Research has shown that 70 per cent of employees consider themselves disengaged at work. Photo: File.
Travis Bradberry says whether an organisation runs smoothly and is highly productive or constantly fighting disruption and high turnover depends on the quality of its leadership. He points out the actions and attitudes to avoid as well as those to embrace.
Few things are as costly and disruptive as leaders who kill morale. Demotivated employees underperform and walk out the door at the first opportunity.
The scariest thing is the prevalence of this lack of motivation. Gallup research shows that 70 per cent of employees consider themselves disengaged at work.
On the other hand, research from the University of California found that motivated employees were 31 per cent more productive, and three times more creative than demotivated employees.
The Gallup research showed that a mind-boggling 70 per cent of an employee’s motivation was influenced by his or her manager. Before leaders can start creating motivated, engaged employees, there are some critical things they need to stop doing. What follows is some of the worst behaviour leaders need to eradicate from the workplace.
Making a lot of stupid rules: All organisations need rules, but they don’t have to be short-sighted and lazy attempts at creating order.
Whether it’s an overzealous attendance policy or taking employees’ frequent-flyer points, even a couple of unnecessary rules can drive people crazy. When good employees feel like Big Brother is watching, they’ll find somewhere else to work.
Letting accomplishments go unrecognised: It’s easy to underestimate the power of a pat on the back. Everyone likes kudos, none more so than those who work hard and give their all.
Rewarding individual accomplishments shows you’re paying attention. With top performers, this will happen often if you’re doing it correctly.
Hiring and promoting the wrong people: Good, hard-working employees want to work with like-minded professionals.
When managers don’t do the hard work of hiring good people, it’s a major demotivator for those stuck working alongside them.
Promoting the wrong people is even worse. When you work your tail off only to get passed over for a promotion that’s given to someone who glad-handed their way to the top, it’s a massive insult.
Treating everyone equally: While this tactic works with children, the workplace ought to function differently.
Treating everyone equally shows your top performers that no matter how well they perform, they will be treated the same as the bozo who does nothing more than punch the clock.
Tolerating poor performance: It’s said that in jazz bands, the band is only as good as the worst player; no matter how great some members may be, everyone hears the worst player.
The same goes for an organisation. When you permit weak links to exist without consequences, they drag everyone else down, especially your top performers.
Going back on their commitments: Making promises to people places you on the fine line between making them very happy and watching them walk out the door.
When you uphold a commitment, you grow in the eyes of your employees because you prove yourself to be trustworthy and honourable. When you disregard your commitment, you come across as slimy, uncaring and disrespectful. After all, if the boss doesn’t honour his or her commitments, why should everyone else?
Once leaders have eradicated the negative behaviour that demotivates their best people, it’s time to replace it with the following behaviour that makes people love their jobs.
Follow the platinum rule: The golden rule (treat others as you want to be treated) has a fatal flaw: it assumes all people want to be treated in the same way.
It ignores the fact that people are motivated by vastly different things. One person loves public recognition, while another loathes being the centre of attention. The platinum rule (treat others as they want to be treated) corrects that flaw.
Be strong without being harsh: People will wait to see whether a leader is strong before they decide to follow his or her lead.
People need someone who can make difficult decisions and watch over the good of the group. A lot of leaders mistake domineering, controlling and otherwise harsh behaviour for strength.
Strength is something you earn by demonstrating it time and again in the face of adversity. Only then will people trust that they should follow you.
Remember communication is a two-way street: Many managers pride themselves on being approachable and easily accessible, yet they don’t really hear the ideas people share with them.
Some managers don’t set goals or provide context for the things they ask people to do, and others never offer feedback, leaving people wondering whether they’re more likely to be promoted or fired.
Be a role model, not a preacher: Great leaders inspire trust and admiration through their actions, not just their words.
Harping on people all day long about the behaviour you want to see has a tiny fraction of the impact you achieve by demonstrating that behaviour yourself.
Be transparent: When managers try to sugar-coat, mask, or euphemise in order to make things seem better than they are, employees see right through it.
Be humble: Great bosses don’t act as though they’re better than you, because they don’t think they’re better than you.
Rather than being a source of prestige, they see their leadership position as bringing them additional accountability for serving those who follow them.
If you cultivate the characteristics above and avoid the demotivators, you’ll become the kind of boss that people remember for the rest of their careers.
Travis Bradberry is the award-winning co-author of the bestselling book Emotional Intelligence 2.0, and the co-founder of TalentSmart. His books have been translated into 25 languages and are available in more than 150 countries. He can be contacted at TalentSmart.com. This article first appeared on the TalentSmart website.
