Keys to Motivating Employees

1. Keys to Motivating Employees Parcel Shipping and Distribution Forum 2006 Wayne M. Teres Teres Consulting Inc. teresconsulting.com wayne@teresconsulting.com

2. Successful Motivation Programs • Best of class warehouse operations have productive and motivated workers as a result of successfully implemented employee motivation programs

3. Why Invest the Time and Effort? • Lower costs and lower employee turnover • Increased quality and productivity increases profits • Low investment - High payback

4. How Motivating are Your Programs? • Do your employees feel adequately recognized? • Do your employees get excited about the program rewards? • Do your employees have input into the rewards they receive? • Does your program drive the behaviors that you desire?

5. Program Essentials • Hire the right people – Hire smart • Hire for attitude, dependable, motivated people • Southwest Airlines • Enhance desired outcome of the organization – motivate behavior to achieve corporate goals • Provide interesting work • If tasks themselves cannot be fulfilling, team collaboration or membership in a committee can be used to create interest and value at work

6. Program Essentials • Recognize – employees are motivated by intangible rewards • Make people feel good about their current and past accomplishment • Create cost effective programs • Provide visible feedback • Build on past programs success

7. Program Essentials • You get what you reward! • Be sure you have clearly defined what you want to get, then use rewards and recognition to move toward those goals

8. What is your Goal? • What outcome do you want • Make sure it is a global goal, not a local goal • Example

9. Why Rewards Fail • Excessive dependence on monetary rewards • Lack of recognition value • Entitlements • Wrong things are rewarded • Delay • De-motivators

10. Excessive Dependence on Monetary Rewards • Money is not the common denominator of achievement • Money rewards are very costly, often difficult to maintain and hard to take away • When people are striving for money, they will often take the shortest and fastest route to maximize their financial gain – often sacrificing quality

11. Lack of Recognition Value • Few organization realize the importance of recognition and appreciation • Everyone wants to be recognized • Most workers feel unrecognized • Recognition is the most cost effective motivator • Highly motivator organizations celebrate small successes

12. Entitlements • Be careful with monetary rewards, they become viewed as entitlements • Thanksgiving turkey • Mix up your programs to avoid the entitlement belief

13. Wrong Things are Rewarded • Rewarding the wrong things occurs often • Be careful what you ask for • Productivity example • Remember no matter what you say verbally or written in your manuals, what you reward is what you get • Ask yourself – Do the rewards we are giving elicit the performance we want?

14. Delay • Research discloses – Delay discounts any reward • In most companies, rewards do not occur promptly • For example, yearly profit sharing • Build instant recognition into your program • Rewards on the spot

15. De-motivators • The most common is unfairness • Be constantly aware of them • Avoid the perception of unfairness • Most de-motivators can be eliminated by involving your workers when designing your program

16. Proper Motivation Program Design • Define the objectives of the program • What do you want to achieve? • Decide how you will measure it • Discover what motivates your workers • Decide what the reward should be

17. Selling the Reward & Recognition Program • Getting top management commitment • Communicating to the worker • Involving the worker • People fear the unknown

18. Communicating the Program to the Worker • The Role of the Supervisor • Can make or break a program • Conditions • Standards are based • System is dynamic and will need to be changed – no surprises • When it will change • If business conditions change

19. No Train, No Gain! • Training • Greatest reason for failure • Employees won’t understand • Methods • Their Role • What is expected of them • Supervisors don’t know what is expected of them

20. Quality Incentive Program • Employee motivation program to increase Quality by reducing the following errors: • Inventory • Shipping, over, short, damaged or poor quality • Paperwork • Team based reward • the entire warehouse gets the same reward

21. Quality Incentive Program • Calculating the Reward • Determine current status and what quality errors cost • Identify the savings by improvement • Decide what percent to share with the warehouse

22. Quality Incentive Program • Benefit • Customer/Employees/Company wins • Advantages • Ease of administration • Promotes teamwork • Encourages teamwork

23. Safety Program • Employee program to reduce work accidents • Accidents increase insurance and lost days • Measurement • Number of days without an incident • Program - Safety bingo • Every worker receives a bingo card • Each day without an accident a number is drawn • Prizes increase in value as number of days without an accident increases

24. Safety Program • Additional Rewards – Safety Milestone, say 100 days without an incident • On the 100th day, pizza celebration • Supervisors and Managers unfurling banners and streaming confetti to celebrate • A celebration that was not forgotten • A memorable event • Celebrate milestones

25. Gainsharing Programs • Gainsharing programs are group incentive programs that reward employees when targets like cost reduction are met usually in a percentage split • These kinds of programs are self-funding

26. Gainsharing Key Features • Typically paid out in dollars • Programs have no effect on base pay or individual performance appraisal • Should have inclusion of financial, quality, or productivity measure that the individual has control of • Programs should be based on improvements achieved

27. Gainsharing Benefits • Can help organization achieve objectives • Can be a method of introducing pay bonuses (rather than salary) to employees • May promote commitment to goals • Low cost • Self funding

28. Gainsharing Challenges • Formulas and calculations may be difficult to create and understand • Eventually reach a point in diminishing returns • Could distract people from less measured goals not rewarded by the system • Requires a shift toward team oriented management style

29. Pitfalls that Can Cause Failure • Lack of commitment from top management • Poor communication with employees • Doing “To” rather that “With” • Installed on poor work methods • Doing it too quickly

30. Pitfalls that Can Cause Failure • Lack of Supervisory support and involvement • Blindly copying another company’s plan • Poor worker acceptance • Focusing on productivity and omitting quality • Failure to seek outside assistance when necessary • Don’t be afraid to get help • You don’t know what you don’t know

31. Top 7 Ways to Motivate a Worker • Personally thank them for doing in a good job – one on one verbally in writing or both. Make sure it is timely and sincere. • Take time to meet with the employee and listen to them – Theirs no substitute for face time when building relationships • Provide regular specific feedback about their performance • Encourage new ideas and initiative

32. Top 7 Ways to Motivate a Worker • Involve employees in decisions that affect them • Recognize, reward and promote people based on their performance. Deal with low and marginal performers so they improve or leave. • Celebrate successes!

33. 5 Ways to Keep Your Program Exciting • Charts and Displays • You can not have enough • When using money issue separate checks • Team competition • Champion & celebrate success • Celebrate milestones • Tee shirts and other recognition

34. Low Cost Motivational Rewards • Pot luck lunch • Gift certificates • Post names of winners in warehouse • Achievement certificates • Write up winners in company newsletter • T-shirts • Free lunch • Gas cards

35. Low Cost Motivational Rewards • Sporting event tickets • Coupons for gifts • Employee chooses reward • Wash the employees car • Give the person a two hour lunch • Extra time off • Write a letter of praise

36. In Summary • What gets measured, get done • What gets measured and fed back gets done well • What gets measured, fed back and rewarded gets done repeatedly! • Make common sense, common practice • Practice recognizing your workers and their achievements • Design your program to elicit the behaviors that drive your goals • Do not confuse simple with simple minded

37. Resources • Hire Tough – Manage Easy • Mel Kleiman • The Goal • Eli Goldratt • 1001 Ways to Reward • Bob Nelson

38. Thank You Wayne M. Teres Teres Consulting Inc. teresconsulting.com wayne@teresconsulting.com 508-872-4922