Why leaders fail to motivate people (By Victor S.L. Tan)

This article is written by Victor S.L. Tan who is the chief executive officer of KL Strategic Change Consulting Group which was published in a local newspaper. The article is well written and I thought it is worthwhile to share it here:

There are many reasons why many motivation approaches in organisations fail. In fact, most of the motivation enhancement programmes in organisations brought more harm than good.

FLAW 1: HAVING NO MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES
There are leaders who are fond of telling their staff that they will be rewarded when they obtain the objectives of the organisation. However, there are many staff whose work does not have measurable objectives. Thus, staff playing the role of support (for example, finance and accounting) face the challenges of how their achievements are measured. It is difficult to motivate people when they do not know whether they are doing well or not.

Our recommendation. To ensure that the motivation of those support staff is sustained, each department leader should try to quantify those objectives in his department so that they can be measured. Benchmark against your competitor or your model organisation. This should then be made transparent and communicated to the affected parties.

FLAW 2: HAVING UNCLEAR PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
In our Employee Satisfaction Survey (ESS) conducted for more than 50 organisations, we found that one of the key determinants of employee motivation is the way people view how closely rewards are tied to their performance. The degree of staff motivation is directly proportional to the degree of control one feels one has on performance and reward.

Our recommendation. Having a clear performance management system requires three important components:
1) A clear definition of measurable objectives to ascertain performance levels.
2) A set of criteria for rewarding people in achieving those measurable results.
3) A consistent approach in implementing the system.

To motivate people, leaders must be transparent in their approach in communicating these areas.

FLAW 3: LEAVING OUT DISCIPLINE AS PART OF MOTIVATION
One great misjudgement regarding motivation is the lack of emphasis placed on discipline. Leaders in organisations generally are more comfortable looking at motivation in rewarding people rather than in reprimanding non-performers.

Our recommendation. In motivating people, there is a need to balance reward with penalty action. Humans are motivated by two powerful forces: striving towards pleasure and avoiding pain. Reward reinforces the drive for pleasure while penalty and discipline reinforces the drive for avoiding pain. Often by taking stern action against one or two persons such as firing chronic non performers, it sends a very powerful message out there in the organisation.

FLAW 4: UNFAIR LEADERSHIP PRACTICES
Favouritism is one of the unfair leadership practices and is the surest way to demoralise the staff and lower productivity. Other unfair leadership practices include revengeful actions, bullying others, being rude to others, being deceptive and not being honest and straightforward.

Our recommendation. Implement a policy of transparency in the organisation. Have every department head or unit head spell out their key performance indicators (KPIs) for the department as well as the KPIs for individuals. Get each department head to define the rules of the performance game early and communicate clearly on how individuals' performances are to be assessed. Communicate the criteria for promotion, merit award or any other awards early to prevent misunderstanding later.

FLAW 5: TREATING MOTIVATION AS A ONE-OFF PROJECT
We need to constantly motivate people as to prevent their motivation level from subsiding. Leaders who go on a big bang approach to motivate people and do nothing thereafter will soon find their staff back to their original low motivation level.

Our recommendation. Motivation should be an ongoing process. Various types of motivation efforts are required at different times. At times when staff face great constraint deadline, the support provided in terms of resources and creative solutions may help to motivate a team.

FLAW 6: NOT ADDRESSING THE ROOT CAUSES OF MORALE PROBLEM
Too often leaders diagnose the reasons for poor work performance (such as frequent errors or mistakes, missed deadlines, sloppy work and not doing the work at all) wrongly and come up with the ineffective solutions to address them.

There are four common reasons why people perform poorly.
1) They do not know what they are supposed to do.
2) They do not know how to do it.
3) They do not know why they should be doing the tasks they are asked to do.
4) There are barriers beyond their control.

Our recommendation. It is important to understand the actual reason for non-performance or poor performance. If staff do not perform because they do not know what they are supposed to do, communicate clearly to them on the specifics that they should be doing. If they do not know how to do, show them or train them. If they do not know why they should be doing something, convince them of the rationale and motivate them by explaining the benefits they can expect from undertaking the work on hand. If they do not perform because of barriers beyond their control, look into the type of support one can provide to assist them to overcome these challenges.

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