Leadership skills (7otX) - 10 golden rules of motivation

Everyone is a different person. Even identical twins, nevertheless created by a single cell are different personalities. Nature has always created unique creatures. Leaders, educational systems, religions, governments, corporations, unsuccessfully attempted to unify these different personalities for over 10 000 years now. Such attempts are doomed to failure because they are against the laws of Nature!

The road disappears, but the motivation to continue forward is here.

The only way to have an effective motivation system is to comply with the Nature! We must truly realize that every employee is unique and act accordingly, which means to personalize the incentives.


Leadership skills (7ofX) - 10 golden rules of motivation:

1. Remember – one and the same incentive influences differently each individual!
    
2. Learn what are the interests and needs of your direct subordinates and determine the incentives (rewards) that have the greatest impact on them.
   
   
3. Praise ad hoc and on time! The sincere praise is like odor for the soul. Do not keep it for the employees that left the company!
   
   
4. Reprimand only face to face! Do not praise someone, soon after you have critisized him!
   
   
5. Make periodic (twice yearly) surveys about employees‘ motivation and improve your motivation system accordingly?
   
   
6. All managers need to know in details the motivating system and must be trained not just to follow it, but to apply it in creative memorable manner.
   
   
7. Small and unexpected incentives have greater impact on employees’motivation than bigger, but expected prizes!
   
   
8. Cultivate a suitable work environment in which employees can communicate their motivation problems with the direct superiors.
   
   
9. Motivation system works best whena senior manager from the company is involved in its implementation!
   
   
10. The motivation system focus must be the quality employees retention rather than maintaining a certain type of “correct” behavior.

Even the greatest leaders cannot work over 20 hours a day and cannot achieve bigger results than three capable and motivated employees.  As long as the role of the human capital as a competitive company advantage continues to grow, the need for the leadership skill called motivation will grow also.


P.S.
If you need to create or repair an existing motivation system in your company you could check the following 6 step "methodology" , the lower half of the post, and the Galbraith’s model.

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