I had an interesting email from a reader recently, asking if there was something wrong with her!

She said she worked in a positive environment, where she was often getting positive reinforcement for what she was doing. Her boss was continuously praising her for being on time with her attendance or project inputs or meeting minutes. Yet, this lady didn’t feel as great as she thought she should. Something she said in her email hit home to me: “I feel that I am being manipulated, as if my manager had been on a course that told him to keep on praising people and this would motivate everyone. But I don’t feel good when he does it all the time. Am I wrong to feel this way, Sean?”

Interesting, eh? This lady was in a positive environment, but not feeling positive. Why?

Well, it may have something to do with our third myth of management; the fact that positive reinforcement practices often fail because they are dealing with behaviours, not performance optimisation.

Behaviour modification was popularised by psychologist B.F. Skinner in the 1930′s. His basic ideas revolved around the facts that when employees received positive reinforcement, they are more likely to repeat the behaviour that gained the praise in the first place. And negative reinforcement would force the employee to engage in that particular behaviour less often.

However, this often feels fake and manipulative. The lady quoted above could subconsciously see that the praise wasn’t really genuine. If it was, she would have accepted it for what it was. Positive reinforcement often affects the employee’s extrinsic motivation, but rarely their intrinsic motivation.

Coming to work on time because you know that if you don’t you will be reprimanded is an example of extrinsic motivation – you are motivated to do something because of what will result at the end of it.

Intrinsic motivation comes from within and is based on a personally-held belief.

Extrinsic motivation is compliance-based; intrinsic motivation is interest-based. Positive reinforcement systems encourage and improve extrinsic motivation, but not intrinsic.

As a manager, you need to find ways to create environments that improve people’s intrinsic motivation, things that will drive them from the inside, so their passion, drive, ingenuity, creativity and energy are tapped into. Manipulating by continuous praise won’t accomplish this.

Remember to mix the two, and you should get better results.

Thanks again

Sean

In many companies, salary increases happen at certain times of the year and are given to every employee, regardless of their performance.

If salary increases actually do improve employee morale, you would expect to see performance and productivity go up in line with the increases, wouldn’t you? Mmm. Well, you probably know the answer to that one.

Frederick Hertzberg took a look at the factors that bring job satisfaction and dis-satisfaction. He identifies two sets or groups of factors that affected employee motivation, and called them hygiene factors and motivators. Hygiene factors included things like working conditions, pay, status and security. When these are poor, work is dis-satisfying, said Hertzberg. When they are acceptable, work is not dis-satisfying. Adding more hygiene factors does not increase employee motivation.

However, the motivators are things that influence employee satisfaction based on the fulfilment of intrinsic, or higher-level, needs. These needs include opportunities for growth, recognition, achievement, and the quality of the work itself. Motivators, says Hertzberg, improve worker satisfaction and motivation much more than hygiene factors alone ever could.

Top performance employees want to be appreciated for the quality of the work done and recognised for the efforts and abilities that they show. It’s only the poor performers who think that extra pay will produce actual motivation. Actually, I believe the extra pay only attempts to make up for the poor opportunities or the boring work they have to continually carry out. It mutes the pain for a while, until the effect wears off and the money loses its meaning.

So our second myth is “Employees are Motivated by Salary Increases”

If you have increased salaries recently and expected an improvement in performance or productivity and it didn’t materialise, Hertzberg explains why.

Increased pay will never deal with intrinsic motivation. Recognising what specifically motivates people working for you, and tapping into their motivational instincts, are the only ways that you are going to get to the real essence of what makes people turn themselves on at work.

Thanks again

Sean

How many books do you think have been published on management skills? A quick search on any bookseller’s site will tell you it would take a long time to get through the ones published this year, let alone all the tomes that have built the foundations for management today.

Why so many? Surely there must be a limit to how many books someone needs to carry out their job, mustn’t there?

Well, the truth is, people will always see things from different perspectives, and even though much that is written has been written before, there will always be something that can be said differently. But how much of what is written is actually true, accurate, correct? How much of it is myth?

In this series, I’m looking at some of the myths of management and why they exist. Remember, there are just a few managerial habits that will have the biggest impact on individual performance. So let’s kick off with a myth that has perpetuated throughout time and needs to be addressed:

• People don’t like to be managed

Well, I suppose to a certain degree this could be a justified statement, but only because they see management as a control mechanism. Micromanagement can cause frustration and pressure on their teams. But most employees want and expect their managers to display leadership, good planning skills, ensure their team is working on the right tasks in the right way, and is driving change in the right direction.

Employees would like to know if they are performing well, whether their work is satisfactory. They want to know when they go wrong, and they want managers to deal with people who are not pulling their weight.

Actually, most employees tell us they lack respect for those managers who don’t manage.

So, you need to manage in a way that people want. They don’t want to be managed in a controlled, directive or autocratic way, but in a way that creates the atmosphere and environment for them to thrive and grow. Manage in the way they see is necessary for that growth.

Next, we’ll take a look at another myth, this time surrounding Performance Management.

Thanks again

Sean

How many times are you in the middle of something important and you get interrupted by a person, an email, a phone call, or some other request for information?

It breaks our momentum and mental focus. It causes us frustration. And it tests our resolve when it comes to sticking to something more important.

