Motivating people

[darmstadt]

Maybe they're just a bunch of lazy ******* and you need to get some imports in...

[TestMangler]

Of course the responsibility lies with me and yes I need to manage properly but I am just tired of employing people who lack drive and ambition.

Maybe if you took a smaller % the boost in income may motivate them

[Mich the Tester]

The challenge is to make everyone feel they're working towards a common goal. And that you're part of the team, not the enemy.

These team building days can actually be pretty good for morale, as well as good fun. But you have to keep it going - people have to understand why working hard is good for them (as opposed to you).

"We're setting a goal to achieve £n in the next 3 months. This is why we want to achieve it (being better than competitiors etc, not just making sure you get more dosh). These are our challenges (make them feel like they're in competition with agency down the road - but you know they can win because your team are the best (aren't they??)) This is how we can achieve it (SMART individual goals that they'll be monitored against - and do the reviews regularly, not just lip service, + training etc). If we achieve it, we'll have <insert big treat>.

Not sure that this is really the approach; I'm guessing that DA's people are often out on the road visiting clientcos on their own; I think the problem's one of individual motivation. Sure, teamwork can help, but this is an individual thing; are people motivated by just getting the next bonus if they're already fairly comfortable, or are they motivated by getting better at what they do and being recognised as being leaders in their field; the second of the two can take longer to achieve but in the long run it can be more effective.

It's like sportspeople; some athletes don't really like their sport (Vicky Pendleton springs to mind) very much, most top and sub-top sportspeople don't earn much or even any money out of it but what nearly all absolutely adore is being damn good at something and being respected and admired for being damn good at something, and for that they will sweat, bleed, vomit and suffer real physical and emotional pain.

[Paddy]

QUOTE=DodgyAgent;1640852]Why are so few people so poorly self motivated. In order that I can get my recruitment people working I have to hold them to account on their activity levels. they will work slowly to make three or four placements then start all over again and it will then be another 3 months to get the next 3 or four placements.

They get comfortable on their pittance of basic salaries and unless I feed them clients they just simply fiddle around doing as little as possible. Once they get work to do they will work pretty well but they will not go the extra yards in order to ensure a regular stream of placements without me micro managing them.

I have been doing it for years now and to be honest I am fed up with it.[/QUOTE]


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[DodgyAgent]

Thank you all very much. I have indeed implemented all sorts of processes that reflect much of what you are all saying (thanks Mitch). It all needs managing properly on a day to day basis and that is what I am tired of.

The KPIs in my business are pretty straightforward. Large numbers of interviews and phone calls are the prerequisite for success. If people are doing these things I have something to work on to improve or guide them on. I have had some very good people in the past but it strikes me that so few want to take responsibility for themselves and earn themselves a packet.

I started in this business and ignored the company that I worked for. I built my contacts and buggered off to set up my own business.

if it means that they become so successful and leave to set up their own business with their hard earned contacts then so be it. But none of my staff are anywhere near being in a position to do this - and for their own personal ambitions, irrespective of me, that is what they should be doing.

[DodgyAgent]

Maybe if you took a smaller % the boost in income may motivate them

Maybe, but my pay rates and commissions are the best in the market already.

[MarillionFan]

Sounds like you need an overall of how you reward your staff and how you motivate them.

What are their career progressions? How do they get better? How do they grow as individuals?

You need to set quarterly and six monthly goals and objectives. Yes they need metrics to adhere to/targets but you need to tie their bonus to a mixture of carrot & stick.

Start some competition between them. Visible ranking tables rewarding the top, firing the bottom an helping the others. You need to measure and motivate.

I am available for motivational training and bar mitzvahs.

[Scoobos]

"I started in this business and ignored the company that I worked for. I stole my contacts and buggered off to set up my own business."

Socialist freeloader expecting something for nothing.

[moggy]

hire for work ethic, the skills can easily be taught.. work ethic on the other hand is either there or it isn't.

[Mich the Tester]

Thank you all very much. I have indeed implemented all sorts of processes that reflect much of what you are all saying (thanks Mitch). It all needs managing properly on a day to day basis and that is what I am tired of.

The KPIs in my business are pretty straightforward. Large numbers of interviews and phone calls are the prerequisite for success. If people are doing these things I have something to work on to improve or guide them on. I have had some very good people in the past but it strikes me that so few want to take responsibility for themselves and earn themselves a packet.

I started in this business and ignored the company that I worked for. I built my contacts and buggered off to set up my own business.

if it means that they become so successful and leave to set up their own business with their hard earned contacts then so be it. But none of my staff are anywhere near being in a position to do this - and for their own personal ambitions, irrespective of me, that is what they should be doing.

Maybe you need to pick a couple that you can try to develop to that point; tell them that you'd like them to be able to run a business and in future that might be for you or it might be for themselves, but if they've got the potential to do that and they learn the skills, then they'll be worth keeping and worth rewarding to stay; it'll be easier for them to start up a business unit within your group than to start from scratch and you'll get a big lump of the profits. Maybe you'll have to pay them a lot to stay once they get really good, but if someone can bring in a million in profits in a few years time, you'll be happy to pay him a 6 figure salary when he does. Get to know the people, let them speak freely with you as individuals, find out which ones have the ambition to run a business and they might well be the people who can take some of the workload off you.