Employee motivation and empowerment - Please some practical methods

[Wes Bucey]

Give 'm info about how sorry quality can effect profit and how lack of profit can effect them, and then tell them how much they contribute to that same sorry quality....The Romans also found "Decimation" to be a fairly good motivator

Of course, Neutron Jack Welch at GE practiced decimation [eliminating one-tenth of the work force], too. The Roman Empire collapsed - will a similar fate befall others which practice decimation?

The problem I see with decimation is the selection process to decide which members of the work force will be decimated. Jack Welch claimed he eliminated the "bottom ten per cent" of performers, but the manner of determining performance left a lot of prejudice and bias of supervisors in the performance determination (a biased supevisor could rig the assignments to guarantee a pre-selected individual would fall into the bottom ten per cent.)

 

[bobdoering]

The problem I see with decimation is the selection process to decide which members of the work force will be decimated. Jack Welch claimed he eliminated the "bottom ten per cent" of performers, but the manner of determining performance left a lot of prejudice and bias of supervisors in the performance determination (a biased supervisor could rig the assignments to guarantee a pre-selected individual would fall into the bottom ten per cent.)

Yes, it can inbreed a group of cronies - which can lead to real serious problems.

 

[Michael T]

It may be more accurate to say that all I can do is ensure that the environment is such that the associates are not de-motivated. You might not be able to motivate someone, but you can very readily de-motivate someone. It doesn't take much...not much at all. A simple comment mis-understood can create a maelstrom of demotivation.

That is perhaps more accurate...

Surveys have a lot of inaccuracies depending on the individual interprets their use. Most external surveys only get returned from people upset, skewing the results to the bad. Internal surveys may hold some suspicion that they will be used against the employee - some way, some how. Recognize handwriting, style...something.. In which case they will be skewed toward the good.

Yep... I agree a survey isn't the best method... but when it comes to measuring an intangible like motivation... I'm hard pressed to find a good way to document that. The best way I know to show evidence of employees (I prefer "associates" or "constituents"... ) understanding the importance of their activities, etc., is to let the associate tell the auditor in his/her own words.

Cheers!!

Michael

 

[Jen Kirley]

Years ago I worked in an Injection Molding factory. This was a 24/t7 operation, I was in charge of 16 inspectors. The inspectors were not highly educated and were fairly young.

It was inevitable that I would get a phone call in the middle of the night, "Phil we have a problem"

I would not answer their question and tell them how to fix it, I would do the following:
• Q: Did we have this problem last week?
• A: Yes
• Q: What did we do?
• A: We did the following steps X, XX, XXX
• Q: Did that work?
• A: I think so
• Try that again and I will see you a t 7:00am

This usually worked to solve the problem. I was not trying to solve the problem, I was trying to teach the inspector how to problem solve on their own and make an educated decision.

I did not take slogans or procedures, it was just caring for the employee, showing them how to improve and contribute to the company.

Phil

Was this an act of showing how to improve, or was it about sending and reinforcing the message that the employees had the authority to respond according to precedent? When you know that answer, you would better know how to repeat this success with a new group.

 

[Jen Kirley]

It's not the first step; it's the only step.

I appreciate your philosophy but I am not sure it's true.

When a dog spends its life being kicked and learns to respond by holding back affection, his owner could suddenly become a softie but the dog would not quickly change his behavior. In this regard people are not far different. It takes time to reassure people of a change in culture.

This of course is a response that assumes you weren't referring to change - in an organization that's never been dysfunctional, the above wouldn't apply.

 

[Jen Kirley]

Of course, Neutron Jack Welch at GE practiced decimation [eliminating one-tenth of the work force], too. The Roman Empire collapsed - will a similar fate befall others which practice decimation?

The problem I see with decimation is the selection process to decide which members of the work force will be decimated. Jack Welch claimed he eliminated the "bottom ten per cent" of performers, but the manner of determining performance left a lot of prejudice and bias of supervisors in the performance determination (a biased supevisor could rig the assignments to guarantee a pre-selected individual would fall into the bottom ten per cent.)

