A January 14 article in The Wall Street Journal shares that listening to employees is also a terrific way to motivate people when times are tough and/or when money is tight.
"You've got to think outside the money box when it comes to motivating your employees in this economic environment,” shares an executive in the article.
Listening is one of the “outside the box” tactics suggested.
When the co-owner of a debt management company, quoted in the article, encountered low morale among his staff, he began weekly meetings with 14 employees to share (and listen to) ideas and just chat. "I found the more I listened, the better they pepped up," said the company owner. "It takes time from me, but it's worth it. When they get it off their chests and realize I do care, it becomes my problem to solve. I can address it and they can go about their day being productive."
On a related note, do you realize that the popular concept of “Management by Walking Around,” set forth by such admired executives as Andy Grove of Intel, might actually be wrong? Researchers at Harvard studied 238 people on 26 teams in different companies and found that leaders can actually hurt employee perceptions of team leader support if these team leaders proactively monitor personnel effort and offer feedback BUT fail to show lack of sincere interest in employee work and ideas? Therefore, if a manager walks around and tries to be visible and appear involved…but fails to show genuine interest in the people doing the work…that leader is doing nothing more than wearing out his or her shoes. And what’s one of the best ways to show employees that you care…while walking around?
You can read the January 14 Wall Street Journal via this link
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