HOLISTIC APPROACH TO BUILDING MORALE AND MOTIVATING TEAM MEMBERS Joseph (Joe) D. Launi, PMP President Project Management Experts, LLC 1
AGENDA Introduction Traditional Theories Motivation and Morale Survey Results Case Study: The New Team Member from Beijing China Holistic Approach to Building Morale & Motivating Team Members Lessons Learned Case Studies: The Holistic Approach The HR Perspective The Corporate Perspective Case Study: Corporate Priorities 2
TRADITIONAL THEORIES 1. Maslow s Hierarchy of Needs 2. Herzberg s Motivation-Hygiene Theory 3. McClelland s Theory of Needs 4. Daniel Pink s Thoughts on Motivation 3
MASLOW S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS (1943) Where on the pyramid do you want your team? 4
HERZBERG S MOTIVATION-HYGIENE THEORY (1959) Factors Affecting Job Attitudes Leading to Dissatisfaction Company Policy Supervision Relationship with boss Work Conditions Salary Relationship w/peers Leading to Satisfaction Achievement Recognition Work itself Responsibility Advancement Growth 5
McCLELLAND S ACHIEVEMENT THEORY (1953..) Achievement people with high need for achievement seek to excel. Seek projects with moderate risks. Affiliation people with a high need for affiliation need harmonious relationships. Perform well in customer service and client interaction. Power people with the need to influence others. institutional power is more effective then personal power. 6
MIT/FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD STUDY AS PRESENTED BY DANIEL PINK Performance decreases when paying sizable incentives for complicated tasks requiring conceptual creative thinking Workers that are paid fairly feel liberated to concentrate on the work itself. Three factors tied to better performance: - Autonomy: self directed work. E.g.: Facebook all nighters - Mastery: opportunity to get better and become subject matter experts - Purpose: opportunity to make a contribution to the betterment of the common good. Findings are counter to what one might expect from a capitalistic society. Profit motive does not support these principles. 7
MOTIVATION AND MORALE SURVEY RESULTS (2011) Survey questions sent to over 1000 white collar professionals. 80 professionals responded (8% response rate) 8
HOLISTIC MOTIVATION AND MORALE SURVEY RESULTS (2011) 1. I feel considerable excitement when I receive: My regular salary pay Don t Agree Somewhat Agree Totally Agree N/A 39% 48% 8% 5% My bonus pay 4% 31% 47% 19% A compliment for a job well done. 1% 18% 80% 1% Conclusion: Financial rewards do not create the same level of excitement as do soft rewards such as a simple pat on the back. 9
HOLISTIC MOTIVATION AND MORALE SURVEY RESULTS (2011) 2. I tend to perform better on the job when: Don t Agree Somewhat Agree Totally Agree N/A My work related confidence is high. 1% 16% 83% 0% I m passionate about my work. 3% 8% 89% 0% My personal life is going well. 1% 33% 66% 0% I m compensated what I feel I m worth. 6% 43% 48% 3% I m compensated more than I feel I m worth. 46% 29% 16% 9% Conclusion: Performance is higher when: (1) we are confident and passionate about our work (2) our personal life is going well (3) we are paid fairly??? Little correlation between higher pay and increased performance 10
HOLISTIC MOTIVATION AND MORALE SURVEY RESULTS (2011) 3. Which type of bonus program excites YOU most? Bonus paid against YOUR success. 58% Bonus paid against TEAM success. 43% Inconclusive: We prefer to be rewarded based upon the factors we can directly control. 11
HOLISTIC MOTIVATION AND MORALE SURVEY RESULTS (2011) 4. Which type of reward/bonus would best help you feel GREAT about yourself and the organization in which you work? Total monetary reward. 40% A personally customized reward/bonus package to include gifts, vacations, college scholarships for your family members, etc. 60% 5. Given the choice, which type of reward/bonus option would you choose? Total monetary reward. 53% A personally customized reward/bonus package to include gifts, vacations, college scholarships for your family members, etc. Conclusion: A combination of financial and materialistic rewards may improve morale and motivate team members. But, given the choice, they may prefer cash! 47% 12
HOLISTIC APPROACH TO BUILDING MORALE & MOTIVATING TEAM MEMBERS 1. Organizations must resist offering financial incentives thinking it will result in improved performance. Pay fairly and money becomes less of an issue. 2. Start recognizing and rewarding passion, commitment and leadership not just project success. 3. Look to hire (or acquire) team members that have demonstrated these traits (#2) and are excited to have the opportunity to solve the client/sponsors problem(s). Recruit team members with positive attitudes first and technical skills second. 4. Seek to understand the whole person NOT just the worker. Each employee s personal life and personal situation is unique and they do bring it to work. Get to know your team members on a personal level and work to respect their personal situations. 5. For maximum benefit, rewards and bonus programs should be customized to each individual to include a balance of emotional, materialistic and financial rewards. Encourage senior management to reconsider traditional compensation programs to include a balance of emotional, materialistic and financial rewards. 6. Employees must be willing to allow management to understand them outside of the scope of 13 their immediate job.
