A recent American study highlighted that:
£270 million is spent annually on engagement strategies in the US
Yet still only 63% of the US workforce was fully engaged
The same figure as in the year 2000…
And it isn’t any different anywhere else in the world!
Over the last few years I have been involved in amazing engagement programmes across the globe.
In these organisations, the understanding that this is crucial for business is there – the leaders understand and know that in order to be successful as an organisation, their people need to be happy, need to be engaged with the organisation’s vision and feel that they have a part to play, and that the organisation has their best interests at heart.
A lot of time and money is spent on working with the top team so that they communicate effectively, coach their people, and change their behaviours to ones that will encourage dialogue and commitment. There is also a lot of time and money spent on wellness programmes, incentives and more.
And yet, the needle on engagement stays the same, and we continue to do the same things in the hope that it will move in a positive direction. But don’t they say that the first sign of madness is to do the same thing and expect a different result?
Now, there are many reasons for this – unprecedented change makes people feel vulnerable so communication skills and overall leadership skills required are different, for example. But there is one piece that could be easily remedied and which I am convinced will make a difference to engagement results, and that is individual motivation.
So far the responsibility for changing has been squarely with the organisation and its leaders. Employees are surveyed to find out what they need, what is missing and the leaders are given the tools to provide it. The solutions are great and make sense for the organisation as a whole, but each person is different and will be motivated by different things, which will then lead to their engagement with the organisation. So, what if every individual in the organisation were given the tools to find out what it is that gives them energy, that motivates them to get up in the morning, that enables them to be “in the zone”? And what if they were then encouraged to take responsibility for making sure that they found it at work and in their personal lives, for helping team members find it, and for working with their leaders to find the opportunities that will energise them and bring greater results to their organisations? And all of this can be done alongside all the other great work on engagement.
As human beings we want to feel part of something bigger than ourselves, we want to be able to contribute in some way to making things better, we want to feel part of a team – and there are those of us who may not want these things. Some of us may want freedom and independence, financial reward, status, creativity or we might just want to be in charge.
There are those who still believe that motivation is intangible. And yet Motivational Maps, by James Sale, will help each and every person in your organisation to become aware of what really gives them energy, where they have it and where they don’t and by working through the Map, they will uncover how to make the changes they need to increase their energy or motivation. In a team setting it will measure the level of motivation of the team and it can also be used across the organisation, giving individuals the tools to take responsibility for their own motivation and for helping others realise theirs.
The Motivational Map is an ISO accredited online self-perception inventory that crucially focuses on motivation other than personality. And when we talk about motivation we mean the energy that drives people and therefore you can equate that to what engages them. It takes all of 12 minutes to complete online and not only enables people to understand what motivates them at a deeper level, but will also help them decide what to do with that knowledge in order to improve their own performance as well as the teams’ and the organisations’.
As you can see above, the Maps identify three key areas or clusters, of motivation:
Relationship motivators - linked to the past, an individual’s motivations primarily come from sustaining relationships and from the depth and intensity of these relationships. Thee motivators are highly geared to “feeling”.
Achievement motivators - linked to the present, an individual’s motivations primarily come from achieving complete satisfaction fro work and all it offers by way of challenge. These motivators are predominantly about “thinking”.
Growth motivators - linked to the future, an individual’s motivations primarily come from realising their full potential and being all they can be. These motivators are related to “knowing” which is intuitive and direct.
And there are a total of 9 core motivators as described above, 3 per cluster.
For a little more information on the Maps go to http://www.valueu.com/motivational-map-subscriber and download our guide.
But the best way to really see for yourself how useful it is, is to spend all of 12 minutes to try it out yourself. To give it a try email me at info@valueu.com and put “Let me try out a Map” in the subject line. We will then send you out a map to try and schedule a 30 minute telephone session to go through it and discuss how best to use it in your organisation. Go on! Give it a go! Nothing to lose and sooooo much to gain.
Talk soon!