Workforce motivation at age 7,
17, 37 or 77
Ryunosuke Satoro wrote, “Individually, we are one drop.
Together we are an ocean.” (1)
Whether the workforce that you
are attempting to motivate is age 7, 17, 37 or 77, there are effective,
motivational leadership strategies that you can employ.
Consider the following tips.
Know your workforce.
Is your workforce
pleasure-oriented or do they maintain a mutual, basic, high standard in terms of their work ethic? Some people love pleasure and even work may seem like pleasure
to them. Others do not see any need for pleasure when it comes to working and
are appalled at the thought of combining work and pleasure. Still others feel
comfortable maintaining a reasonable work ethic, combined with a healthy degree
of pleasure. Understanding where your work force is at, in terms of a
work-ethic-oriented or work-pleasure-oriented principle will help to improve
their efforts.
For example, at 7, 17, 37 and 77 years of age, gardening can be
work, pleasure or a combination of both.
Establish appropriate
incentives for your workforce.
Why does your workforce work?
What is their incentive? The joy of working may be sufficient incentive or
motivation for a workforce. At other times, it is remuneration received that
motivates them and leads them to work effectively. That can be in the form of
money, but it may take the form of gifts, bonuses, recognition and trips.
Perhaps a task presents an individual, group or community challenge to your
workforce. Effective motivation leads them to meet that challenge. This could
be something done out of necessity, like sandbagging in a newly flooded
area. It may also be something needed in terms of compassion, like the
construction of new wells in a area plagued by drought. An appropriate
incentive for a child can be different than one offered a teen, young adult or
older adult, but they all may enjoy an ice cream break.
Find the natural born leaders
in your workforce.
While it may seem possible to
be everyone’s leader, at times, the delegation of other, more appropriate leadership
achieves more than one leader can accomplish on his or her own. This is true at
any age. Learn to recognize who the most effective leaders are and begin to
assign roles and responsibilities, according to their work preference, ability
and education. Remember that not everyone is a leader or wants to become
one, while others demonstrate effective leadership qualities immediately. Make
certain that their leadership reflects yours, not someone else’s. For example,
a teenager or a senior may be the best leadership assistant for a play, because
another young adult demonstrates view opposing yours.
Learn the strengths and
weaknesses of members of your workforce.
In any workforce, there are
those who have certain strengths. For example, perhaps someone works better
with younger children than older children. Placing that person in a position
where he or she can develop his or her strengths further is often a
good idea. This person can set an example and help teach others how to develop
their own strengths, too. Avoid embarrassing or making those with weaknesses in
certain areas frustrated if they are not able to accomplish certain tasks.
They may become unhappy and generate further discontent among the workforce.
Practice being a good listener open to discuss work problems, issues or
concerns with them and be prepared to re-assign them to more appropriate
kinds of work. If necessary, work right along side them until they understand
their assigned tasks and can function on their own. Encourage them along the
way.
Know what tasks your work force
has to accomplish.
Knowing and understanding the
nature of the job your workforce has to complete is important. They should be
able to come to you as their top management or resource person, so be
approachable. If you do not know the full nature of the task, find out. Learn
the job description and expectations for each member of your work force, so
that when they come to you for guidance, you are able to assist them
appropriately. For example, know what job responsibilities go to different, professional levels of workers in a hospital setting.
Maintain a positive and
constructive attitude.
When your attitude is positive
about the task involving you and your workforce, others will recognize that
reality immediately. Maintaining positive, constructive directives, at all times, sets a good example for them. The word please goes a long way, particularly
with children and teens. Even though your workers become tired, they will
maintain a good attitude, if you allow them to rest when needed, especially if
they are older. Time out helps to resolve workplace tensions with children and
young adults. Practicing effective problem solving skills, will benefit everyone
on your workforce and your older workers may be able to assist you.
Your degree of courtesy, compassion, kindness and your attitude in general,
will be apparent to the members of your workforce who will reflect it to
others, also.
Do appropriate research, so
that you continue to educate your workforce.
Have you done your research?
Plan well ahead every day, so that you have done the basic research needed to
ensure that your workforce is engaged in appropriate tasks. Present challenges
to them. Let them ask questions and help find answers for them. Avoid
unnecessary directives or teaching that may not be interesting or effective for
the necessary job. Teach your workforce clearly and make certain that they have
the necessary resource material, if more research is needed. Follow
up on this to ascertain that they know what they are doing. You may wish to do
regular testing of various kinds, particularly with
children.
Use appropriate and
professional language with your workforce, at all times.
Addressing your workforce
appropriately helps them to see you as a professional leader. Children, teens,
young adults and older adults in your workforce will respect you, when you
treat them with respect. They will also hold you in high esteem. Even when
discipline or punishment is needed, let your workforce, regardless of their age or ages, know
that you love them and that you count on them as your workforce
family.
Show appreciation to your
workforce for a job well done.
Appreciation is something that
an effective leader of a successful workforce always shows to those who work
for him or her. How you show your appreciation can be in different ways,
depending upon their age. Sometimes a simple word like thank you is sufficient,
but at other times, different kinds of appreciation, like a promotion in a
business, can show a sign of appreciation. Appreciation for an elderly man or
woman doing volunteer work in a community setting, can take the form of a
community gathering on his or her behalf.
Obtain appropriate feedback
from your workforce.
Arranging feedback from
your workforce tells them you are interested in them, as well as in what they
are doing or have done. They need to feel important and want to give you
feedback on the job that they are engaged in or have accomplished. Take the time to obtain feedback from them. Request further feedback that includes positive,
constructive suggestions, including solutions for problems encountered. Be fair
in your assessment of this feedback.
Every workforce and work
situation varies to some degree and there are not always rules and regulations
that are carved in stone for any age. When attempting to motivate your
workforce, always be flexible and allow room for problem resolution on the
workplace. Remember that every workforce consists of human beings and learning
how to work together as a team is vital for everyone. Being a team, may be just
enough motivation to get the job done.
“Motivation is the key to performance
improvement.” (2)
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