Comments on: How To Motivate Employees (Hint: You Can't)

By: Scott Allison

Scott Allison — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:07:31 +0000

I read somewhere that while you can’t motivate employees you can demotivate them, and I find that’s true. So many businesses demotivate their employees, often over silly, small things that could be easily fixed. So make sure you listen and react and communicate with your people, to keep them happy.

By: Mike Michalowicz

Mike Michalowicz — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:49:26 +0000

Well thank you Manas!

By: Manas

Manas — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:02:18 +0000

Hi Mike,

Can agree with you more on the money and motivation part.
Nice Post.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:13:43 +0000

Hi Mike,

I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with you. I think there’s the extreme that you wrote about, that motivation is not worth the time because the passion will not match up to that of the boss. But then there’s the other side that says that even if that is true, there are business benefits to be gained by putting effort into it. I wrote about these in a counterpoint blog post here: http://bit.ly/ec9DQ

I’ve been fascinated to see where the debate on both employee motivation and general engagement has gone recently. There seem to be some very different opinions out there — which I think is great because at least it’s being talked about. Thanks.

By: kay Plantes

kay Plantes — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:51:13 +0000

At a family funeral this weekend, an elderly Irish relative told me he motivated his team of sales people by asking, “Tell me one thing that you want in life–and I don’t care if it is work related or not.” Then, whatever the response, he identified one thing that he could do as the employee’s boss to help that individual achieve his goal. (E.G., you can come in 15 minutes late every day if that helps you get closer to your daughter). Over time, as individuals understood he was on their side and they saw they could achieve goals that they had, they turned to workplace performance goals and broke all kinds of records.

By: Mike Michalowicz

Mike Michalowicz — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 22:04:26 +0000

@Monique – Yup! You are spot on.

- Mike

By: Monique Powell

Monique Powell — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:01:12 +0000

This is what you call “cold, hard truth”. Your employees will NEVER be as motivated to make your business succeed as as you will. Find a way to help them meet their own goals and needs through helping you meet yours. That’s the only way to have a shot at getting the best out of them.