Don't Demotivate Perfectly Motivated Employees!

The Enthusiastic Employee, by David Sirota, Louis Mischkind, and Michael Meltzer, is an interesting book that focuses on engagement, motivation, and employee satisfaction and their connections to results. I like their perspective that the challenge is not to figure out how to motivate people, so much as it is to not demotivate them. Most people want to contribute, do a great job, and come to a position motivated to make a difference. Organizations, cultures, and managers often muck it up!

They assert that employees have three primary concerns or goals: equity, achievement, and camaraderie. Managers and leaders who focus on developing healthy work environments that meet these needs will benefit from a more engaged workforce and better results.

The authors’ roots are planted in psychometrics and so there is lots of meaty data throughout the book. Here is a statistic you might find interesting:

Response to the question, “To what extent does your company face up to poor performers?”

Much Too Much - 2%
Too Much - 5%
About Right - 52%
Too Little - 29%
Much Too Little - 12%

I am surprised the number of people that thought is was “About Right” was as high as 52%.

Here’s another nugget from the book.

”Hallmarks of a successful partnership:

Win-Win. The parties recognize that they have key business goals in common and that the success of one party depends on the success of the other.

Basic Trust. The parties trust each other’s intentions.

Long-term perspective. The parties are committed to a long-term relationship, one that survives shirt-term vicissitudes of business.

Excellence. the parties set high performance standards for themselves and for each other.

Competence. The parties have confidence in each other’s competence.

Joint decision-making. The parties make key decisions jointly on matters that affect each of them.

Open communication. the parties communicate fully with each other.

Mutual influence. The parties listen to and are influenced by each other.

Mutual assistance. The parties help each other perform.

Recognition. the parties recognize each other for their contributions.

Day-to-day treatment. The parties routinely treat each other with consideration and respect.

Financial sharing. To the extent that the collaboration is designed to generate improved financial results, the parties share equitably in those results.“

You can learn more about the Enthusiastic Employee here. They offer an excerpt from the book and more information.