How to motivate Employees: Pressure Vs Pleasure!

We had our monthly employee meeting yesterday and it was so interesting to hear our employees talk about what motivates them the most. When I asked them to share with me whether there are driven by Pressure or Encouragement, some of the things they said were surprising

“It’s different all the time” said one employee, “with some managers I am more motivated if they encourage me, while with others I do more when they tell me that I am not doing a good job”

“A deadline drives me to achieve more”

“I can’t perform under pressure, I do worse”

“If you encourage me, I stop performing. I need to feel under pressure”

The lesson to learn was that everyone is so different! To help people achieve more in their lives, you need to first get to know them. Pay attention the next time you put someone under pressure, focus on the result and you will soon know what works best for them. Managers, who pay attention only to company results, most likely lose sight of what makes people achieve more. Whether you use pressure or encouragement, every employee feels good when they set goals and learn to achieve them. If you switch your train of thought from company results to employee results, you might have a chance to win both. Balance is also the key; you cannot constantly put some one under pressure! Remember encouragement is the food for the soul and can make any of us feel better about ourselves and in turn do a better job at work.

Healthy mind in a healthy body

I am too busy to exercise! Does it sound familiar? It’s amazing how many people use this excuse to not exercise. Working out not only makes you happier but also helps you to make the right decisions that you have to make everyday in your business.

It’s proven that the best way to release work related stress is to work out. Why think about where you want to end up in 20 years if you are never going to make it there anyway? What are some tips for finding time to exercise? Early in the morning, on weekends with your kids or your friends, or simply play an organized sport once a week, like soccer or even martial arts. Use a stairwell anytime you can, and walk for 15 minutes everyday after lunch.

You can always find time if it is really important to you. Just remember a healthy mind exists only in a healthy body, so no matter how smart you are in your business, it would be hard to stay happy if you are not moving. Humans are made up of more than 90% water, what happens when water stays still?

Budgeting

Learning to budget your personal finance is as important as budgeting for your small business.

Try to budget everything that you can monthly. Budget monthly for your personal tax, property tax, savings, vacations, and insurance. Most people who I know that live a financially happy life, are usually the one’s who have thought of their yearly expenses ahead of time!

Surprises at the end of the year not only create uncertainty about who you are but also could create unnecessary additional stress that you don’t need to have. Take a day and open up your excel sheet and type down all your yearly expenses and then divide those into a monthly budget, it’s that simple.

It’s not always about making more money when you have a plan on how you will spend it. A good book to read is: The World's Easiest Pocket Guide to Personal Budgeting

Planning Pays Off

It’s a new year and I have been working on setting goals for 2007 and when I started comparing the upcoming year with last year, I realized that there is so much we can do better this year to increase profitability.

I've always been a big believer in the benefits of giving back to our customers. Investing in our customer service could have a major impact on increasing the number of our customers generated through referral. Instead of focusing on marketing and advertising, my focus this year will be definitely more on our current customers. If you have been in business for at least 5 years, you must have enough customers where you can clearly see what their needs are and how you can help improve your products or services to achieve a higher level of customer satisfaction. Retention can help any business to become more successful, all you have to do is listen carefully to your customers and change accordingly.