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Develop Your People to Perform at Their Best
By bpjames | February 2, 2010
How do you develop your people to be the best they can be? It takes positive motivation, thorough ongoing training, clear expectations, mutual trust and respect. Let’s examine these further.
Positive motivation will have a lasting effect whereas motivation based on fear and punishment only works short-term. To create ongoing incentives you can provide opportunities for reward, recognition, responsibility, advancement and growth. Many employers focus almost exclusively on the reward system (i.e. pay and benefits) which is a mistake as this is only one of the five major ways of stimulating positive motivation.
An appropriate reward package is important as it is a very tangible way of providing benefits to employees. The best reward packages include a substantial element of performance related pay by way of cash bonuses, share options and other financial incentives. Other rewards can include pension contributions, company cars, health care and other staff privileges.
Other forms of positive motivation are required, however to encourage your people to be the best they can be in their chosen role and for you to demand high and consistent performance from everyone. Recognition for example, can be an incredible motivator. Some people will drive themselves to excel when they are being fully recognised for the contribution they are making to your organisation - As the old saying goes - Recognition: “Babies cry for it and soldiers die for it!”
Some individuals thrive on responsibility and the more you can load them with responsible projects, duties and tasks the more they will drive themselves to peak performance. Others seek advancement by way of a clear and progressive career path and will enjoy the journey of ongoing development. Personal growth, becoming more skilled, knowledgeable and equipped to excel can also produce exceptional performance.
Each person has their own unique blend of motivation factors they respond to and I have shared with you the key stimulators. The best way to establish which ones apply to members of your team is simply to have meaningful communication with them allowing you to gather the right information.
Your initial and ongoing training programmes are part of the process of getting the best from your people. This starts with a comprehensive induction course when they join and continues with a progressive personal development programme. This applies to all your team members including part-time staff. As the business owner, you want to lead and inspire your people by sharing your vision and gaining their buy-in to the organisations development plans.
It is wise to be flexible with how you define individual roles. This enables you to allow your people to work to their strengths, enjoy their work and excel in their role.
Overall make sure your culture is one of building mutual respect, trust and integrity. This can be achieved with openness and transparency, whilst maintaining essential confidentialities and is enhanced through a “learning” rather than a “blaming” culture where individuals are encouraged and supported. People may not always recall what you say but they will remember how you make them feel.
A skill analysis and assessment tool is available FREE on request without obligation. Just send an email requesting the skills analysis tool to mail@brianjamesgroup.com
Brian.
Topics: Team development |