Not all carrots are orange

It's not going to come as a big surprise to you that we are all motivated in different ways which is one of the biggest challenges for Leaders when it comes to offering performance incentives. Getting your strategies wrong can lead to losing key people and the added cost of replacing them.

I was feeding back some motivational maps a few weeks ago and the conversation was around their role in the organisation and how they contributed. The message coming down from above was all about the financial success of the business which is important but the message wasn't motivating the team because they weren't motivated by money. However they were motivated by security which a financially successful organisation gave them but unfortunately that message wasn't landing. Just changing the language to include a mention of the stability of the organisation would have had greater impact down the line.

We all tend to offer incentives that appeal to ourselves, I was as guilty as anyone of this before I became more aware to the different motivations to work. Taking the time to find out the best incentives for each of your team will make any manager's life a lot easier. 

I compare this to marketing, throwing out a message which appeals to just anyone and not focused will get results but tailoring a message to ideal client will get better results and more likely lead to a longer term relationship. Focusing on the key motivations are and taking steps to fulfil them will lead to a happier workforce and better long term results.

Finding out what the key motivations are for each and every member of the team is challenging by questioning and observation alone and not very accurate. Using Motivational Maps to get an accurate and measurable report on exactly what the motivations are is the answer to this problem. Once identified and measured we can then monitor and maximise motivation using strategies included in the report.

If you'd like to know what motivates you and your team you'll find more details here https://www.thereluctantleader.academy/how-to-stay-energised-at-work