LESSON S LEARNED We all exist somewhere on Maslow s pyramid. Ideally we would like our team members to have a high level of self esteem. Our team members typically find satisfaction with achievement, recognition, work itself, affiliation and the ability to influence (power) Excessive financial incentive programs do not deliver exceptional performance. Pay workers fairly and consider other ways to motivate such as independent work, training and recognition of expertise, and the opportunity to share in project success. 14
LESSON S LEARNED (cont.) Soft rewards (pat on the back) can be very effective in maintaining morale. Self-rated performance is higher when the team member is confident and passionate about his/her work. Self-rated performance is higher when the team member s personal life is in order. Team members prefer to be rewarded based upon the factors that they can directly control. Team members may enjoy a mixture of both monetary and materialistic reward/bonus programs but given the option will typically chose monetary. 15
THE HOLISTIC APPROACH CASE STUDY: REWARDING JOE Passion Personal Motivation & Morale Confident When Working in Expertise Organizational & Professional Improvement 1. Family 2. Business Soft & Materialistic Rewards To MOTIVATE Joe we must seek to APPRECIATE Joe Create a customized reward program that would recognize Joe s accomplishments and keep him motivated to perform. Compensation Achievement High on Influence, Low on Direct Reports Paid Fairly & Competitively. Prefer Some Cash Reward Low on titles; high on influence Enjoys Academic PM Experts 16
RICHARD BRANSON, FOUNDER AT VIRGIN GROUP If you can find people who are fun, friendly, caring and love helping others, you are onto a winner Some managers get hung up on qualifications. I only look at them after everything else. 17
JACK & SUZY WELSH, THE GENEROSITY GENE It s an in-the-bones, personality-deep craving to help other people improve, grow, thrive and succeed..if you hire candidates who ve got that running through their veins, amazing things will happen to your organization....generosity Gene managers inspire trust, and in doing so they unleash productivity and creativity. Their people become fonts of ideas and innovations and paragons of commitment to customers and the work 18
DEEPAK CHOPRA, MD, FOUNDER, CHOPRA FOUNDATION Focusing only on professional skills can lead to problems. In many instances technical skills can be outsourced adequately. However, what makes an organization or business successful are core values, qualities of character, vision, purpose, camaraderie, and joy. And these cannot be outsourced. 19
POPE FRANCIS Where there is no work there is no dignity men and women have to be the center (of an economic system) as God wants, not money 20
AN HR PERSPECTIVE Nonmonetary positive motivators foster team spirit and include recognition, responsibility, and advancement. Managers who recognize the "small wins" of employees, promote participatory environments Managers who treat employees with fairness and respect will find their employees to be more highly motivated. The most effective rewards, such as letters of commendation and time off from work, enhance personal fulfillment and self-respect. Over the longer term, sincere praise and personal gestures are far more effective and more economical than awards of money alone. In the end, a program that combines monetary reward systems and satisfies intrinsic, self-actualizing needs may be the most potent employee motivator. Linda White Senior Human Resource Manager 21
FAIRNESS AND EQUITY It is absolutely vital that businesses maintain internal and external equity. No matter the level of reward if either internal or external equity is violated, a business will most likely experience employee dissatisfaction. When equity is violated, employees will begin to balance their performance through a variety of ways ranging from decreased productivity to absenteeism and eventually to leaving the business. Linda White Senior Human Resource Manager 22
CASE STUDY: THE NEW TEAM MEMBER FROM BEIJING, CHINA A new team member will be joining your project team in 1 month. Kim is from Beijing, China. She speaks broken English and your surprised at how much she actually understands. She holds a Bachelor s degree in Management Information Systems and has been given glowing recommendations from her supervisors. She comes from the Henan province and has never been out of China. Using the information already learned, how would you best prepare to receive this new team member and help her become productive ASAP!
QUESTIONS 2009 Project Management Experts, LLC 24
THANK YOU Joseph (Joe) D. Launi, PMP President & CEO jdlauni@projectmanagementexperts.com Leesburg, VA 20176 Office: 703-777-1689 Mobile: 703-362-5774 2010 Project Management Experts, LLC 25