How to motivate employees

It was a hard discussion with one top manager. He wanted to motivate his employees and immediately provided his department with the solution. He was ready to decrease the base salaries and to increase the variable part of the salary.

“Motivate, do not push.”

The issue is not about the action, the issue is about correct setting and the communication to the employees. No one can prove, that increasing the ration between base salary and the variable part of the salary leads to increased performance of employees. It will definitely increase one thing – the voluntary turnover (or fluctuation).

What is motivation?

The motivation is quite complicated psychological term. Generally, the motivation is about making yourself or other people to do, what you really want - this very simplified managerial definition of the motivation. When someone write in the resume about a high motivation to get a job, it is usually a lie. The motivation is really very concrete and it must satisfy the people, when they reach their goal.

Motivation needs a goal. It is a basic need for the motivation to work. Without a given goal, the people cannot be motivated.

Common mistakes in motivation

To keep employees motivated needs one basic thing. A reasonable goal must be given to them. This was the basic mistake the manager did.

He wanted to get a better performance from his staff, but he completely destroyed their motivation to reach the goal. The goal stayed the same, but the goal lost a value in the eyes of employees.

The motivation is not about just one single thing. It has many layers and they all must be satisfied. It is not possible to decrease a fulfillment given by the base salary and to increase the value of the variable pay. The motivation does not work this way.

How to motivate?

The motivation is not about redesigning the current scheme you have. The motivation is about providing a new goal and the prize for it. And the prize is not just about money. The competition and the recognition usually works best. The managers always forget about the recognition, but it is the best motivational tool, which can be used by the managers.

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