Management's Role in Employee Motivation and Mobilisation
Does "Motivation" necessarily affect "Performance"?
This is a question that comes up frequently when discussing training and development in the workplace. First, it is important to define the terms in order to be on the same page. Performance refers to an employee's ability to fulfil the responsibilities of their role, accomplish specific tasks, and achieve their professional goals. In short, it is measured in terms of quality, quantity and effectiveness at work. We often tend to think that performance is directly related to competence, but Rami Aoun, a long-time Formatech employee, currently working for Technologia, a leading competency development firm in Canada, adds some nuances.
“When faced with a task, an employee will ask himself the following question: "Can I do it? Am I able I do it?". If the answer is no, the employee may be offered training or coaching and quickly the answer becomes a "yes". Now when the first question is answered "yes", the second question becomes "Do I want to do it? Do I want to do this task?". Unfortunately, the employee's answer to this second question is not always positive. If the task is challenging and interesting, or if supervisors can quickly see if the task is completed or not, the employee will be more likely to say "yes" and complete it. This is the crux of my point: employee performance is directly related to employee motivation.
It has been proven that companies that value employee motivation, and implement sustainable strategies to satisfy employees and take their needs and wants into account are rewarded since these actions foster a sense of belonging among teams and a desire to surpass themselves in order to achieve performance objectives.
How to engage employees: some tips for managers
In 2021, the Harvard Business Review demonstrated the importance for employees to have a space "to play". When we talk about play, we are talking about an open and shared space where employees can discuss their problems and feel that their problems are also shared by their colleagues. Installing culture can therefore be a particularly beneficial initiative for team performance.
Responsibility and autonomy are also motivating factors for an employee. A manager who believes that the time is right for this should not hesitate to give more responsibility and maximum autonomy to an employee who requests it. The Center for Organizational Effectiveness at the University of Southern California finds that when they give people more control and responsibility over their work, companies get a greater return on sales (10.3%) than those who don't involve their employees (6.3%).
I suggest that you set up regular meetings with your employee to determine if he or she is interested in getting more assignments or if he or she would like more support in performing his or her duties. These meetings are simple, brief and can be a particularly beneficial trigger for your employee's performance.
The working conditions and the working space are essential. Today, the vast majority of employees are still required to telecommute, and this is likely to continue for a few more weeks or months. Is your employee comfortable? Does he or she have adequate lighting and space? Does he or she need new notebooks, pens or a quality pair of headphones? These things may seem trivial, but they can also make a big difference in how the employee perceives the work they are doing. The question for the employer is how can they contribute to the comfort level and well-being of the employee in this context. This initiative is often simple to implement.
What is the key to engaging an employee?
In conclusion, it is obvious to me that there is no magic key. There are however a multitude of things that employers and managers can do to increase satisfaction and employee motivation. If I were to choose one, it would be communication; talk to them ask them questions, get to know your team and understand what makes them tick, what are their limits and what they really want to achieve. What are their personal goals? What do they prefer in their daily work? What are the tasks that could potentially be given to another person who will be motivated to do them? Communication is one of the keys to employee engagement, and simple actions can help create a climate that is conducive to achieving organizational performance.
My plea is to managers, don't be afraid to review the best management practices that will have a strong mobilizing effect on employees. You will always come out ahead.