Skip to main content

show me the money


This could definitely be one of those topics where you may be hearing voices. One voice, used when speaking with others, is telling folks that your career and the ability to make a difference is much more important than what you are being paid. While on the other hand your other voice, and I have noticed this voice gets louder and softer depending upon your age and circumstances, may be screaming get as much as you can for the work you're currently performing.  Isn't it really all about purpose?  How else can you explain schoolteachers, police and firemen, and the United States Military; all driven by the visceral desire to help and change people's lives. We certainly know, with the exception of a few in the aforementioned careers, they are not in it for the money (indeed, something seems very backwards here).  Evidence exists (@mercer) that shows if you are paying a worker within the normal range of income for their position then it is likely that being motivated by money is pretty far down the list of individual priorities.



So, if even for a moment you believe that purpose trumps all, then shouldn't this really be the area we focus to drive sincere worker motivation?  For many organizations this is where the perspective becomes quite murky.  Woven into many of my designs over the years has been the underlying belief that "everybody wants to do the right thing". If we can step back for a moment and address every daily interaction with this simple belief I'd imagine our interactions with one another might be different. Our efforts instead would be spent on communicating and sharing why our organizations can make a difference, why these individuals can make a difference, share essentially the essence of our being: our purpose. While this all sounds very soft the key to unlock these aspirations is founded in the simple process of objective measurement. Imagine having the ability, throughout an individual's work day, to provide immediate positive and negative feedback on how their actions align with the organizations goals. Implementing game theory (or gamification) within an organization can be powerful as long as some tangible output can be deployed as well.  The complexion of workforces is changing radically with no signs of slowing down or normalizing, are you prepared to help your workers align with purpose?



-----

Next post:  GPS in my trucks?

-----
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

why transform?

Why do I want to change, who said anything was wrong with my stack of papers and sea of Excel files?   We solve problems, that is a key characteristic of any successful service organization, if it isn't broke why fix it?   Often, when discussing a transformation from paper or cobbled together systems to a cohesive digital approach, folks struggle with the gap between what they currently do and how digital tools can help.   You really need to look at where the pain points are in your organization and how these compare to your business objectives.   Consider writing down these points on the whiteboard in no particular order, spend a few days shuffling and consolidating into a prioritized list.   Once you have the "why" and the "what" identified, the old remaining step is "how".   Some of the most popular observations over the years have been; Slipping through the cracks :   you know, not the major muscle movements, instead those little i...
Post a Comment
Read more

expert at everything...not a problem

Well... I would say sometimes there certainly is a perceived notion that one person is an expert at everything. For the worker "everything" may be defined as the specific area in which you were hired or are constantly scheduled. Our opinions are frequently influenced off of past experience, or information we've received from their coworkers. Unfortunately this only gives us partial insight to that workers expertise and often is limited to their most recent history. Narrowly focused accounting is made of the skills that this individual possess. Come on, can't we figure out a way to leverage all of the skills of a particular worker? One of the challenges has always been that relationship between the activities which need to be accomplished and the myriad skills of individuals within your workforce. In addition, even if you could inventory and get a pretty good handle on the skill sets, they are constantly changing (with any luck) and thus the ineffective process of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

entusiastic about preventative maintenance

Why do I really care if my field technicians are enthusiastic or not? When you look at a person's work output, as directly related to workforce sciences, you come up with three primary ingredients required to achieve your desired results.   These ingredients are; attitudes, attributes, and capabilities and when mixed properly with enabling tools can yield unbelievable outputs. So what does any of this have to do with routine maintenance? If your maintenance routines actually become way too routine then pretty soon performance will be replaced with complacency. In order to keep any piece of equipment running as trouble-free as possible the maintenance performed, and the thoroughness of the inspection and tasks at hand, have a direct impact on the asset's life expectancy.   There are some strategies that help service organizations keep the enthusiasm at all-time highs. Switch techs from time to time :   One of the best ways to ensure maintenance is being performed...
Post a Comment
Read more