Member Article

Motivating staff when a pay-rise isn't possible

Tom Debenham, MD of People Insight, says managers needed to be on top of their game in 2013 to get the most out of their staff. He looks at how to motivate staff when a pay-rise might be out of the question.

In a year when pay-rises will be off the agenda for most UK businesses, giving staff verbal praise can be one of the biggest motivational uplifts, research from employee engagement experts People Insight reveals today.

Taking time to speak to the workforce has a hugely positive impact on morale, as does giving people freedom to tackle the task and enabling staff to fulfil their career aspirations.

Yet too many managers fail these tests - hiding behind emails, failing to engage with staff on the shop floor and all too often slipping into a ‘one rule for us, one rule for them’ mentality.

Indeed, in surveys carried out by People Insight, responses from over 110,000 workers showed just 49 per cent believed their managers rewarded success, while over a quarter (26 per cent) of respondents said managers didn’t identify training and development needs.

Worse still, managers themselves were completely out of touch with how they were perceived by staff. Eight out of 10 managers think their team is satisfied with their management skills, but only 58% of team members agree. A massive 91% of UK managers believe that they always or sometimes spend time coaching their team, but only 40% of UK employees agree.

Government figures show that staff in UK businesses can deliver a further £26bn of revenue just by being better engaged.

We have all been in jobs where we’ve felt undervalued or taken for granted, but those feelings can have a huge effect on how people work – efficiency levels drop, they start looking for other jobs or they simply sit at their desks and moan.

In times of austerity where many firms are looking to tighten belts rather than open the chequebook it’s important that managers realise the positive impact of engagement – seeing their workforce as individuals and encouraging personal development.

One thing that comes up time and time again in our surveys is how important verbal praise is to people. We all need reassurance and this has such a positive effect on their work environment if a manager is prepared to go out of their way to thank staff for their efforts.

The figures on engagement in the workplace are staggering – 20 million workers are not delivering their full capability, 64 per cent said they had more to offer and UK productivity was 20 per cent lower than the rest of the G7.

No wonder that 94% of the world’s most admired companies believe that their efforts to engage their employees have created a competitive advantage.

Everyone needs to feel engaged in their job and the figures are quite eye-opening within those companies that do this well – efficiency increases, staff turnover plummets
and profits increase.

Of course, the onus is also on the employee to ensure they get the most out of their career. If you are unhappy at work you have to do something about it.

There is simply no point in sitting behind your desk and grumbling. Be proactive by seeking out opportunities to make things happen; book time with your manager to discuss the situation and go armed with solutions as well as problems; and work out what you really want from your career.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by People Insight .