90 Posts Found

Unlike pay and other financial rewards, being praised and recognized is an expression of care, and this—and not money—affects the hearts in people. Here are five habits leaders must develop in order to maximize the effect of recognition and thereby derive its greatest benefits.

Content: Article | Author: Mark C. Crowley | Source: “Chief Executive” | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

The exclusive focus on monetary rewards inevitably leaves organizations fighting a fierce but losing struggle to balance individual and team results. Rewarding high performers serves the imperatives of accountability and excellence but can undermine alignment and cooperation among team members. Yet basing pay on team results in order to incentivize collaboration often ends up inadvertently rewarding subpar individual performance and penalizing individual excellence. Neither approach … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Fred Kofman, Sally Helgesen | Source: “strategy+business” | Subjects: Compensation, Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior, Teamwork

When people claim they have survey fatigue, they’re not tired of you asking them. They’re upset about you not doing anything with it.

Content: Quotation | Author: Bill Schaninger | Source: “McKinsey Quarterly” | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Russ Laraway’s book When They Win, You Win, weaves together tons of existing management studies from top-notch sources like Gallup, his own primary research, as well as thoughtful stories from his own decades-long career.

From the Marines to software to VC, Laraway has spotted a pattern that frequently crops up and muddies the waters for managers everywhere. “People have become far too focused on all the … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Russ Laraway | Source: “First Round Review” | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Everything else you’re doing to affect engagement is worth less than half of whatever you’re doing to make your managers great.

Content: Quotation | Author: Russ Laraway | Source: “First Round Review” | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation

Although most great managers want to recognize their people, the challenge, which has only been made more difficult in the hybrid world, is finding meaningful things to recognize them for. The limitation to our typical approach to praise is that we can only recognize what we see, observe, or learn about from others and our recognition focuses on what we appreciate, which is not always … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Christopher Littlefield | Source: “Harvard Business Review” | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

There are limitations to our typical approach to praise. We can only recognize what we see, observe, or learn about from others and our recognition focuses on what we appreciate, which is not always what others want to be appreciated for.

Content: Quotation | Author: Christopher Littlefield | Source: “Harvard Business Review” | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Personal Development

Not all purposes are motivating, and not all statements of organizational values are effective in guiding behaviors the way we have discussed here. To the contrary, if we judge by the fact that 87 percent of employees in the world claim to be disengaged or actively disengaged at work, the majority of purposes must be useless. The question that we must address, therefore, is, “What … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Constantinos C. Markides | Source: “strategy+business” | Subjects: Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

What’s interesting is that people often treat middle managers as the dispensable layer of the organization. This may be a contracting issue. Those at the very top are incentivized with high compensation tied to stock options. Those at the very bottom have simpler tasks that are spelled out in legally enforceable hourly contracts. Not so for those in the middle, who are responsible for implementing … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Claudine Gartenberg | Source: “IESE Insight” | Subjects: Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Too many employers pay too little heed to the needs of the lower earners in their company. Here’s why—and how—they should shift gears.

Content: Article | Authors: Brooke Weddle, Tera Allas | Source: “McKinsey Quarterly” | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Many employees who are not engaged want a reason to be inspired. They are the “show me” group that needs an extra push to perform at their best. While positive feelings, such as happiness, are usually byproducts of engagement, they shouldn’t be confused with the primary outcomes. Rather, the primary emphasis should be on elements that engage workers and drive results, such as clarity of … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Annamarie Mann, Jim Harter | Source: “Gallup Management Journal” | Subjects: Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Managers must take proactive steps to increase employee engagement, or risk losing their workforce. Engaged employees perform better, experience less burnout, and stay in organizations longer. The authors created this Employee Engagement Checklist: a distilled, research-based resource that practitioners can execute on during this critical period of renewed uncertainty. Use this checklist to boost employee engagement by helping them connect what they do to what … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Ashley Whillans, Daniel Stein, Jon M. Jachimowicz, Nick Hobson | Source: “Harvard Business Review” | Subjects: Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Feelings are messengers of needs. Meeting needs unlocks positive feelings and energy; neglecting needs does the opposite. By integrating business objectives with meeting people’s needs, companies can make sure the strong wind of a positive emotional force is at their back. Emotions and feelings bring our needs — human requirements for survival — to our attention and strongly move us toward meeting them. 

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Our feelings … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Carolyn Black, Chad Gomes, Jon R. Katzenbach | Source: “strategy+business” | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Where self-advancement cannot, or is not allowed to, serve as a driving force, other sources of enthusiasm have to be found if momentous changes, such as the awakening and renovation of a stagnant society or radical reforms in the character and pattern of life of a community, are to be realized and perpetuated.

Content: Quotation | Author: Eric Hoffer | Source: “strategy+business” | Subjects: Change Management, Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

If you tell your employees that you want them to embrace teamwork, but then reward your work force based on what they accomplish individually, you’ve undercut your message. In all likelihood, the consequence will be that employees who want to be considered for a bonus may no longer want to perform or support “unseen” collaborative work, which, despite what the company posits, goes unrewarded.

Content: Quotation | Author: Susan David | Source: “Inc. Magazine” | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Trust and transparency are the two biggest factors that impact engagement metrics, and if you don’t share survey results, you’ll erode both. You don’t have to do everything employees want, of course, but explain why you’re moving forward with some ideas and not with others. Organizations tend to do a poor job with the ‘why.’ They tell the team the ‘what,’ but not the reason behind … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Chris Powell | Source: “Inc. Magazine” | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

Although an initiative should not rely solely on extrinsic motivation, that is, rewards and penalties (because they shift people’s motivation to the transactional side and thus diminish genuine interest in learning), keeping score can be useful in fostering spaced repetition. It represents a more “gamified” approach to daily life. Employees might thus earn points for making progress in gaining skills, perhaps redeemable as merchandise.

Content: Quotation | Authors: Ann Johnston, Darren Lee, Mike Pino | Source: “strategy+business” | Subjects: Human Resources, Motivation, Training & Development

When clients, customers and other end users express feedback and appreciation, employees develop stronger beliefs in the impact and value of their work. Interaction also increases empathy for customers, even when the interaction is virtual.

Content: Article | Author: Adam Grant | Source: “Knowledge@Wharton” | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

What it means to be happy differs widely among people. Some of us, when we say we want to be happy, actually mean that we want to feel calm and relaxed. That’s what we would consider a state of happiness. Then there are others who would say, “I want to be excited and enthusiastic. And if I’m feeling that, then I am happy.” There may … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Jochen Menges | Source: “strategy+business” | Subjects: Human Resources, Motivation, Personal Development

In our combined 50-plus years of working to improve organizations, we’ve observed that many managers struggle to make employees feel that their talents and contributions are noticed and valued. To explore this problem, we recently took a deep dive within an organization to see how organizational efforts to show appreciation and gratitude were perceived. In that project we engaged with both employees and managers through … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Joseph R. Weintraub, Kate O’Leary, Kerry Roberts Gibson | Source: “Harvard Business Review” | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Motivation