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Blaire Palmer

That People Thing

Author, speaker, agent provocateur for senior leaders and their teams

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Things managers do that they think are good for motivation but actually suck

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Blaire Palmer is CEO of That People Thing, a consultancy dedicated to inspiring leaders in fast-paced, ambitious businesses to drive change in their organisations in partnership with their people. Blaire has been described as a "secret weapon", a "business muse" and "that lady who does the leadership and team stuff". She is a regular guest expert on BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show and has appeared on BBC Breakfast News and BBC Working Lunch.

Remember when motivation was all the rage? We had the motivational posters and the motivational speakers and the motivation theories differentiating between intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. We were all supposed to be motivated all the time and it was the job of the leader to motivate their people.

There’s nothing wrong with the concept, of course. When people find the drive to do well, to do more and to solve problems within themselves they are much more valuable to the company than those people who don’t see the point.

Simply being motivated isn’t good enough now.

Did motivation ever sit comfortably with us Brits?

We tend not to talk about motivation so much these days though. For one thing, it never really sat that comfortably with us Brits. It was always a little too American, putting one in mind of characters like Tony Robbins.

I was once at a Microsoft conference in Seattle where I watched Steve Ballmer spring from one side of the stage to the other waving his arms about and working everyone from that side of the Atlantic up in to a frenzy.

The team of British facilitators, including myself, watched with anthropological curiosity but didn’t particularly want to join in.

The language has moved on…

But the language has diversified now too. We talk of engaging, empowering, even inspiring people. Motivation has become part of a more dynamic picture rather than the single greatest priority.

We want people to participate, to lead (even if they don’t have a leadership title), to innovate, to collaborate.

We want them to go beyond motivation to find meaning and purpose in their work. That’s the HR holy grail. Simply being motivated isn’t good enough now.

The logistics and mechanics of moving beyond motivation

The question is, what are the mechanics of making that happen? It was so easy in the Motivation Era.

You put on a big event, maybe with an awards ceremony attached, a sporting hero as your after dinner speaker, a bit of a disco (where the CEO and the HRD threw down some shapes and busted some moves to great embarrassment all round) while everyone complained that the money would have been better spent on sorting out the temperature in the office and not letting Barbara from Accounts go.

What worked when it was new and fresh doesn’t necessarily have the same effect today.

The Legacy of Motivation continues in an age where it no longer has the impact. I rather like a big, flamboyant conference with a free bar provided by group headquarters (who wouldn’t?) and suspect that the value of such events often surpasses the cost in terms of having people feel valued and providing an opportunity to connect with long lost colleagues (and that’s even with the bitching about budget).

But companies that rely purely on roadshows and town halls may not be motivating people in the way they think they are. What worked when it was new and fresh doesn’t necessarily have the same effect today.

If all you need to do is gee people up, a bit of rah rah might do it. For a bit. But if you need people to connect their work with their meaning and purpose it could even be counter productive.

The problem of doing what you've always done

Unfortunately many companies are in the habit of rolling out the same series of events because they used to work 10 years ago. There’s a bit of ego in it too – the CEO gets to be on stage, members of the board like having their photo taken with Kevin Keegan.

Why would you give that up?

The problem with town halls and roadshows, inspirational quotes on the wall and screensavers with the company’s values on, is that they are generic. They don’t connect with what really drives individual people.

The businesses that succeed in future will be those where people are willing to bring their whole selves to work. In order to do that they need to feel valued for their individuality, not part of a faceless mass.

A self-actualised employee doesn’t really respect the hierarchy, doesn’t want to be told what to do, doesn’t want to blend in.

A self-actualised employee wants to partner, to co-create, to collaborate. To create self-actualised employees you can’t treat them like industrial aged workers. They will either revert to behaving like clocking in, clocking out automatons or they will take their passion, their individuality and their desire for meaning and purpose elsewhere.

How do we encourage people to bring their whole selves to work?

What’s needed today is a more subtle, low-key approach to tapping in to what drives your people.

