February 2, 2009 at 11:26Positive and negative motivation
Imagine any small business that provides professional services (for example, a web studio).
There is revenue, there are expenses, there are salaries. The manager must decide how he will pay the salary.
Objectives
What goals does the leader pursue? In my opinion, the main priorities are:
- profit growth or positive dynamics
- a healthy atmosphere in the team
- the quality of services rendered
We will call it all with a simple word efficiency .
Hundreds of books have been written on motivation and personnel management, and the theory and practice of this issue are extremely developed.
This article focuses on one question: is there a place in small organizations for negative motivation as an essential way to increase overall efficiency?
Positive motivation - bonuses, bonuses, interest, extra weekends, free meals and other goodies.
Negative motivation - fines, the need to work overtime due to deadlines, reduced bonuses. I will make a reservation that fines under Russian laws can be implemented only as “no premium”.
Roles, relationships and performance indicators
Using a web studio as an example, consider the roles, try to formulate quantitative performance indicators (KPIs) and understand what motivation is needed
1. The head. Responsible for everything, affects everything. It can both receive a salary (not the owner) and manage the profit (the owner / owns the share).
KPI - profit / revenue / reputation.
2. Sales department. Project manager / sales person. Responsible for the flow of incoming orders and the quality of the initial identification of requirements. It affects him, captivating customers and showing the business effect of working with the company. Depends on the development department (the worse the product, the more difficult it is to sell it).
KPI - the volume of contracts (read, revenue plan).
3. Development department. Project manager / technologist / designer / filler. Responsible for the secondary identification and satisfaction of requirements. Affect him. Depend on the sales department (the stupid the salesperson, the more difficult it is to work later).
KPI - the amount of work delivered (in the case of long projects, not only formal delivery to the customer, but also actual performance can be taken into account)
4. Non-production personnel: admin, cleaning lady, accountant, office manager.
KPI - absence of troubles (problems with software, dirt in the office, fines from the tax, coffee spilled on the knees of the customer).
Logic and intuition suggest that:
1. KPIs should be calculated on the basis of those values for which the role is responsible and over which it has control. If a person’s salary depends on reasons for which he is not in control, he will not work better.
2. Negative motivation has more negative emotional consequences than lost positive.
3. The stronger the connection between the roles, the more important the business and conflict-free relations between them.
Motivation of roles
Thus:
1. The leader must have a positive motivation "from the result", which walks "in both directions." If the result is negative, the salary may fall below the minimum. This strongly motivates him. Motivation according to the scheme: there is a plan - get a million, there is no plan - you will be fined fraught with the disappearance of interest in progress.
The negative value of the bonus should be an exception, as well as the losses of a successful business.
2. Sales department. Only positive motivation, possibly with the establishment of a minimum volume, if not achieved, it is necessary not to reduce the salary, but to change the employee.
3. Development department. Competent management and load planning and only positive motivation. More and better done - more received. It is impossible that the load exceeds the production capabilities by more than 20 percent. The hack-work begins.
The fact that both key departments live exclusively on positive motivation contributes to the establishment of the right constructive relations within and between them.
4. Non-productive staff. You can set the salary and how to fine for the jambs, and to reward for zeal or simply the absence of problems. I am purely human closer to the second option. But fines for such personnel are more likely than for core employees.
Some additional considerations
It is important that the leader and colleague always inspire more positive emotions than negative ones. Not “here he is, bastard, we are hiding the counter”, but “it’s good that he came, now we’ll quickly solve everything”.
It is imperative that every employee is motivated in the ways that influence him. For some, this is a salary, for some, access to resources for the development of their own project, for some, gifts from partners (invitations, discounts, etc.). Instead of raising a salary 1-2 times a year, the director buys a couple of the coolest video cards, and the admin is satisfied and happy.
A special caste is people who work with equal quality and zeal regardless of the level of payment. I call these "tractor". As long as there is fuel and a field of work, it will plow. With such people, the key motivating factor is the recognition of professional achievements, good attitude, the ability to choose a job.
What to do if the employee disappointed the manager and let the project down? Failure to meet deadlines, serious errors in the performance of duties and so on? It would seem that a fine cannot be dispensed with (as a rule, such events have financial and reputational consequences).
The following is important to you as a leader:
- so that the situation does not happen again;
- that the perpetrator draw conclusions;
- so that in the future in the behavior of the employee there are no counterproductive elements (if you need it, of course).
For this, I consider the most effective debriefing, drawing up an action plan to correct the situation, the mandatory adjustment of business processes and working rules, awareness of the causes of the accident (including the leader) and only as a special measure - the use of negative motivation.
PS. An old story prompted me to write this note when my friend (also the head of the studio) and I simultaneously looked for similar staff, and he promised much higher salaries.
At the same time, in a personal conversation, he mentioned that all the same, no one ever receives the promised, as he is fined. He set plans and fined (up to 50%) for not fulfilling them. For some reason, the staff changed at him very often.
