In business, motivation is what drives employees to work towards a specific outcome. In management, it engages leadership teams to provide the necessary environment, tools, and stakeholders to help employees work towards a shared goal.
However, according to a recent Gallup report, only one-third of the American workforce is motivated. Across the U.S., more than half of employees are disengaged in the workplace — while another 13% are actively disengaged and suffer from “miserable work experiences.”
Lack of motivation plagues both employees and leadership teams at large, causing a significant slowdown in organizational objectives. Take a look at five ways to encourage motivation in management, stimulate engagement from the top down, and execute shared goals.
Make Leadership Development A Priority
To restore motivation in management, begin by prioritizing leadership development. Employees and the individuals on your leadership team want their wants and needs to be acknowledged by their organization, especially those promoted to leadership positions and now need to navigate their new roles.
Failure to support individuals as they transition into leadership or begin to outline their approach to management can significantly impact their motivation to spearhead a team. When leaders aren’t motivated, that lack of engagement trickles down to fellow employees, causing a steep decline in productivity.
So, think of each leader or member of the C-suite and the areas of their specialties. Where do they excel, where can they improve, and how do these areas impact their direct reports? Encourage each leader’s unique approach and recommendations as leadership changes, as each will need to adopt practices that best motivate and engage the teams they oversee.
Manage Board Members For Success
A highly engaged board of directors often supports motivation in business management. However, not all motivation is created equal — and what motivates one board member, such as innovation, may not motivate another board member who is more focused on profits. Therefore, it’s critical to develop a highly diverse board to encourage motivation in management from all angles.
Jeffrey Bartel of Miami, chairman and managing director of Hamptons Group, says that finding a board with a diverse skill set is critical in today’s business environment. Your board should be able to support management teams and employees in all endeavors, providing guidance, support, and resources to power through problem-solving and decision-making.
Moreover, organizations must provide board members with an exceptional onboarding experience. Time is of the essence to distill motivation in management, so strive to bring a new member up to speed as quickly as possible to ensure a smooth transition and drive engagement from the top down.
Adopt Stakeholder Capitalism
Stakeholder capitalism is a societal and economic system that repositions the term “stakeholders” to include traditional shareholders and consumers, employees, leadership, and society at large. Corporations looking to support motivation in management should consider adopting stakeholder capitalism to address the well-being of all the above.
At its core, stakeholder capitalism allows an organization to consider how its goods and services affect its consumers, leadership team, and workforce. In other words, a service that benefits the public but negatively impacts the workers might require adjustments to workflow to motivate employees better. Jeffrey Bartel writes in Forbes that a CEO might consider a 4-day workweek to encourage workers and improve productivity.
Encourage Learning Through Gamification
It’s no secret that everyone in the C-suite is competitive — and that competition is a natural motivator. In the past, the competition took the shape of positional advantages and adaptive advantages, like the ability to innovate quickly. Today, the emphasis is on the “learning advantage” or the ability to accelerate an individual’s rate of learning.
Now, organizations can motivate teams using gamification with a basis of who can learn and instill the most information the fastest. For example, gamification offers incentives, such as a promotion or time off, for workers who excel at retaining information. Thus, organizations can motivate management through gamification of learning, which ultimately benefits everyone involved, including the organization.
Create A Culture Of Engagement
Finally, to encourage motivation in management, it’s imperative to create a culture of engagement company-wide. While prioritizing leadership development is a significant first step in engaging leadership, it’s crucial to help build a constructive career path by determining how workers continue to grow within your organization and how they can help your organization grow.
Work individually with C-suite members to outline their trajectory with your organization. Likewise, be sure to display the positive impact they’ve had on your organization thus far. Leadership and employees alike want to be reminded of how the work they do benefits the company as a whole, so provide concrete sales numbers or employee satisfaction rates to show their positive impact.
Distill Motivation In Management And Grow Together
Employee disengagement costs the U.S. economy upwards of $450 billion each year. In comparison, organizations with a highly engaged workforce have 21% higher profitability and 17% higher productivity. It’s time to stimulate engagement from the top down, not only to create a happier workforce but drive efficiency through motivation in management.