This is the major reason why I dismiss the cultish adoration to Jack's methods. My vehemence confuses people, but you nailed the reason for it.

 

[Jen Kirley]

Amen to that!!!

My students always ask me how to motivate people.

I try to explain to them that neither I nor anyone else can "motivate" someone. All I can do is ensure that the environment is such that the associates can motivate themselves. That comes from a variety of places --
ownership of the process;
the ability to make mistakes without consequences so long as there are lessons learned and the mistakes aren't repeated;
helping them understand how they fit into the big picture and how important their part of the process is to customer satisfaction;
bringing customers in to talk to the folks on the floor or, when possible, bringing an associate along on a customer visit.

Money, progressive discipline, and the like are not motivators -- that is coercion... and while it may make a person behave in a certain way for a short period of time, inevitably they revert back to their old ways because they don't have an internal change...

One possible way to measure this is with an internal survey -- purely confidential so people will be more likely to respond with the truth rather than what they think management wants to hear.

Good luck!!

Michael

Thank you.

I prefer talking with people, which can happen much more regularly and in a more timely way than a survey. Of course the clincher is making it clear they, and their good input, are being taken seriously. Of course some will prefer the anonymity of a survey (open ended questions are best, but if a canned survey is deemed necessary I like the Baldrige approach), especially if they have a complaint.

 

[Phil Fields]

Was this an act of showing how to improve, or was it about sending and reinforcing the message that the employees had the authority to respond according to precedent? When you know that answer, you would better know how to repeat this success with a new group.

Jennifer,
This was about 18 years ago when I had that position. At that point in time I was trying to get the inspectors be able to develop a logical thought process that would allow them to make a decision. The inspectors were afraid to make a wrong decision. (I was also looking at getting a complete night sleep).

Phil

 

[Wes Bucey]

Was this an act of showing how to improve, or was it about sending and reinforcing the message that the employees had the authority to respond according to precedent? When you know that answer, you would better know how to repeat this success with a new group.

Excellent insight, Jennifer. Empowerment of employees is key in freeing up managers to manage the big picture instead of micromanaging workers.

 

[Matt Swartwood]

There are tons of effective and practical ways. The following are a few that have worked for us (there are a ton more):

-Idea and suggestion boxes

-Measurement and rewards program

-Employee activity teams

-Process improvement teams

-Safety and Quality slogan contests

-Problem solving teams

-Health fairs

-Personal development opportunities

-Tuition reimbursement

-Safety teams

-Work practice audit teams (housekeeping and other behavior measures)

-Give service awards for extended periods of time employed

-Electronic communication boards: We put a very large TV out in the plant that displays company news, PPM and safety info, special thank you's, etc. Employee awareness of what is going on and the status of the company goes a long way.

-Goodie basket: Give someone who went over and above a candy bar, a firm handshake, a pat on the back, and a sincere thank you--preferably by a member of upper management. If the good deed was significant (like catching a quality defect that could cost the company dearly), give them a gift certificate for a nice dinner or something of the likes.

-95/5 philosophy: 95% of the time writing rules and procedures is to address the bottom 5% of the workforce that are only there to draw a paycheck and couldn't care less. It should be the opposite. The majority of our time should be spent coaching, mentoring, and developing the top 95%. Those who can't or won't keep up will get left behind.

-Apollo approach to corrective actions: Rather than beating up the operator making the mistake, mgmt rushes to the person, apologizes that the system allowed him/her to make the mistake, and to ask the worker if they could help mgmt fix the gap in the system.

Notice that many of them include the word teams or are focused on a team effort? The whole just behind employee motivation and empowerment is not only to allow the employees to have input, but also to show that management is genuinely interested in workers' opinions, suggestions, concerns, and more importantly, their personal well being. Sorry for rambling... this is just a passion of mine. I've worked in a couple of places who needed a lot of work in this area....