The Performance Report - http://www.theperformancereport.com/archives
Team Building and Motivation in an Adverse Environment
http://www.theperformancereport.com/archives/articles/113/1/Team-Building-and-Motivation-in-an-Adverse-Environment/Page1.html
By Super Admin
Published on 12/30/2008
 
Here is the question of the day: How do you build teamwork in a period that has been punctuated by desperation?  Regardless of the team building training courses that your company offers, they all boil down to this: You must...

Here is the question of the day: How do you build teamwork in a period that has been punctuated by desperation?  Regardless of the team building training courses that your company offers, they all boil down to this: You must

1) Instill workplace pride, and

2) Understand what matters most to your employees.

Read on to explore how you can carry out these concepts in your workplace.

In the current climate, some employers may decide that motivating employees and team building are superfluous, since employees have so few other career options. After all, your staff should just be grateful to have a job at all, right?  Wrong.  Tough times are not a carte blanch for taking employees for granted.  On the contrary, this is an ideal time to clench employee loyalty, increase motivation and build (or rebuild) team identity by focusing on employee satisfaction. 

Jon R. Katzenbach, cofounder of the consulting firm Katzenbach Partners, and has found that the most motivational managers make a personal connection to the worker, and that personal connection is used to make them feel good about the work they do.

“Pride is more powerful than money. Employee pride – the admiration of co-workers as well as family and friends, the spirit of teams in pursuit of a dream, and the high that comes from having done a job well – is the powerful motivational force that compels individuals and companies to excel.”

Jon R. Katzenbach

So how can we instill pride in employees for the challenges that they take on? One way is to implement programs such as family day.  Having employees invite their family members to visit them at work gives them a chance to share the positive aspects of what they do every day. Essentially, any way of recognizing the employee’s expertise will contribute to building pride. 

The key to understanding what matters most to your employees is to make a personal connection to each one.  Take the time to learn what makes each person in your department tick, and you will be half way to learning how to get the highest possible productivity levels.

Find out why your employees have chosen their current career path, and what goals they have for the future.  How does the current job fit into their overall career path?  Even though you may not be able to offer salary increases or promotions in this climate, try to weave current job tasks into their long-term goals.  Overall, the more you can connect with employees and their goals, the higher productivity you will receive from them.