GoRapids.com Small Business: Motivating Employees in 2010

Rumblings are all around us that the economic recovery will be slower than we desire, and could take well into 2011 before we feel confident in the economy again.  With that as our backdrop, how will you be motivating your employees in 2010?

Most small business owners feel somewhat vulnerable when it comes to keeping their most valuable employees.  These owners tend to look over their shoulders at their competitors or larger employers in the community because they oftentimes cannot offer their employees the pay and benefit packages that others can offer them.

So, a key question for us to ponder is this:  “If the economy is going to be recovering slowly this next year, what are we going to do to motivate our employees to be people of excellence in the delivery of their core competencies?”

When posed with this question, most business leaders go immediately to financial incentives.  If our economy stays on shaky ground, this may not be a viable option in the immediate future for many of us.  What else then can we do to motivate our staff in a time when business survival is a prime concern?

The Harvard Business Review reported on a recent McKinsey Survey that identified the top three non-financial motivators for employees.  These motivators made employees feel that their companies valued them, that the leader (and organization) took their personal well-being seriously, and that the company wanted them to continue developing professionally.

So here were the top three non-financial motivators and the correlating percentage relating to effectiveness as a motivator by the respondents:

1.    Praise and commendation from their immediate manager- 67%
2.    Attention from the organizational leaders- 63%
3.    Opportunity to lead projects or task forces- 62%

Our work as business owners and managers is to figure out how to measure current motivational effectiveness and to incorporate the right non-financial motivators into our workplace.  This can be extremely challenging especially if we do not have a current business culture that recognizes staff in that fashion.

Additionally, the handwriting is on the wall, our economic recovery is going to be slow going in the early stages of 2010 (and perhaps beyond).  It is going to require fresh and innovative ideas from the business owners and managers to keep our employees feeling good about coming to work at our establishments and giving their best efforts on a daily basis.

GoRapids.com Small Business: What Does Your Sales Force Need from You?

Last week I did a keynote address for a Sales Manager Networking Group in Minneapolis.  The topic of the evening was on having “Crucial Conversations”.  In preparation for the event, I did a rather informal survey of sales personnel to discover what were the top three things they needed from their boss.  Here are my findings in their proper order:

1.    Effective and Timely Communication.
Many organizations have gone through seismic shifts the past 12-18 months.  One of the “prices we paid” has been in the area of communication.  Personnel have changed.  Position descriptions and scopes of responsibility have been expanded.  Traditional organizational department ‘silos’ have become detrimental to organizational performance.  For our sales force in the field, these changes have resulted in communication gaps, both internal and external.

2.    Clearly Defined Expectations.
Projecting organizational performance goals has become as effective as throwing darts blind-folded.  Business owners and managers are uncertain as to how their industry niche will recover.  Business projections for the first quarter of next year have been reduced to a guessing game for many of us.  Yet, our sales force in the field is challenged to keep selling and getting the business order.  As difficult as this may be, our sales team needs their key leaders to establish clearly defined expectations for the sales team.  Perhaps if we cannot give them sales and revenues goals to hit because of uncertainty over next quarter, we can direct them instead with sales activity expectations.

3.    Managers and Owners Keep Building Business Relationships.
This one surprised me.  The desire of sales staff in the field is for their managers and the business owners to continue building business relationships with their key customer account peers.  There is a sense that successful relationship-selling in the future is going to require more people in your organization developing relationships with their counterparts in your key client’s organizations.  This will help in turn-around-times for responses from the field to a customer’s need.  This “being in touch” with the current reality of the business climate in your industry niche is critical for maintaining a motivated and highly performing sales force.