Our Xmas tree is up already.
Whilst I think it’s a bit early, my better half simply booed and heckled at my suggestion we wait till December. I laughed and up it went.
On the work front, as a manager I always found the run-in to Xmas (November onwards) to be an interesting time. Even if your business operates on a financial year basis, the end of each calendar year – that magical 31 December target – is a decent mental focal point for you to “push” (motivate) your team towards. So that they finish strongly … whatever that may mean in terms of activity, new business in the door, KPIs etc.
This prompts a question I’ve been asked a lot in my Management Skills workshops:
Is it a manager’s responsibility to motivate staff?
Before I answer this, what do you think? Yes? No? Sometimes?
Here’s my view:
I believe each staff member (which includes you and me, of course, when we take our manager hats off) needs to bring a base level of motivation to work each day. Yes, EACH DAY. That base level needs to include:
👉 Motivated to do a good job.
👉 Motivated to work hard.
👉 Motivated to improve/grow.
👉 Motivated to get along with other staff.
👉 Motivated to provide great customer service.
Now, not all employees bring that backpack of motivation to work each day. I get that. But they should. We all should.
And so what about you, as the manager? What’s your role when it comes to motivating your staff?
At that same base level, I believe you need to create an environment where your staff feel comfortable (let’s adopt the current vernacular i.e. “create a safe space”) and valued for what they do. Make it a place where each employee is clear on what’s expected of them to hit the thing we call success i.e. a job well done. Recognise them when they achieve that “good job” mentioned above. Empower them to own their work, so they feel trusted. Encourage them to be creative and innovative so their ideas can flourish. And give them opportunities &/or coaching for their professional development. Plus a bunch of other stuff which I will cover off in a video on this, another time. All of this sits under the umbrella we call Motivation. Your umbrella.
If you’re a good manager, I would say it’s an 80/20 split. That is, 80% of the motivation needs to come from the staff member. And you have the chance to add a whopping 20-25% “extra” motivation through your efforts, for that person. You also need to understand what motivates each of your team members. They’ll all be different. Sometimes even they won’t know the answers initially and so you’ll need to help them discover what does. Again, we can dive deeper into that one another time.
But … if you’re an average or bad manager, I reckon it drops to 50/50. Here, your impact on each staff member’s motivation is more like a whopping 50%. Maybe higher if you’re really bad. In which case the negative effects can be huge across the entire team. And devastating for your business.
My advice? At the very least, don’t be a boss who DE-motivates their staff. Start with that. Ask yourself if and how you are motivating/demotivating your people. And work upwards.
And what about that Xmas tree? Sure, it might be a tad early. But go grab one, put it up at work, get your team in the festive mood, create some laughter and if you’re managing them well, you might be surprised at just how motivated they are to “get things done” before the end of the year.
Ho, ho, ho!
