Q: I
have recently had to let a few people go due to a slowdown in our
business. This has put an extra load on the remaining employees.
How can I keep them motivated? I can't really afford to pay
them more.
A: You
are certainly not the only one with this problem. It may not make
you feel any better, but this is a common management situation
today.
First, you do not have to pay your employees more money to keep
them motivated. Something that many managers don't understand
is that money is not the thing that motivates people on any given
day; they are motivated by what happens to them on that day. Most
employees understand the economic bind that companies are in now.
If you read the newspapers or watch TV, you have to know that a
great many businesses, large and small, are struggling for
survival. Only employees who are very secure in their jobs (have
another job waiting or have daddy's money) would dare ask for
more money, no matter how much more they are asked to do. However,
even though you don't have to pay more now to keep them
motivated, if business turns around, the prudent and fair thing to
do would be to give them more money then. The real question then
becomes, "What do I do in the meantime?"
Content Continues Below
If people are asked to do more, they will feel good about it if
they get something in return. During the recent dotcom boom,
managers thought they could handle this problem with things like
stock options and various delayed-payment schemes. When the bust
came, people felt they had been duped because they had worked long
and hard for large future payoffs, and the stock turned out to be
worthless.
When I talk of getting something in return, the things that work
best are to make sure employees are not only told they are
appreciated, but that it is demonstrated by management actions
everyday. While this may seem overly simplistic to many, I assure
you it is not. One of the worst feelings you can have at work is to
feel that no one appreciates what you do. An old saying I quote in
my book Other People's Habits is, "If
people are not told overtly and clearly that they are appreciated,
they will assume the opposite." Everyone knows this is true,
because everyone has been in a situation where they've felt
that hard work and extra effort were not appreciated.
There are three things that you can do that will go a long way
toward keeping morale high even when you cannot use cash:
1. Listen to them. Take some
time each day to talk to employees about what they're doing.
Give them the opportunity to tell you what they did, how hard it
was and how they went about solving a problem or achieving a
result.
2. Tell them. Tell employees their work is appreciated.
Tell them clearly, and tell them often.
3. Show them. Take the initiative to do things that are
unexpected. Bring in food. Take them out for lunch. Let them leave
early. This is particularly effective when people have completed a
difficult task or solved a difficult problem.
There was a song that was popular when I was growing up called
"Little Things Mean a Lot." This was never more relevant
than it is today. Remember, these ideas are not a substitute for
paying people fairly and equitably, but when put into practice, in
good times or in bad, they will make people feel they are valued
and valuable.
Aubrey C. Daniels, Ph.D., founder and CEO of management
consulting firm Aubrey Daniels & Associates (ADA), is an
internationally recognized author, speaker and expert on management
and human performance issues. For more about ADA's seminars and
consulting services or to order Aubrey's book Bringing Out the Best in People: How To Apply The
Astonishing Power of Positive Reinforcement, visit www.aubreydaniels.com, or
contact Laura Lee Glass at (800) 223-6191 or lglass@aubreydaniels.com.
The opinions expressed in this column are those
of the author, not of Entrepreneur.com. All answers are intended to
be general in nature, without regard to specific geographical areas
or circumstances, and should only be relied upon after consulting
an appropriate expert, such as an attorney or
accountant.