Triggering Employee Motivation

Continuing our saga of motivating your employees in these troubled times, let's revisit the motivation styles:

Motivation Styles

  • Go-getter / Achiever - Problem Solver / Trouble Shooter
  • Leader - Follower
  • Innovator - Processor Doer - Thinker
  • Evolutionary - Revolutionary

In Motivate Everyone and this ezine I've covered the questions you can use to quickly determine anyone's motivation style. Once you've discovered each employee's individual style, you'll have the keys to triggering their motivation on any project.

Achiever - Problem Solver

Let's say you want to increase profitability by 10%. Achievers immediately know how to get started on this kind of goal or outcome. Problem solvers don't have a clue. You have to cast this kind of goal as a "problem to be solved:" "We need to CLOSE THE GAP between our profitability last year and where we NEED to be this year. "Closing the gap" is a problem to be solved.

Leader - Follower

Suppose you want to implement a new procedure, process or technology. Followers are no problem because they listen to direction: "EXPERTS SAY this is the right thing to do." Leaders need to decide for themselves: "We're looking at moving to this new, improved technology/process. Here's some information YOU MIGHT CONSIDER about leading this change. ONLY YOU CAN DECIDE just how soon you could get started on it."

Innovator - Processor

Innovator: "We may have to BREAK A FEW RULES to get the best OPTION implemented on schedule."

Processor: "We've found the RIGHT WAY to implement this change."

Doer - Thinker

Doer: How soon can YOU HAVE THIS DONE?

Thinker: Take a day or two to CONSIDER all of the implications and then I'd like you to get going on it.

Evolutionary - Revolutionary

Revolutionary: Here's some NEW and DIFFERENT concepts I'd like you to implement.

Evolutionary: Here's an IMPROVED and BETTER way to accomplish the same thing we've been doing. I'd like you to implement it.

Combinations

Then, of course, when you have someone's complete motivation style, you can tailor each thing you say to align with and trigger their motivation.

Conclusion

So I hope this has given you some new and improved ideas about how to motivate everyone around you without alienating anyone. I've given you some choices about where to start and a step-by-step method for working with each motivation style. Leaders around the country are using these techniques, but only you can decide which ones are right for you. Haven't you waited long enough to start exploring and using these styles, or are you going to wait until your best employees leave to find more fertile soil elsewhere?

Hint

I just did all of the motivation styles in the previous paragraph. Which words worked best for you? Which ones made you feel like asking: "What the heck is he talking about?" Your own motivation style can blind you to ways to work in new and improved ways with the people around you. Think about how much more fun you can have and how much more you can accomplish when you can align with anyone.

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