Motivating People

Found this awsome list of statements on motivating employees here.

people don't do what you tell them to do; they do what gets them a reward
positive reinforcement is the most effective way to motivate people [Note that in a technology company, a reinforcer might be the freedom to spend some time working on a side project or a pet feature; reinforcement is broader than money or praise; it can be anything that the employee values.]
reinforcement works best when it is immediate, certain, and frequent (Daniels points out that kids that our public schools diagnose as having an ADD learning disability are able to concentrate for hours playing video games that provide 85 positive reinforcements per minute)
reinforcement doesn't work if followed up with a "but, you need to improve X, Y, Z"
monthly reinforcement only provides 12 opportunities per year to shape someone's performance; weekly is the minimum (the annual review and bonus is a joke, as far as Daniels is concerned)
many goals should be easy to achieve, thus providing many opportunities for people to get rewarded; rewards should not be competitive (no "employee of the month")
managers need to spend more of their time reinforcing the good performers than trying to deal with the problem employees
if you set a goal, people stop working as soon as they reach the goal (viz. typical schools and universities; students stop pushing themselves once they've reached an "A" level of achievement)
you need to come up with a good way of measuring achievement and make that measure available to the worker so that he or she can motivate himself (for a computer programmer in a software company, components of this measure might be "number of bugs fixed, with extra points for the severe or tricky ones" and "pages of documentation written"

Apparantly its from a book Bringing out the Best in People, by Aubrey C. Daniels

Comments

How will travel industry transform post-Covid

Unlike philosophers, journalists and teenagers, the world of entrepreneurship does not permit the luxury of gazing into a crystal ball to predict the future. An entrepreneur’s world is instead made of MVPs (Minimum Viable Product), A/B Tests, launching products, features or services and gauging / measuring their reception in the market to arrive at verifiable truths which can drive the business forward. Which is why I have never written about my musings or hypothesis about travel industry – we usually either seek customer feedback or launch an MVPised version and gather market feedback. However, with Covid-19 travel bans across the globe, the industry is currently stuck – while a lot of industry reports and journalistic conjectures are out, there’s no definitive answer to the way forward. Besides there is no way to test your hypothesis since even the traveller does not know what they will do when skies open. So, I decided to don my blogger hat and take the luxury of crystal gazing...

Vikramaditya - Myth or Reality

A statue of Vikramaditya at Vikramaditya ka Tila / Vikramaditya's Singhasan Battisi On a recent visit to Ujjain, I found myself drawn to the city's extraordinary blend of history, mythology, and spirituality. As I stood before the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga, I reflected on its significance as one of India’s most revered shrines. Yet, amidst these sacred surroundings, I encountered narratives of Vikramaditya - the legendary king of Ujjain, celebrated for his valor and wisdom, who's name resonates from the folklore of locals to every part of India. Every time we celebrate a festival in India, it is marked with a tithi i.e. date as per the Indian calendar - which is called the Vikram Samvat calendar, attributed to being founded by Vikramaditya of Ujjaini (the then name of Ujjain). What struck me, however, was the curious fact that despite Vikramaditya’s pivotal place in Indian cultural memory, his existence as a historical figure lacks definitive evidence. My exploration l...

Of Business Ethic and Ethics

Cover of book on Mr. Ratan Tata The chairman of Tata Trusts and former chairman of Tata Sons, Mr. Ratan Tata, passed away on the 10th of October. The last two days have been filled with coverage of Mr. Tata's contributions to the country, the economy, and the global business world. Numerous articles and reports highlight his contribution primarily as a great philanthropist who worked for the cause of ethical business, which the Tata Group has been known for over the last 100+ years. While narrating how Mr. Tata's contribution was acknowledged in her school, even my daughter told me that they were told Mr. Tata was a great philanthropist. I have been a little taken aback because most media and people have focused on his philanthropy and not his business achievements or entrepreneurship-related activities. This got me thinking about how I view the transformation that Mr. Tata brought about during his tenure as chairman of Tata Sons, where his contribution was far more pronounc...

Search This Blog