Motivating Your Workforce

[EricTheCarGuy]

I know I’m speaking from my own experience here but I think this stuff is universal. Let me know about your experiences and what you’d like to see done differently where you work.

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[college man]

I want to work for Eric the car guy. Any openings please
keep me in mind. where do I submit my resume? 🙂

[jeffrey]

You nailed it well. Its all psychology. A business should hve goals and involve the employees in those goals. First you have to break down the Alpha-male structure where intimidation is used to move things….then you have to inspire.
I remember hearing a story where an owner walked into his plant and asked how many units (of whatever) his first shift crew did…he was told 5. He took some chalk and wrote a huge 5 on the concrete floor. The next day the the 5 was rubbed out by the second shift and a 7 was written. From there the numbers between the shifts just went up.
But anyway, inspiration trickles down. If the company doesn’t have goals and treats their employees like mules, that’s exactly the behavior they’ll get out of them. But let those employees know you’ve got their back and they’ll take care of you in return. Make every job important. Make everyone feel important.

[EricTheCarGuy]

[quote=”college man” post=48733]I want to work for Eric the car guy. Any openings please
keep me in mind. where do I submit my resume? :)[/quote]

You’re hired. Now get to work. 🙂

[college man]

[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=48766][quote=”college man” post=48733]I want to work for Eric the car guy. Any openings please
keep me in mind. where do I submit my resume? :)[/quote]

You’re hired. Now get to work. :)[/quote]

You got it boss. 😆

[Vlad2]

It’s all about the Life / work balance. Where I work, my bosses make it very easy to take time off, to go to a doctor’s appointment, etc. In return, when things blow up, there isn’t a problem getting people to stay late or come in. Everyone works harder cause they know their boss has their back (as pointed out before).

Too many places try to make it management vs. employees. This is the worst thing to do. I noticed this a lot in retail, the boss acts like a lord over the serfs. Getting a simple day off was like pulling teeth, even when you where just part-time.

To me, good management means a whole lot. I could leave my job to make more money elsewhere, but I wouldn’t have the management that is this flexible, down to earth and has your back.

[Michele Pensotti]

[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=48730]I know I’m speaking from my own experience here but I think this stuff is universal. Let me know about your experiences and what you’d like to see done differently where you work.

[/quote]

Hi and thanks for the good insight on your view of workforce motivation Eric. 🙂

I share your thought, and am very sorry to see so many of my colleagues (both of my office and of different offices) get discouraged by never getting a “thank you” , never getting a real goal to reach besides the nitty gritty routine, etcetera etcetera.

I’m not a boss by any means, however occupy a role where I have to coordinate the work of some fellow technicians, while keeping doing my own technician work.

And I completely agree with you, you really have to acknowledge when someone really tries hard to do his job and gets results, even if you know that you could have done better.
I was there before them even if I’m the “youngest” and I know all the tricks, and also I’m faster to learn when I don’t know any trick to solve a new problem.

Some admire me, some envy me and get competitive, some are just my friends and in any case I try to help them when I see them in trouble.

However in about 14 years I have learned that some times by helping them too much I do more damage than good , because I often see they don’t get a chance to…learn to learn.

I try to document everything I do to share knowledge, but in the end I seem to be the only one reading my tips&tricks.

The biggest problem I have is when the competitive colleague I have starts doing something really very very wrong, and I know it’s wrong because I have already been on that road before, and because of my “coordinative position” I know I have to make him change course, not for his good, not for mine, but for all the company’s good, since the changes he wants to do will have a negative impact on all of our offices.
And the problem I always face is “how do I make him understand without hurting his ego and make him a (non collaborative) enemy?”

Now comes in psychology!

I have a friend which is a psycologist and talk with him about my problems, and he gives me suggestions, and I try to make good use of these, however in my opinion psychology is very powerful and also very dangerous, so it needs to be treated and used with a grain (maybe also two! 😆 ) of salt

You need to very patient when explaining things, even if you know the matter perfectly , you need to be patient and give your colleague time (a lot of time!) to “digest” the information, to really understand and accept, and also (if he’s the practical type) , to try it out and convince himself.

If you do it well he’ll start becoming an ally, and the work relationship will really improve!

One other problem I see is when two or more people have to do very similar works, and can feel their respective “areas of competence” overlap, and feel the other one “stealing” their own work, their own pride too.
So one gets discouraged and starts drifting, and getting less and less motivated.

The problem here is talk with him and try to find areas of expertise which are both likely to interest him and also have the potential to grant him success.

Also I always notice that a repetitive work does indeed wear a person’s morale, so it’s better to have more concurrent tasks running to be able to switch and keep interest and attention on a good level.

I remember when I was a rookie, I was convinced I could only do one thing at a time, and ended up staying at work until night to finish that only thing , as Eric has said, I worked to death.
Once my girlfriend asked: “Do you work for living, or do you live for working?”
That made me think…

In the years I learned to multitask, and switch back and forth between very different tasks, from the most manual of things to the more cerebral ones, and this helps a lot!

And, lastly, I know men are different, but I also know that a man does need some “victory” now and then, to earn his own self respect and go home a little more happy and realized about himself.

So there need to be “small goals” to reach every day, and also “big goals” to reach every now and then, to keep the “game” interesting and rewarding.

I’d like to hear what you think about this and what your personal experiences are!

P.S: by the way, I’d really really LOVE to work for Eric too! 😉

Live long and prosper you all (and stay dirty!)

10nico

[EricTheCarGuy]

Thanks very much for that insight 10nico. I guess the bottom line is to treat people how you would like to be treated. Give goals and acknowledgment, and encourage when needed. It seems simple enough but not in practice.

If and when I have openings I’ll be sure to look you up. 🙂

Thanks again for your input.

[Author]

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