Motivation grows from culture of trust, affection

Kathleen Driscoll//January 21, 2005//

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“After a couple of years of high turnover and several other problems, my department is finally taking shape. I recently hired a couple of new people who are really competent and conscientious. I think they will add real value over time. I’m thrilled that I’m finally getting the team that I hoped I’d have when I took this job. So now, how do I motivate them to do their best and do it on a continuing basis?”
What a wonderful goal for the new year-to work on motivating your people to achieve their highest level of performance. Unfortunately, though, you could be asking the wrong question.
Can you really motivate someone other than yourself?
Robert Whipple, CEO of Leadergrow Inc., a local leadership development consulting firm, says: No, you can’t.
“I believe motivation comes within each of us,” he says. “As a manager or leader, I do not believe you or anyone else can motivate people. What you can do is create a process or a culture whereby employees will become motivated to perform at peak levels.”
Whipple believes that if you set out to motivate others, you will not do well.
“You may be successful at improving morale for a short while by providing incentives or other perks (picnics, hat days, dress-down days, pizza parties, employee-of-the-month programs, suggestion awards, cash bonuses, extra time off, etc.) but you will not make the necessary fundamental mind shift to a more lasting improvement,” he says.
You can also motivate people out of fear, getting them to do things they otherwise would not do because they’re afraid of the consequences, Whipple says.
“Hitler did that during World War II,” he says. “That does not mean people are motivated; it means they are scared.”
The key to generating personal motivation is to create a culture of trust and affection within the organization, Whipple says.
How do you do that? Well, if you think about what culture means, you’re talking about how people interact, what they believe and how they create, he says. And culture lives “in the hearts and minds” of members of the society.
This is about creating a state where everyone is fully engaged.
“It’s a way of life rather than a program,” he says. “It’s not something you do on Tuesday afternoons or when you have special meetings.”
In his book, “The TRUST Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals,” Whipple says that a key component of creating a more trusting culture involves becoming an expert at positive reinforcement and helping people to feel special.
“This is the glue that holds good feelings together and makes a winning culture sustainable,” he says.
When a leader understands how to leverage the small win or accomplishment, people begin to enjoy their work more. “People become bonded together as a winning team,” Whipple says.
In his book, Whipple mentions the experience of Diane, a production department manager, who was successful in setting the stage for a positive work environment.
“The people in her department decided that their scrap room, off a main hallway and visible to passers-by, was an eyesore. After they cleaned it up, it looked like a cleaned-up scrap room but nothing special,” he writes.
“The team decided to paint the walls and machines light blue. They had the children of each worker make paper cutouts of stars with messages about where Mommy or Daddy worked.
“They hung these stars from strings attached to the ceiling so they looked like dozens of colorful mobiles just overhead … there was less scrap to deal with because the team figured out how to nearly eliminate it. (The room) became the highlight of every management or customer tour.
“One look at the room and you knew the people in this area were fully engaged in the business.”
The key to success here was that Diane “merely set the stage,” Whipple writes in his book. “The ideas and enthusiasm came from the team. You don’t have to be in a leadership position to make things happen.”
When trust and positive reinforcement are woven into the culture as a way of life, employees can begin to feel motivated because:
— They feel part of a winning team and do not want to let the team down.
— They feel both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards when they are doing their best work.
— They appreciate their co-workers and look for ways to help them.
— They understand the goals of the organization and are personally committed to help as much as they can in the pursuit of the goals.
— They truly enjoy the social interactions with people they work with.
— They respect their leaders and want them to be successful.
— They feel like they are part owners of the company and want it to succeed.
— They feel recognized for their many contributions.
Creating a positive environment may seem like a daunting task to you but it is doable if you learn to build on one success, one victory at a time, Whipple says.
“Leaders know that when they establish a culture of winners, the entire organization will prosper and win,” he says.
(Managers at Work is a bimonthly column exploring the issues and challenges facing managers. Contact Kathleen Driscoll with questions or comments by phone at (585) 249-9242 or by e-mail at [email protected].)