Just Like Kindergarten

I laughed out loud while reading Telis Demos article in Fortune entitled, Motivate Without Spending Millions. Not from the absurdity-but just how right the author is about rewarding employees.

They cite an employee at Intuit who works on a massive assignment requiring lots of overtime hours-only to be given a gift certificate worth a few hundred dollars. Listen to the words of the recipient: "The fact that somebody took the time to recognize the effort made the long hours just melt away." WOW! Are you listening managers, CEOs and anyone else who works with people. Taking the time to recognize the effort is the key-not necessarily the amount.

And according to Globoforce, a source for part of the article, "The average prize should be just $110. I love one of their comments in the article: "Even billionaires appreciate a Christmas sweater from their mom." Here are some other keen insights from Eric Mosley, Globoforce's CEO:

• About 80-90% of employees should get some reward every year... When you are trying to reinforce certain behaviors, you need to constantly recognize them.
• Every week, 5% of employees should get an award. Any less frequent and people will forget about the program.
• Small awards all the time are a way to constantly touch people.

His most revealing quote-the one that got me laughing in approval was "What really works... are the things you might dismiss as the stuff of Kindergarten: small awards, all the time, to almost everyone. Even high earners can appreciate a small award if it's unexpected."

So... how are you doing keeping your people motivated? Maybe you are trying to make things a little too complex and predictable. Kindergarten would be no fun like that, and maybe the workplace isn't either.

The Needs of Your Performers

Melissa Raffoni is President of Raffoni CEO Consulting. In a blog at hbr.com she highlights the 8 things employees want from their leaders (ringmaster in Juggling Elephants terms). They are:

• Tell me my role, tell me what to do, and give me the rules.
• Discipline my coworker who is out of line.
• Get me excited.
• Don't forget to praise me.
• Don't scare me.
• Impress me.
• Give me some autonomy.
• Set me up to win.

What a powerful list! If all of us who have people who report to us reviewed these 8 items before starting our day of managing others-what a difference it would make. Would you add anything else to this list?

Martin Luther Must Have Read Juggling Elephants

Now that I have your attention-yes, I realize Martin Luther lived many centuries ago. However, even then he knew the importance of balancing rewards and feedback. While his focus in the following quote was on child rearing (and remember, this is his perspective), the same principle applies-we must not always be telling people what they are doing wrong... we must just as passionately encourage them when they do something right.

Spare the rod and spoil the child-that is true. But, beside the rod, keep an apple to give him when he has done well.

-Martin Luther

Have No F.E.A.R.

William Shakespeare wrote, "Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt." What are you afraid to attempt? The old acronym for F.E.A.R. ... False Expectations Appearing Real can sometimes come into play as we doubt our abilities, resources or sanity. Now, sometimes fear is a good thing - for me, a fear of skydiving seems healthy. But, when fear and doubts get in the way of our goals and dreams we should take a second to realize what is at stake.

For me, William Shakespeare's little quote is just the trick. I started by carrying the quote around in my wallet. Whenever I doubted myself or was afraid of attempting something, I would pull the quote out and read it over to myself. Pretty soon I had the quote memorized. Now when I have those moments or when a particular project gets tough, I repeat the quote to myself. This simple affirmation encourages me to focus on the outcome... the "good I oft might win." That simple pause and visualization of the "end in mind" can make all the difference and provide the courage to take the next step.

We Were Wrong!!!

While exhibiting at ASTD (American Society of Training and Development) a gentleman stopped by our Juggling Elephants booth and inquired about our training. As I explained that the concept of "trying to get it all done is like juggling elephants-impossible" he immediately disagreed. "You can juggle elephants," he said. "Oh really?" I replied. "Sure you can," he affirmed, "If given enough time and resources I could come up with a way to juggle elephants. I could create a machine capable of doing it or invent some mechanism that would make it possible. So your premise is wrong."

My response? Simply this-Yes, you are right that if given enough time and resources you might be able to find a way to do it. BUT, what would you lose in the process? What would NOT get done while you were spending all your energy trying to figure it out? And would it be worth losing those things to be successful with this one task. His technical reply was, " I don't know." Aha!

Certainly any of us could put all our energy and resources into accomplishing that mountainous "to do list" at work day after day or achieve those seemingly impossible expectations of ourselves in other areas of our life. However, what would we lose in the process-our health? A healthy relationship with our spouse or children? Our sense of purpose and a sense of peace? Is it worth it? If that's your purpose, I guess it would be. If not... maybe there's a better way.

We think we have one in our book. I gave the gentleman at the show a copy. Let's see what he thinks.