Here are some solutions to this never-ending concern that you face every day.

Interruptions from others:

• Explain you’re busy and set a time to meet later
• Accept the interruption and state the time you have available now. At the end of that time period, tell them you really do have to get on
• Don’t have chairs right next to your desk. If you have room, put two or three chairs in another area of your office. This means people can’t just drop in. They have to interrupt your flow and get you to move away physically form your desk. If it really isn’t that important now, people will wait until it is convenient for you
• Set open and closed-door times, and make them known
• Meet in someone else’s office, so you can control your exit time
• If it’s really important for you to work without interruptions, consider working from home, a conference room or a spare office where it’s obvious you are there for a specific purpose and can’t be interrupted.

Email or instant messaging:

• Don’t keep compulsively checking email. Turn off the audio signal that tells you an email has come through. Allocate times in the day where you deal with email, timed so YOU control it.
• Go offline if you have to. If you’re uninterruptable, prove it.

Information Requests:

• Give people who work for you enough authority and information to deal with these matters for you. Don’t be a hoarder of information so that people have to come to you and only you
• Let your team know you are incommunicado for a time period
• If you make promises, keep them. Then people won’t have to chase you up when you don’t want them to

Phone:

• If you’re in the middle of something, don’t take unscheduled calls. Have set times when people can reach you
• Make a list of calls you are going to make and bunch them together, so you control the time it takes
• Call people at lunch time or before closing time, so conversations are short and to the point
• Ask people who call you what specifically you can do for them, and say ‘I only have ten minutes. Can we get this done in that time?’
• Leave your phone off in the evenings. Interruptions while you’re away from work should be seen as interfering with the rest of your life with people who deserve better. If it’s that important, they will leave a message and you can get back to them when you are free. That way, you control your time

Interruptions are a natural part of your working day, but using these ideas should minimise the effects and help build your productivity.

Thanks again

Sean

If you think you deserve a pay rise, say ‘Aye!’

Wow, I just went slightly deaf with all the positive responses! But, of course, you know the current economic situation and you’re lucky to still be in a job, aren’t you? Well, yes, but how does it feel to be paid less than what you think you’re worth? Is it worth the hassle and risk of asking?

It’s important to think through a number of issues and have lots of information when you do pluck up enough courage to make your request. Ask these questions to help you prepare for any negotiations on salary:

• How is your company doing in the current economic climate?
• Is this the right time to ask for a pay increase?
• How have you been performing and what evidence have you for backing up your request?
• What is the typical salary range for a job like yours?
• What’s the best way to make the request?

So, firstly, decide what would be the best time to ask for the rise. Naturally, this would seem to be during the performance review process with your boss. But if this hasn’t been for some time, or any rise you previously had is lost in the mists of time, think about whether you deserve this discussion sooner rather than later.

Then, make plans to meet up. This has to be a more formal meeting than your usual ones with the boss, as the subject matter is one of great importance to you and them. Link it in with performance measurements and career plans.

Write down your contributions to the company and how they have benefited from having you there. Keep a file of your achievements regularly. You’ll need to build a business case for why the company should increase your pay. Document why you should be rewarded. Keep track of measurable results from your actions, e.g. increased sales, quality improvement, decreased staff turnover, etc. Be absolutely clear on why you deserve this increase.

Know what you are worth in the marketplace. Most companies conduct external and internal salary surveys to compare salaries industry-wide and geographically-spread. Such information is widely available on sites such as www.jobsite.co.uk/career/advice/negotiate.html and www.salarysearch.co.uk . Have a word with your HR department to discuss what your type of job pays in your industry and local companies.

Talk win/win with your boss. You want them to consider this as a benefit to the company as well as to you. Show how everyone has benefited from what you’ve done in the past 6/12/18 months, or whatever, and list your accomplishments in a way that shows those benefits. Show how you are going to build on those results in the next time period. Describe your goals in ways that will support the company’s and your boss’s goals, and how you will continue to make a difference.

Then, ask for the amount you are looking for in monetary or percentage terms that you know you deserve and why.

Listen to the response. Consider the reasons for what they are saying. Remember, this is a negotiation with them, so summarise your position and make sure you understand their position too. If you do meet some objections, make sure you are prepared to explain why you still think you deserve the raise.

If the answer is ‘No’, then prepare to ask what you need to do in order to earn one. What else do they expect you to do? Write it down and make it very specific. You need to know what their expectations are for the future and what their plans are for your career.

Here are some things NOT to do:

Don’t threaten to leave if you don’t get the raise. It proves you’re not that committed to the company and are basically just out for something for yourself. It negates everything you’ve said before about being a company player, and isn’t career-enhancing.

Don’t complain to colleagues. This proves you’re not a team player and can instil a lack of confidence in the company by others, wondering what the future may hold for them. Politically, it’s a disaster for you, and if management get to hear about it, bang goes any promotion or pay rise in the near future. You only prove yourself to be a whinger and a moaner.

Don’t ask what everyone else in the company earns. Unless you work in a company with an open policy on these matters, most salary details are kept private. Instead, do your research on the net and find out what you could get by benchmarking other companies.

If you prepare effectively and are confident in your abilities, performance and accomplishments, there is every chance that you will at least get a hearing ear when you talk about your deserved pay rise.

Thanks again

Sean