Thi
This week I interviewed Mario Gonzalez who works at a construction company where he feels that his work is appreciated and valued by his boss, the owner of the construction company. As I interviewed Mario I remember reading the article by Nohria, Groysber, & Lee (2008) in which they describe the four drives that dictate all that we do and motivate us. I asked Luis if he thought that his boss knew about them and he said that for the most part, his boss did. His boss "acquire" the best employees, he "comprehends" their needs, he "bonds" with them by treating them to lunch on their lunch break to show appreciation for their hard work and his boss also "defends" them when a job is going bad and the client is blaming the workers for the mess (Nohria, Groysber, & Lee, 2008, p. 1). I must admit that talking to Mario made me a bit jealous I as do not have a boss that understands or cares to understand the four drives to consider when dealing with his direct reports and our motivation. During the interview Mario also said that it isn't enough to just get paid, sometimes you need a pad on the back, a kind word or appreciation, or a phrase like, "great job Mario". All these things are important and is why he like going to work and working for his boss. Although construction is hard labor, Mario feels that is is manageable because he not only gets paid well, but is also appreciated. I asked Mario, what his thoughts were on being appreciated it, and what did that mean to him? He said, I feel appreciated every time my boss tells me I am doing a good job, or when he brings us coffee in the morning or buys us lunch. It is the little things that make the job easier and manageable.
I also asked Mario if his boss rewarded them for their hard work and he said yes, that in the 3 years that he has been working for his boss, his boss has always given all of the employees small bonuses for the holidays and always makes them feel wanted. Mario made an interesting comment, he said, most of the workers have been with his boss for a long time because he treats them well and is fair. What more can you asked for, if not more money. Often more money is not a possibility and so the kindness, appreciation and treatment is more than enough reward. This comment brought me back to the article by Nohria, Groysber, & Lee (2008) again, where the topic of fairness and trust is address. Both fairness and trust are things necessary for good performance by employees. If you are not fair, and do not trust your employees they pick up on that and they turn bitter and the morale changes from good to poor.
I am glad that I interviewed Mario because he had different opinions about employee motivation. Since his experiences with his boss are great, he is a highly motivated employee, where I lack motivation because my boss is the total opposite of Mario's boss. Although I am not in a motivated work culture, I hope that it improves. Improvements will come only if my boss and the leadership team does something to strengthens the morale by paying attention to the different drives each employee has. This interview made me things, that although Mario has a hard job in construction, he enjoys it, while I have a desk job and at times I am miserable. I had to express to Mario my deepest happiness for waiting and sticking it out and that is why he is where he is with a great boss.
Nohria, N., Groysberg, B., and Lee, L. (2008) Employee Motivation: A Powerful New Model,Harvard Business Review, pp. 1-7.
Xio, I'm sorry to hear about the challenges you're facing at your own job. You say that your boss is not doing a good job of motiving his employees. As an expert on employee motivation, if you were called in as a consultant and asked to increase motivation and morale within department, would would be the top three recommendations you would make? Is there anything that you think is currently being done right?
ReplyDeleteJessica, currently I feel that nothing is being done that is positive to increase motivation and morale. My boss's supervisor isn't a strong enough manager to make changes and he is will not take action because he is not interested in dealing with conflict and issues surrounding employee motivation and morale. He would rather live in a dream world where we are working in a happy place doing happy work. The issue is that my boss has been allowed and continues to be allowed to do whatever with the culture of the department and is not being "supervised".
ReplyDeleteIf I was a consultant, I would start with interviewing all members of the department and asking them what they feel is the problem affecting employee morale and motivation. I would then submit an analysis of my finds and ask that three things be done; 1) change the reporting structure so that people are reporting to the person who actually is assigning the work, 2) work on modifying employee's compensation, since currently it is not fair across the positions and 3) institute a rewards system to reward outstanding contributions to the department and make sure to recognize people's work at staff meetings. These three things 2 of which are easy can really make a difference. If my boss would stop being so egotistical for just a moment maybe just maybe he will see that his actions are negatively affecting everyone's morale and motivation. My boss will have to gain the trust of all in the department that he has lost because of his actions.
Xiomara,
DeleteAs a colleague of yours, I concur and it is unfortunate. I think in some ways he has recognized that corrections needed to be made and went about making those adjustments....to which I have benefited, quite frankly. On the flip side of that, the "one management style fits all approach" and not truly paying attention and tailoring management to fit the employee, is frustrating. Creating a culture that inhibits the motivation to bond and acquire leads to employees setting defense mechanisms for self survival. This breeds the very communication between employees that he abhors-communication that can be the catalyst for rumors and wrong assumptions. A small shift in management style would be a breath of fresh air for the common good. Just an adjustment in culture in transparency in strategy and goals would do wonders in giving many of the administrative staff the incentive to want to do more by realizing their value within the system. That one change, I do believe, would generate a 180 degree turn in the attitude and morale of much of the staff...along with the suggestions you made. Good assessment.
Thanks Lauren for your comments. I think that a change in management would do wonders, but I think it would be a change in personnel quite frankly. I think that he has set himself up as a dictator that not many of us do not trust and without trust there isn't much positive change that he can implement. These are just my opinions and some employees in our department might disagree with me.
ReplyDelete