Employee Motivation - Part Two

I guess you have all been anxiously awaiting (or maybe not) to hear "the rest of the story." If you haven't read Part One, you probably should do so before reading this posting. Anyway, here is the story.

The employee who worked harder doing his volunteer work than he did on his job was a mystery to me. We were both volunteers at the same organization so when our non-profit organization had meetings, I watched him carefully. He was always leading a fundraiser so he made the typical "fundraiser thermometer" that is commonly used to measure progress toward a goal.

As he was proudly staring at the "thermometer" one evening after a meeting, the light bulb came on in my head. His job at his place of employment had no beginning and no end. He did the same repetitive work each day. There was no goal to hit. There was no means of measurement. He could not stare at a "thermometer of progress" and be proud of his achievement. At the non-profit, he could succeed or fail, win or lose, cross the goal line or be stopped short. At his job, there was no sense of achievement. He had no scoreboard.

The second employee I mentioned in Part One was in a very similar situation. He chose to go to the game because "his" team could win or lose. They could succeed or fail. THERE WAS A SCOREBOARD. There was no scoreboard on his job.

Let's assume you are a football fan. Would you pay $60 for a ticket, $10 to park, $7 for a beer, $5 for a hot dog, etc. just to watch two teams run plays without keeping score? There would be no winner or loser. Of course you wouldn't! You pay to see your team compete and win.

Employees need a scoreboard on their job. They need a thermometer that measures progress. They need something to tell them where they stand. Are they on the 30 yard line or on the 10 yard line? Are they on first base or third base?

When I took over the materials department at a large corporation, there was a significant excess inventory problem. I had never worked in a materials department and was certainly not considered an inventory expert. Within 18 months, I cut the inventory in half. How? Three simple steps. First, I made sure everyone in the department understood why excess inventory was bad for the company. Second, I set numerous objectives (total inventory, inventory turnover, daily receipts, etc.) and covered the walls with charts (scoreboards) to measure progress against each objective. Third, I got the heck out of their way.

Give your employees a scoreboard. Give them a goal to achieve. Give them a target to shoot for. If you do, you will see productivity increase and your company will grow.

What are your thoughts? I'd like to hear them.