Hey Boss, I don’t come to work to satisfy your needs… I come to work to satisfy mine!
So, if you’re a particular kind of manager or business leader that likes to have control but still have highly motivated people, you might just want to stop checking up on them and start checking in with them more often to understand if their needs are being met… or not!
Why? Because if needs aren’t being met, people can feel demotivated, unhappy, moan, criticise and eventually leave — their attention will be off-focus and it’s likely their performance will be too, all the things you don’t want in business — all the things that tell you leadership is not working as well as it could be, for everyone.
In their heads and even though they may not actually say it, it’s clear that employees come to work to serve their own needs and not yours, this may be a shock to the system for some leaders but this is the reality.
The secret of successful people leadership and outstanding success therefore, is: satisfy employee needs and you’ll satisfy your needs, satisfy your needs and in turn, you’ll satisfy the businesses needs… not the other way round.
And money is rarely the only or even main need we’re talking about here because once people have a job and income, that need is often met. What we’re talking about here is more to do with psychological needs.
Sounds simple, right?
But here in lies the rub, as a people leader do you really know the unique and specific psychological needs of every individual in your team, e.g. when did you last ask or ever ask for that matter in order to truly understand rather than assume what they need and don’t need so they bring their best selves and best performances to work?
In the same token, when have your people ever offered information about their specific needs to help you understand what switches them on or off?
One of the most damaging attitudes that’s widespread in the workplace is that employees assume leaders know what they need at work to be at their best and leaders assume others want the same things they do and want to be treated the same way they do too. In both cases, this is a poor strategy because everyone is different.
Take the simple need for appreciation or recognition. One person may prefer a private and sincere thank you from a leader they respect and would cringe at being put on stage with all the ‘bells and whistles’ kind of rah-rah, whilst another individual may love it. Another may want a more tangible reward like a gift voucher, another might prefer a simple card or note of thanks so they can show their family, friends or just as a keepsake.
Another example is a manager that relishes challenge who may expect his people to feel the same way and whilst some will rise to the challenge, others may shy away from it and just see it as ‘putting on them’, which is more likely to demotivate them and make them disengage rather than the other way around.
One person may be ambitious and restless with a need for variety whilst another may be conscientious and contented and prefer routine… the list could go on.
The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. George Bernard Shaw
And added to this quote, I would suggest the assumption that some leaders already think they know the answer, so communicating in a way that really connects leaders with employees has to be one of a sincere desire to understand each others differences.
The four simple questions that follow are therefore great starting points in understanding the needs of people and therefore drivers of behaviour, especially during 1–2–1’s. Managers should ask these of their members of staff or team members could offer them so that both parties can work together to satisfy them:
Positive Motivators that satisfy needs.
1. What do you get excited or enthusiastic about, what things energise you?
2. What positive factors are having the biggest impact on your motivation and productivity right now?
Negative Demotivators that detract from needs being met.
3. What frustrations get in your way and which if removed, could help you be happier, gain more job satisfaction and make you even more successful?
4. What are the pressure points, the stressors that hold you back, stifle you, steal your energy, shut you down or stop you in your tracks?
All four questions are important to cover and understand because the first two questions focus on positive motivators that satisfy needs and last two uncover demotivators that could hinder answers from the first two questions. By removing barriers that may come up in the second set, you know what to try and remove or at least, lessen the impact of to smooth the path for greater success… in this respect, success is achieved through an elimination process rather than an adding process.
“Remove what’s not effective and you free up space for what is”
It’s easy and often the case that leaders focus on what motivates themselves rather than what genuinely motivates their people and this can create quite a disconnect. It’s therefore just as critical to understand what demotivates your people so these ‘barriers to success’ can be removed, if at all possible.
These fundamental principles of what motivates and what demotivates people, to impact positively on performance, may seem so simple that we dismiss them as obvious.
Left unchecked however, as in checking in on people as opposed to checking up on them, the answers to the second set can hinder progress from the first set and likely, derail people and performance.
Best,
Reece
‘Reece is an award-winning, enterprise account director, sales leaders and change maker, and author of the self-management psychology book + online course Strong Minds. He now spends his time providing mid-large organisations with ‘Blended Online + Offline Solutions That Transform Cultures’ specialising in turning around poor or lifting average-performing teams.
