Betsy Allen, a consultant-friend of ours, once said, “Leadership is cause; all else is effect.” And, while we may not like to admit it, she’s more than a little right.
Related: Is Employee Feedback Missing at Your Company? Here’s Why and How to Fix It.
Many organizational issues that at first seem to be caused by employees actually stem from a reaction to management decisions, practices and policies. Management determines, and employees respond. Sometimes, they respond in the manner that management would like, sometimes not. Therefore, motivating a favorable response is critical for organizational effectiveness.
This is the fourth in our series on improving employee performance. We’ve already discussed how to define and deliver clear objectives, remove roadblocks and train employees. The fourth way to increase performance is through motivation.
Employees need both rewards and consequences to perform well. An environment that is skewed heavily as overly positive or negative will result in dysfunction. Motivational rewards come in many different forms, including those that are tangible (e.g., merchandise, time off and money) and intangible (e.g., feeling included, development opportunities and additional responsibilities). Both can be highly effective. However, the least expensive, and often the most appreciated form of motivation, is performance feedback.
Most employees want to be recognized, to be contributing members of a winning team, we’ve found. And to achieve such recognition, they need feedback. But, in our experience, many managers find giving frequent, meaningful feedback difficult.
To be most effective, feedback should be tailored to the individual, well thought out and delivered close to the event. Anything else will limit the motivational effect.
Positive feedback
To give positive feedback, the easiest way to start is to see employees doing something right and comment on it. We coach the managers we work with to make it a practice to praise employees on at least one specific item each week. Thanking them for a job well done will often result in the employees…