Читать книгу Motivating Today's Employees - Lin Grensing-Pophal - Страница 16

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” That’s the golden rule and it’s a rule that many of us have operated under for many years. The problem is, when it comes to motivating employees, it doesn’t work.

Why not? Because the things that motivate you, as a manager, are very different from the things that motivate your employees. Managers are different from employees. They have different needs and drives. So while you may be extremely motivated when asked to lead a new project team, your employees may feel taken advantage of when given the same opportunity.

One manager tells of the insights she obtained after a department meeting in which she encouraged employees to share with her examples of what made them feel motivated. While her staff was motivated by recognition, hand-written notes, feedback on doing a good job, she was motivated by the opportunity to take on a new project or being assigned a new challenge. Guess how she was attempting to motivate her staff. Guess how well that was working!

The “platinum rule” is a better guide for managers: “Do unto others as they would have themselves done unto.” In other words, find out what their needs and desires are and work to meet those needs and desires.

As this manager discovered, assuming that her staff members would be motivated by the same things that motivated her was inappropriate and could have, if gone unchecked, resulted in their alienation and frustration.