Does the idea that employees really want to succeed seem crazy? Are you locked into a model that believes most employees want to do the bare minimum that it takes to get a paycheck? Do you believe you have to wrestle them into performance?
Believe it or not, these ideas about employees can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. So can ideas about the employees’ desire to succeed.
“The more you treat people as valued employees, who want to do a good job, the more they will do a good job. The more you treat them as replaceable parts, the more frequently they will check out mentally and the more you will have to replace them. In essence, your philosophy regarding your employees becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I choose to believe that employees want to do a good job because (1) that has been my experience and (2) that is the prophecy I want to fulfill.”
Stewart Luff, author of Managing government employees: How to motivate your people, deal with difficult issues, and achieve tangible results.
Through my many years in human resources I have found that almost all employees really want to succeed, especially in the first months and year of employment in a new position. Positive relationships and trust can only grow when you make the mind-shift to “employees really do want to succeed”. You can only become an effective mentor or coach when you hold this belief.
No general in the army could act effectively if he didn’t trust that his men wanted to succeed. The military works because the members have loyalty to and trust for their team members and superiors. They don’t want to let their unit down, and they don’t want to let themselves down.
If you’ve done hiring and team building well you should have very few employees − fewer than 10 per cent in fact − who just simply do not care how they do. The rest may be average, which needs addressing on its own, but they are likely to be average because they’re not sure how else to be. It’s up to you to show them how to achieve the excellence you want to see.
Of course, you will quickly remove those employees who do not want to succeed; the purpose of counselling and addressing under performers is actually to make this determination. Employees who want to succeed − most of them − will make a positive effort to stay committed to your business and implement your suggestions. Employees who are just there for the paycheck will do very little to bring about real change.
If you’re still not convinced, think about what failure means for your employees. It means the pain of going through a brand new job hunt. It could mean extreme financial difficulties. It could mean the loss of a home or marriage. It could mean being shamed by the family. It could mean not seeing friends at work again. There is no good reason for employees to want to fail or be seen as a weak link in a high performing team.
Believe it or not, employees are out to succeed, grow, hit targets or do whatever it is they need to do to prove to their employer, their peers and to themselves that they have what it takes to succeed in their current job role. What slows this motivation and initial desire to succeed is often due to the poor management practice on the part of the employee’s superior, which may be compounded by poor organisational policies, practices and communication.
Business owners, managers and supervisors must always seek to recruit effectively and manage and coach employees correctly to avoid being the actual cause of low employee motivation and poor employee performance. Creating environments and putting in place fair, equitable, encouraging and creative conditions that stimulate employee motivation, innovation and commitment is essential to make possible long lasting high performing employees.
Paul Marshall
Partner | HR Chief | FCPHR
With decades of Business and HR experience a HR Pro, corporate trainer, author and a welcomed and trusted business partner with commercial awareness and expertise in people, performance and HR capabilities .
Author of:
103 Golden Tips to Turbo Charge your Employees Skyrocket Productivity and Get More Output
103 Golden Tips to Turbo Charge your Business make More Money and Get Rich
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