In yesterday’s Meeting of the Titan’s the Member in focus shared challenges he was working through with productivity levels with the labour side of his Team, and also some previously challenging experiences with bringing new people into management roles.
The following session covered everything from hiring and training, to acknowledgement, appreciation and culture as the Brains Trust offered their knowledge, experience, wisdom and contacts to support the Member in an improved experience.
A key part of the discussion centred around individual values and how that relates to Team morale and motivation. It also opened up the conversation of whether we actually even know what motivates each of our Team members, or whether we just assume we know.
This great article from Forbes entitled 20 Top Tips for motivating Employees Beyond Compensation has this to say:
‘Compensation is a transaction. Though it’s important, it drives compliance rather than a commitment through a “You pay me then I will do X” deal. Commitment, however, comes from the alignment of self-worth to organizational purpose and culture. The purpose of leadership is to gain commitment and get employees to want to do something regardless of compensation. To do that, you will need compassionate leadership and understanding with positive action.’
It also highlights the need to engage with team members on an individual level to understand their values and goals, both personally and professionally in order to build stronger connections and appreciation, creating a culture that they would genuinely want to be a part of.
The opportunity to contribute and be listened to is also an important part of a strong Team culture. As one of the Brains Trust said today, “it’s important to empower each team member by giving them a voice”. This is a win-win situation for everyone, as many of the best ideas and solutions come from those actually in the role, performing the tasks and quite often the lowest paid.
Ultimately, the leadership that we are demonstrating ourselves is the culture that will be mirrored through our organisation, and one of the gifts of being a leader in business is that the results always give us accurate feedback.
If there’s a gap between the performance of your Team currently and where you’d like it to be, a great question worth considering is where are you placing the most value, attention and investment of your time?
Is it in productivity, or people? Interestingly, investing it in people will significantly improve productivity.
