Leaders, Motivation, and Employee Engagement: Evaluate Yourself
Motivation and employee engagement are two of the most discussed subjects in management and leadership these days. Various surveys are available that tell us a large portion of the workforce is not engaged and there seems to be no end to suggestions for how to motivate people.
Having studied this for many years, I’ve come to the conclusion that motivation and engagement are inextricably linked and understanding two facts will make it much easier for leaders to create a motivational and engaging environment for their team.
- Leaders can’t motivate anyone. They can temporarily change behavior, but they can’t motivate. Motivation is internal to each person, so what leaders can and should do is create a motivational climate where people can achieve their own motivation.
- Very often, the reason people aren’t engaged is simply that leadership hasn’t asked them to be engaged. When leaders don’t help their people understand why the organization is important and why the workers are important, what do they expect?
Here’s a short self-assessment to get you started thinking about how you can create a motivational climate that will improve your organization’s employee engagement. Answer each of these questions based on your own beliefs and experiences using the scale below. For instance, for question number 1, if you always strive to understand other’s needs, give yourself a 4. If you never strive to understand other’s needs, give yourself a 1. If you are somewhere in between, give yourself a 2 or 3. There are no right or wrong answers.
4 – Always 3 – Frequently 2 – Seldom 1. Never
___ 1. I strive to understand other’s needs.
___ 2. I try to make each member feel that they are a valuable part of the team.
___ 3. I pay attention to things that seem to cause dissatisfaction.
___ 4. I actively seek feedback from everyone in the office.
___ 5. The people on my team feel challenged.
___ 6. I seek out new ideas from my people.
___ 7. My people have a safe place to work.
___ 8. I actively solicit input from my team before making changes.
___ 9. I use rewards as recognition for the work performed, not as a motivator.
___ 10. I know what motivates the people on my team.
___ Total Score
If you scored between 35 and 40, you probably have the type of organization where everyone wants to work. Your organization probably has very low turnover and high productivity.
If you scored between 25 and 35, you probably have a fairly engaged workforce, but they probably aren’t as engaged as you think they are and there’s room for improvement. Take some time to look around and talk to people.
If you scored less than 25 you are probably experiencing high turnover and low productivity. What’s that costing?
Bob Mason is dedicated to leadership development. He works with companies to solve problems by helping supervisors and managers become more effective leaders leading more productive teams. He is a professional speaker and author of Don’t Worry, You Can Do This: What New Supervisors and Managers Need to Know About Leadership; The Art of Not Motivating: How Leaders Can Succeed by Understanding the True Nature of Motivation; Balancing the Generations: A Leader’s Guide to the Complex, Multi-Generational, 21st Century Workplace; and Planning to Excel: Strategic Planning That Works.
A 30-year career in the U.S. Air Force exposed him to great leaders and leadership opportunities such as command of four squadrons, including the Air Force’s largest munitions squadron. He has studied leadership extensively, but more importantly has been there, working with real people, making hard decisions, and experiencing the results.
Contact Bob at Bob@BobMasonSpeaker.com or 505-453-5266
