Motivating a team member to perform at a higher level, to engage more fully with the customers they serve and to move beyond alignment and belief to truly living the organization’s mission, vision and values is a practice that takes time. Three key factors to focus on:
- Enthusiasm has to almost intrinsically be transferred from the motivator to the employee. Remember that motivating can take time and a consistent message delivered with high enthusiasm can go a long way.
- The Motivator has to posses the motivation being sought, even if by a self-motivating buy-in to the mission, vision and values. It is important that this be genuine so that it is truly motivating.
- The Motivator can be – yet does not have to be – the team leader. A colleague on the team can be a much stronger motivator. The delivery of a consistent and enthusiastic message will rise above any individual delivering the motivational messaging and instead empower an entire team!
While the ideal time to begin motivating a team member is on Day One (or even during the interview process!), it is never too late to begin seeding motivation through the team. Do not be discouraged if a team appears to be unmotivated – this state is not an end as much as it is a beginning – these “unmotivated” only need longer term seeding of motivation in an enthusiastic and consistent message to be turned around.
Finally, do not forget to keep the motivation up! The consistent and enthusiastic messaging should persist to keep performance and adherence to the mission, vision and values at a high level. After all the work to get there – it is far easier to maintain than it would be to return to that level of motivation should it be lost.
This article was originally posted by Brad Hachez on LinkedIn.
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