Motivating Employees
About Me
Position: General Supervisor
Reports to: Administrator
Industry: Retail
Non-Profit
•What motivational techniques, methods, or strategies does (or did) your current or past employer use to try to keep employees productive, satisfied, or motivated?
Techniques
- Set production goals and posted results for top performers
- Top performers received monthly gift cards
- Store managers received bonus for exceeding sales goals for month
- Store supervisor and production supervisor received bonus for exceeding sales goal for month
Methods
- Praise for higher achieving supervisors noted in mangers meeting (weekly)
- Excellent benefit plan (medical, dental, and vacation time)
- Flextime to reduce overtime by supervisors
- Flexible work schedule for high ranking supervisors to reduce burnout
- Excellent review process for employees and supervisors (annual)
- Excellent review process for new employees (30, 60, &90 day review process)
- Both review processes for employees and supervisors were very detailed and specific by providing action that was current and information on what could be done to improve -Not based on a numeric system alone
•What worked and didn't work to keep you productive, satisfied, and/or motivated?
Did not work
- Lack of communication between myself and Administration regarding daily or weekly goals, issues, and needs
- Low pay and bonus program was same for myself and subordinates
- Lack of training program
- Job description not narrowly defined
Did work
- Job was rewarding-able to help others and community
•What motivational theories explain why your employer's efforts worked or didn't work to keep their employees productive, satisfied, or motivated?
- Employees were loyal to the organization
- Employees did a lot of cross department training which increased their knowledge and gave a sense of reliability to the organization and built esteem
- Lack of growth within the organization created a loss for higher preforming employees
- Low pay reduced the applicant pool
- Low pay created more stealing among key supervisors
- Lack of proper supervision allowed for more chaos thus losing more lower level employees
• what would you recommend that your current or past employer do to try to keep their employees productive, satisfied, and/or motivated?
- Increased efficiency in job descriptions for all employees
- More effective lines of communication between GS and Admin
- Pay and wage increases based more on merit than minimum wage rates
- More meeting s (weekly and monthly) with department managers to review details of performance moving forward
- Supervisors being more involved and empowered in decision making
- Employee empowerment
- Implementing more a Total Quality Management (TQM) program throughout the organization
Information on Motivating Employees
It is vital for mangers to recognize individual differences. For example, employees from Asian cultures prefer not to be singled out because it makes them uncomfortable. Employees have different needs and as a result they should not all be treated alike. Get to know them and understand what is important to them. Use goals and feedback to let the employee know what is expected of them and provide feedback so they can improve. Focus on things they do that are good. Link rewards to performance and allow employees to participate in decisions that impact them (Robbins & Judge, 2009).
Motivational theories: Maslow, Herzberg, and Emmet.
Source: http://www.practical-management-skills.com/motivation-theories.html
(Great source of information on this topic and excellent Web-site to increase your skill-set)
Here is another great link for you regarding TQM
http://managementhelp.org/quality/total-quality-management.htm
References (should always be on a separate page for academic writing)
In-Tuition.(2013). How motivation theories impact the workplace. Retrieved from
http://www.practical-management-skills.com/motivation-theories.html
Robbins, S.P. & Judge, T.A. (2009).Organizational behavior. (13thed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.