. For instance, do their words match their actions? Do they keep their promises? Are they willing to take on the tough issues?
There are several ways to build personal credibility. These include:
a) Acknowledge mistakes.
Managers should admit when they don't have the answer and be willing to learn from others.
b) Follow through.
Ensure words match actions.
c) Give others credit.
Acknowledge and show appreciation for others' hard work; highlight examples of exemplary work.
d) Work hard to remove obstacles for workgroups and get them the resources they need.
Supervisors should position themselves as team champions, let team members know they are vested in their success, and prove it by ensuring they have the tools necessary to succeed.
Being known as personally credible helps supervisors achieve success by buying some slack when they don't know what to do or they do the wrong thing. It also becomes easier to convince others of new or unpopular ideas. If employees trust their supervisor, they'll be more likely to buy into what the supervisor says.
3. Activate workgroup commitment.
These days, organizations cannot succeed simply by maintaining business as usual. Creativity and extra effort are required from every employee from the president to the front-line workers. Successful supervisors and managers know how to activate their employees' energy and dedication. Creating commitment begins with helping employees see the connection between their daily activities and the organization's goals.
Of course, supervisors need to know the organization's goals and understand why they're important. If supervisors do not fully understand the organization's strategic or tactical rationales, they should seek clarity from senior leaders.
Successful supervisors gain workgroup commitment by:
a) Creating a sense that the workgroup is doing something worthwhile.
b) Showing how each employee's work fits into the bigger picture.
c) Making sure employees have clear directions and understand how they will be measured when they meet objectives.
d) Creating a sense of ownership for work.
Fully committed employees will use their own ingenuity and dedication to go the extra mile to help reach organizational goals. Then the supervisor can spend less time giving directions and making sure everyone is doing their jobs, and more time strategizing how to meet higher level priorities.
4. Create meaningful rewards.
All too often managers and supervisors see external rewards as the only or the best tools with which to drive motivation. While an intuitive reaction might be to focus on material rewards such as money or extra vacation days, research has demonstrated that these kinds of systems actually can depress internal motivation. Certainly, people want to be paid what they're worth, but they're motivated by far more than money. They want to grow and develop. They want to be valued. They want to be in control of their careers.
As senior managers work to encourage internal motivation in the workforce, it's critical that employees are rewarded in meaningful ways that contribute to their overall growth. One such reward is autonomy. It is important that employees be given boundaries that allow them autonomy within their given roles and responsibilities. Giving employee autonomy over how their work is completed shows confidence and empowers them to meet and exceed expectations while rewarding their past efforts.
Autonomy, competence and relatedness - the need for social connection and intimacy - are three core psychological needs at the root of human aspiration, according to Edward Deci and Richard Ryan of the University of Rochester. They have developed a motivational framework known as self-determination theory (SDT), which is "concerned with supporting our natural or intrinsic tendencies to behave in effective and healthy ways." The theory has been examined and confirmed by researchers around the world, including author Daniel Pink, who references SDT in Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.
Fulfilling all three of these core needs is crucial to drive motivation, and that's why compensation isn't a panacea; filling up these three buckets doesn't come solely from equitable pay. Workers must learn, have fun and grow - qualities not directly fed by a paycheck.
5. Create accessibility to senior leaders.
Successful supervisors know that without a solid relationship with the senior leaders they report to, they can't count on the support they need to achieve results. As supervisors work to motivate employees, they also must have a strong relationship with their own managers to ensure they are communicating the right priorities and messages to their direct reports.
Further, the best relationships focus not on pleasing the boss, but on establishing an alliance between partners. Supervisors can help develop a mutually supportive relationship with the organization's senior leaders by:
a) Knowing what's important to the leader and working to support it.
b) Offering the manager solutions, not just problems.
c) Keeping their manager up-to-date on any issues he or she is expected to own.
d) Asking directly for help when necessary, rather than waiting for the leader to offer it.
Supervisors who enjoy strong relationships with their senior leaders not only excel, but also set examples for other employees. Senior leaders will be more inclined to support these supervisors when they require extra resources or need obstacles removed.
In the future, organizations are going to need more employees at all levels who can work independently. As long as change continues to be a dominant theme, senior leaders should reinforce success strategies for their supervisors. These strategies will give supervisors and managers the traction they need to motivate their direct reports to achieve new successes.
[About the Author: Sharon Daniels is president and CEO of AchieveGlobal, an interpersonal business skills provider.]
