We have heard so many variations of this from small business owners over the years.
“If it weren’t for employees, running a business would be easy.”
“I spend way too much time dealing with petty employee matters.”
“Why can’t they just do their job?”
Unfortunately, running any kind of business where customers pay for deliverables generated by employees means having to deal with human beings. It’s easy to understand why large companies are increasingly using robots, technology and automation. Robots don’t get sick or have petty jealousies. They are programmed to do one thing – work.
People are much more complex. Most employees work to live; unlike their bosses, who live for their work. But one thing that employees and their bosses have in common is that they are both primarily motivated by their own self-interests. This is where bosses often miss the plot – they can’t understand why their employee isn’t as motivated to achieve their goals.
Bosses are typically motivated by money. That’s why they started a small business so they could work for themselves and create an opportunity to earn more than they could working for someone else. Employees, however, may not be motivated nearly as strongly by money. That may be why monetary rewards don’t incentivize the desired behaviors.
Business owners will benefit to consider what motivates their employees to give discretionary effort. Understanding what motivates the individual employee provides the opportunity to create a culture that stimulates star performance from that individual. Aligning the rewards of the job with the motivators of the individual is the KEY ingredient to employee engagement.
Contact the Davidson Group so we can help you assess what’s working and what’s not with your workforce. We will create an employee engagement plan that generates results.
