Knowledge Portal/

ON MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES

Manila Times - 10 April 2005

The definitive paper on the subject of motivating employees, “One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?,” was written by Frederick Herzberg, who coined the phrase “job enrichment” for the rest of the corporate world to inherit.

The classic paper, which was published in the Harvard Business Review, resulted in management rethinking its views on its treatment of employees.

Herzberg made it clear that job satisfaction is NOT the opposite of job dissatisfaction. Rather, the opposite of job satisfaction is no job satisfaction and, therefore, the opposite of job dissatisfaction is no job dissatisfaction. His paper made special note of the factors that influence job satisfaction, which, he said, are different from – and largely independent of – those that affect job dissatisfaction.

A paradigm shift in has since evolved from Herzberg’s dissertation on job-enriched employment. The flash points of this shift are:

1. Every company has a personality – a culture. If new hires fit into that culture, they’ll adapt to what’s required and learn to do the job. If they don’t fit into that culture, they’ll never learn and will be a continual problem to management and co-employees. However, the company is obligated, morally if not legally, to help every new hire who passes the initial trial period become the best employee that he or she can be.

2. Work rules are important. As in society, rules are important to protect the safety, comfort and serenity of individuals from each other. But they should be adult rules. Physical and verbal abuses are clearly verboten – because they affect the safety and comfort of others. But so are unplanned absences and tardiness. These cause unnecessary stress for those who have to pick up their workload and cover for them.

3. Avoid paternalism. Almost every beginning entrepreneur falls into the paternalism trap. All an employee owes management is a good day’s work for a good day’s pay. Nothing more. Nothing less. Warm-fuzzies like loyalty and devotion can’t be bought – even at 20 times the going wage!

4. Avoid incentive pay. Any benefits gained in the short-term will be more than lost in the long-term. It is people’s nature to look at what is being done for them today. The good done to them in the past is quickly forgotten. That may not be the way it should be – but that’s the way it really is.
Incentives may trigger a short-term burst of output, but the next time such a burst is required, the reward will no longer be looked at as an “incentive”-but as an “expected.”

5. Avoid long-term employees. A good employee is a good employee only so long as he is stimulated, challenged – and learning. Trying to retain employees after they’ve stopped learning is bad for the employee and bad for the company. Bad for the employees, because they’ve stopped improving their unique value in the job market. Bad for the company, because it stifles the flow of new ideas, new insights, new views of the changing business environment.

6. Cross-train. People enjoy best doing what they do best. A born salesman will not be happy doing account audits – despite the fact he may have spent many years getting an accounting education. Everyone is good at some things – and lousy at others. But most people don’t get the chance to find out what it is they’re good at. Give them that chance.