If you want people to bring their whole selves to work, you need to give them opportunities to be their whole selves.

Just recently I’ve seen some lovely examples of this individual approach to what we used to call motivation –  

  • An informal lunch with a few new hires
  • Organising listening sessions where people just talk to leaders about whatever is on their mind
  • Dial-in meditation sessions
  • Facilities where people can find quiet spaces to reflect, catch up on personal to dos or have a nap
  • Leaders blogging live during their team offsites so that the guys back at base know where their boss has gone today and what topics are on the table
  • Companies that give staff the freedom to get work done in a way that delivers the best result rather than requiring them to sit at a desk from 9 until 5
  • Asking staff to think about how budgets could be spent on engagement rather than halting all “fun” activities because it would be unseemly to set aside cash for that at this time
  • “Marketplaces” for connecting people with the various CSR programmes that the company offers…

There is still room for the big, blousy events. Don’t stop the roadshows just yet. But don’t get lazy either.

Ask yourselves whether the formats you use to communicate and connect with your people are past their sell-by-date and whether they are driven more by ego, status and a discomfort with looking people in the eye than by a real commitment to your people being part of the journey you’re taking, together.

Ask yourself whether you’re working really trying to keep your people motivated or whether you could be working far less hard by helping them to care.

One Response

  1. Hello Blaire, great comments,
    Hello Blaire, great comments, thanks.

    Most all new hires are motivated so why do so many new employees seem to lose their motivation over time? 


    1. Competence, without it job success is unlikely. 

 


    2. Cultural Fit, without it successful working relationships are difficult to build and maintain. 

 


    3. Job Talent, without it lasting job success is unlikely at best. 



    Most employers do not address Job Talent.

    Leadership is more often than not an avocation but for most leaders it is a vocation. 



    The following four paragraphs are from, 

http://www.newworldofwork.co.uk/2012/07/11/your-real-work-as-a-leader-a-sense-of-vocation/ 



    **************
    Avocation can be understood as ‘that which one does’ whilst vocation is something to which one feels called. Vocation sits at an altogether deeper level and when tapped into, provides a source of direction and motivation. For some their vocation is all too apparent whilst for others it is the result of deep exploration and self-awareness. The tragedy is that many go through life preoccupied with a sense of avocation that serves to keep them from their vocation. How often have you heard someone say, “I really wanted to be a teacher (or artist or whatever) but I was compelled to become an accountant”? It speaks of a life lived down a path poorly chosen and is usually filled with regret and sometimes resentment. 



    Sometimes, of course, it is a whole lot easier to fall into an avocation. It is more convenient, more practical and conforms to the expectations surrounding us. It is altogether understandable and so with a sigh and shrug we get on with the routine, do what is pragmatic and fulfill our responsibilities. Often we are not really aware what our true vocation is and should it only come into focus once an alternative course has been set, it takes enormous courage to change tack and begin afresh. 



    Internet Solutions have a wonderful mantra: Do what you love; love what you do. That about sums it up. How do we create a workplace culture where we have people who can say that? How do we honour our people in such a way that we are constantly encouraging them to explore and find their vocation, even if that means they have to leave? We should never look to our work as the source of meaning; rather we bring meaning to that which we do. Finding meaning is our responsibility and understanding. It means that authentic meaning and purpose can be found no matter what the task or work.
    


    It is said, rightly so in my opinion, that culture eats strategy for breakfast every day. Part of creating a healthy culture within our work environment is to actively work to link avocation and vocation. It is never easy but it is always possible. It always starts at ‘the top’ given that culture is a leadership responsibility. It starts with an awareness and willingness to intentionally pursue this agenda. It will be nuanced by the context in which you operate and the situation in which you find yourself. It will be influenced and impacted by culture and as such has to be discovered and nurtured rather than dictated and forced. It has to be ‘invited’. 


    **************

    Employers should hire employees who will find their jobs are their avocation not their vocation.

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Blaire Palmer

Author, speaker, agent provocateur for senior leaders and their teams

Read more from Blaire Palmer
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