There is revenue, there are expenses, there are salaries. The manager must decide how he will pay the salary.
Objectives
What goals does the leader pursue? In my opinion, the main priorities are:
- profit growth or positive dynamics
- a healthy atmosphere in the team
- the quality of services rendered
We will call it all with a simple word efficiency .
Hundreds of books have been written on motivation and personnel management, and the theory and practice of this issue are extremely developed.
This article focuses on one question: is there a place in small organizations for negative motivation as an essential way to increase overall efficiency?
Positive motivation - bonuses, bonuses, interest, extra weekends, free meals and other goodies.
Negative motivation - fines, the need to work overtime due to deadlines, reduced bonuses. I will make a reservation that fines under Russian laws can be implemented only as “no premium”.
Roles, relationships and performance indicators
Using a web studio as an example, consider the roles, try to formulate quantitative performance indicators (KPIs) and understand what motivation is needed
1. The head. Responsible for everything, affects everything. It can both receive a salary (not the owner) and manage the profit (the owner / owns the share).
KPI - profit / revenue / reputation.
2. Sales department. Project manager / sales person. Responsible for the flow of incoming orders and the quality of the initial identification of requirements. It affects him, captivating customers and showing the business effect of working with the company. Depends on the development department (the worse the product, the more difficult it is to sell it).
KPI - the volume of contracts (read, revenue plan).
3. Development department. Project manager / technologist / designer / filler. Responsible for the secondary identification and satisfaction of requirements. Affect him. Depend on the sales department (the stupid the salesperson, the more difficult it is to work later).
KPI - the amount of work delivered (in the case of long projects, not only formal delivery to the customer, but also actual performance can be taken into account)
4. Non-production personnel: admin, cleaning lady, accountant, office manager.
KPI - absence of troubles (problems with software, dirt in the office, fines from the tax, coffee spilled on the knees of the customer).
Logic and intuition suggest that:
1. KPIs should be calculated on the basis of those values for which the role is responsible and over which it has control. If a person’s salary depends on reasons for which he is not in control, he will not work better.
2. Negative motivation has more negative emotional consequences than lost positive.
3. The stronger the connection between the roles, the more important the business and conflict-free relations between them.
Motivation of roles
Thus:
1. The leader must have a positive motivation "from the result", which walks "in both directions." If the result is negative, the salary may fall below the minimum. This strongly motivates him. Motivation according to the scheme: there is a plan - get a million, there is no plan - you will be fined fraught with the disappearance of interest in progress.
The negative value of the bonus should be an exception, as well as the losses of a successful business.
2. Sales department. Only positive motivation, possibly with the establishment of a minimum volume, if not achieved, it is necessary not to reduce the salary, but to change the employee.
3. Development department. Competent management and load planning and only positive motivation. More and better done - more received. It is impossible that the load exceeds the production capabilities by more than 20 percent. The hack-work begins.
The fact that both key departments live exclusively on positive motivation contributes to the establishment of the right constructive relations within and between them.
4. Non-productive staff. You can set the salary and how to fine for the jambs, and to reward for zeal or simply the absence of problems. I am purely human closer to the second option. But fines for such personnel are more likely than for core employees.
Some additional considerations
It is important that the leader and colleague always inspire more positive emotions than negative ones. Not “here he is, bastard, we are hiding the counter”, but “it’s good that he came, now we’ll quickly solve everything”.
It is imperative that every employee is motivated in the ways that influence him. For some, this is a salary, for some, access to resources for the development of their own project, for some, gifts from partners (invitations, discounts, etc.). Instead of raising a salary 1-2 times a year, the director buys a couple of the coolest video cards, and the admin is satisfied and happy.
A special caste is people who work with equal quality and zeal regardless of the level of payment. I call these "tractor". As long as there is fuel and a field of work, it will plow. With such people, the key motivating factor is the recognition of professional achievements, good attitude, the ability to choose a job.
What to do if the employee disappointed the manager and let the project down? Failure to meet deadlines, serious errors in the performance of duties and so on? It would seem that a fine cannot be dispensed with (as a rule, such events have financial and reputational consequences).
The following is important to you as a leader:
- so that the situation does not happen again;
- that the perpetrator draw conclusions;
- so that in the future in the behavior of the employee there are no counterproductive elements (if you need it, of course).
For this, I consider the most effective debriefing, drawing up an action plan to correct the situation, the mandatory adjustment of business processes and working rules, awareness of the causes of the accident (including the leader) and only as a special measure - the use of negative motivation.
PS. An old story prompted me to write this note when my friend (also the head of the studio) and I simultaneously looked for similar staff, and he promised much higher salaries.
At the same time, in a personal conversation, he mentioned that all the same, no one ever receives the promised, as he is fined. He set plans and fined (up to 50%) for not fulfilling them. For some reason, the staff changed at him very often.