“Put it on the table, Luc.”
“I don’t know how to motivate my sales team.”
“That’s not always easy, but it is the most important task of a manager, Luc.”
“I do not think it’s me, Paul. People today are so dissatisfied, so spoiled, so self indulgent. Always moaning and complaining. You have no idea.”
“It’s also a bit of the zeitgeist, Luc. Tough economy, pressure, uncertainty.”
“The atmosphere is bad, a lot of negativity, tension between the different departments.”
“Look Luc, there are three ways to motivate people.”
“Ah, I’m listening. Paul is teaching.”
“There is the financial dimension, the symbolic and the emotional.”
“Go on!” ‘Financial: a salary raise. Would that help? Strangely enough money is the least motivating. Financial incentives do not work. I’ll give you an example. The inhabitants of the Swiss village Wolfschiessen were asked whether they would agree to the placing of an underground nuclear storage unit some time ago. 50.8% of the population agreed. In a second survey the population was promised a bonus of 5,000 euros per capita. How many people were still in favor of the proposal?”
“80%?”
“No, 24.6%.Weird, isn’t it? A financial bonus repels rather than encourage it.”
“I’ve noticed that the motivational effect of a salary rise is rapidly diluted. One will find that quite normal, while the company has spent a lot of money. You’re probably right. What do you mean by the symbolic one?”
“The title on your business card. Imagine you call your account manager senior account manager. The self-esteem of those people is rising. You have no idea how important titles are!”
“OK. It does not cost much and I see quite a few people who I can make happy. And what you mean by emotional compensation?”
“Look, Luc, people want to be happy.”
“Not all of them, Paul. Some are compulsive complainers.”
“People need attention. It is up to the managers to give that precious attention. In return they get the results they expect. Since the quality of our lives is so strongly influenced by our work, that work should be a positive experience. Employee satisfaction is determined not only by the salary, car and options. The highest employee satisfaction is achieved through personal development. It is the job of managers to create an environment such that employees can do their best work, and that they remain motivated by the opportunity to grow in their job, to grow in their responsibilities. Hence the enormous importance of real coaching and real training. And recognition.”
“Wow. That’s not easy.”
“You can do that, Luc. You know the concept of ‘flow’?”
“Tell me.”
“Flow is a form of happiness experience that you can reach. Engaging in performing a task, if you’re in flow, you don’t think, wow, I’m fine, but when the job is over, you realize that you forgot the time that you were engaged in full concentration and without a moment of hesitation. In flow you are hardly aware of yourself, and you’re also not realizing that others are seeing you. The research of Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, shows that people are more likely to experience flow at work than in their leisure time.”
“Bring some flow to your sales team, Paul.”
“OK. Let’s flow.”
I expected a joke, nevertheless good story!
ReplyDeleteleave out SALES, this is valid for all ;-)