How do you motivate employees

[billbenson]

Originally Posted by vangogh

He was. One of the few or possibly the only person I ever worked for who I held in respect. He treated us well so we all treated him well in return. Pretty simple concept that seems to get missed all too often.

Kind of a sad story. I've only had two bad employers in my career. My first job at a hamburger joint at 16 and my last job where you would be publicly berated and find holes punched in doors in the morning (by the owner).

I haven't had that many other jobs, but the rest have been mentors and friends.

[vangogh]

You're lucky with bosses. I've had a few decent ones. I don't want to make it out to seem like they've all been bad, but sadly more were on the bad side than the good side.

[lav]

He would stay on his own and do the work. That made the rest of us want to stay and help.

Wow, fat chance my people would stay and help me even if I asked nicely and offered double pay. I gave up trying to motivate employees a long time ago. I tried a lot of different methods even some suggestions that some guys here may have made on the old SBF. Short term (very short) it got some results but realistically they expected me to continue with the rewards without them doing their part.

Sorry for my negative attitude around here lately.......just having a bit of a rant

[vangogh]

I think it was just how he treated us. It was a small place. Usually 3 or 4 of us working at a time so we got to know each other pretty well. He always treated employees as people first and employees second. He did a lot of little things for us that most business owners wouldn't do.

For example we normally had a half hour for lunch each day. Saturday was the busyiest day and he really needed us all to be in the store all day. To make up for it he treated everyone to lunch. We'd still get to sit in the back and eat, but if it did become busy we were there. I don't know too many business owners who pay for lunch for employees on a regular basis.

A lot of little things like that add up.

[Watchdog]

Originally Posted by lav

Wow, fat chance my people would stay and help me even if I asked nicely and offered double pay. I gave up trying to motivate employees a long time ago. I tried a lot of different methods even some suggestions that some guys here may have made on the old SBF. Short term (very short) it got some results but realistically they expected me to continue with the rewards without them doing their part.

Sorry for my negative attitude around here lately.......just having a bit of a rant

I can elabroate more on this soon..I was a shop forman for several years and it was a great experience...I wrote a small article some time back for those that are thinking about jumping ship and how they can be a better asset to the team and rethink their drink

I called it "Act Like Your Own The Joint" It's about taking personal responsibility in your career.

The Sheet Metal Shop .Com

[Watchdog]

I think the being a mentor to the empolyees is the best way to build a relationship no matter what it is your doing. I was always in the shop helping those that needed the help...help them learn easier ways of developing patterns..I would let them do it (it shows them you trust them to do a job that they were hired for) you can decide how long the leash should be..

Always be there - remember the element of surprise, but too remember where you might have come from or wish you've been. We would give the guys a few minutes in the morning to "hang out" and then it was all work and they new it because that's what we expected. Motivation for the most part wasn't an option - they knew what we expected.

There was a sign on the wall in one shop that read

If you think you know all there is to know, please quit!

[vangogh]

I like the sign.

Good point about being a mentor and showing trust. I guess to a degree that's what I meant by treating us like people first and employees second. It wasn't just a what can you do for me situation. Our boss understood we were real people. He was there for us and so we were there for him.

[KristineS]

Another thing that can really help is including employees in the discussion. Obviously the ultimate decision must be made by the owners and managers, but a lot of employees will accept changes so much more easily if they at least understand a little bit about why the change is being made. Just dropping a bomb on people usually causes a lot of upset and never works well.

[vangogh]

Being included in the process definitely helps morale. Even if the final decision is against your opinion it still feels good knowing you had input. One thing that has to be watched out for though, is including people in the process without really listening to their ideas. You can't just pay lip service to your employee's ideas. You should be listening to what their saying and considering it in your decision.

Still having your employees involved in the decision making even if their voices are muted does soften the blow of any surprise.

[KristineS]

I'm not even sure they have to be involved in the decision making. Sometimes it's just enough to know why something is being done. Ideally, employees would be involved in making the decision, but that's not always possible.

In my opinion, some employers go to far the other way and just move their employees around like chess pieces without even explaining why the changes or moves are necessary. It creates a lot of stress and drama that isn't necessary. Taking a few minutes to explain why things are happening can make things much less stressful.