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FROM THE FOUNDER
Stop demotivating your people
I was never a big believer in the idea that you can take someone who is not motivated and turn them into a highly-driven person. I just don’t see it happening. So my strategy has always been to try to find and hire people who are already motivated. You don’t have to be a genius to figure out what you are doing to demotivate people; you just have to stop doing whatever it is now!
So let’s say you can succeed at that. You are able to find those people who don’t need a whip cracked on them to do their jobs and even more. Great! But then the next challenge – and believe me, it’s a big one – is how you can keep from turning those people off? How can you avoid demotivating them, so they don’t (to use a current business-speak cliche), “quietly quit” on the job? That’s the $64,000 question. Here are my thoughts. None of them are profound but I have to keep saying them because these problems are rampant: 1. Establish a personal relationship of trust and mutual respect with each of your people. That means you really have to get to know your people, and not just on a superficial level. Don’t think that having company events like softball games or bowling nights absolves you from
doing this, either. Many people don’t appreciate any company event they are expected to attend on their own time. Your people, believe it or not, may actually resent them and be demotivated as a result. 2. Get your people involved in the business planning efforts for the firm. Again, I’m not suggesting holding hokey team-building events, or implementing a suggestion box program. I mean real participation and a chance to contribute substantively on how the firm will accomplish something. That takes management that is willing to listen and either act or explain why they cannot act. Ignoring the input is not an option unless you want to demotivate your people.
Mark Zweig
See MARK ZWEIG , page 6
THE ZWEIG LETTER JANUARY 29, 2024, ISSUE 1522
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