I once gave a performance coaching training session for senior executives of an American telecommunications company who wanted to learn how to motivate problematic employees. One manager, who was particularly concerned with motivating those who did not open up to him, was invited to role play with one of his low performing employees who had complaints about his coworkers. As soon as the employee began listing the problems he faced with others, the manager asked him to write an email listing his complaints and said he would look into each problem to see how many he could solve for the employee.
　　This manager’s mistake was that he was much too task and results driven in communicating with his employees. No wonder his employees did not open up to him. He needed to learn how to listen on the feeling and relationship level in order to get his employees open up to him and help him find ways to motivate them. For example, his employees may just want recognition from him for their hard work.
　　Through our leadership training we have found that motivation is often a top-of-mind concern for managers. They often ask how, with limited organizational resources, they can motivate their employees. Interestingly, at the end of our leadership training, they discover that money or promotions may not be the most effective motivators. Instead, when they develop good soft skills and can effectively interact and coach their people, employees usually become self motivated.
　　Identify Internal Drives
　　Listening and questioning skills are often a core skill we focus on in our leadership training. Managers need these abilities to find out the internal drivers that motivate their employees. Good listening skills can help managers identify what is important for their employees and their career goals so that motivation can come from within. For example, a French executive told me that it took him a year to figure out what exactly interested one of his key young talents. He personally trained his plant managers to improve their listening skills, as most of them were directive in their leadership style and simply assumed they knew what their employees wanted and needed.
　　Give Clear and Specific Feedback
　　Another core skill we found useful for motivating employees is feedback. Employees want clear feedback about their performance. However, not all managers are well-equipped to handle this process due to both their personality and lack of effective training. One manager I worked with was surprised to find out that the only complaint her team members had about her was that she was too nice. When managers fail to differentiate performances, it is a de-motivating factor for the team. Additionally, when the feedbacks given are evasive and vague or too judgmental, it hurts the employees’ motivation. Clear, concrete, and constructive feedback motivates people to improve their job performance.
　　Coach & Delegate
　　There is a saying that “bad managers give solutions but get problems; good managers give problems but get solutions.” It is not always like this, of course, but there is a grain of truth to it. When employees are always told what to do, they develop dependency on others and a lowered self esteem. Research shows that as human beings, we cherish the freedom to do things in our way. Many managers are good at giving instructions and convincing others why their solution is better. Though employees sometimes need that, at other times it dampens motivation. By delegating tasks to staff, giving them full responsibility and ownership of the project, we successfully motivate them.
　　
　　by DR. JOANNE ZHANG
　　Chief Program Officer
　　and Senior Trainer
　　Schouten China