A story I want people who think 'I want to boost my subordinates' motivation' to read

As I repeat every time, this note is a place where a free-spirited housewife (in training), who completely changed her way of life from being a full-time working mom, writes whatever she likes based on her own arbitrary opinions and prejudices about her 20 years of HR experience, child-rearing, MBA, and work.

Today is about 'motivation'.

Working in HR, I am asked this very often.
'How can I boost my team members' motivation?'

I hear it from executives, managers, and HR personnel alike.
But every time, I think something a bit mean.
Is that really a question you should be asking right now??

Things I think about while raising children

I think about this while working and raising children, but when you try to make children get motivated, they surprisingly won't move at all.

'Do your homework.'
'Do your best.'
'Focus.'

Every parent has probably said these things at least once.
However, I have never seen a child suddenly start studying with sparkling eyes because of those words.

On the other hand, when it comes to crafts they decided to make themselves, playing with friends, or their favorite games and videos, they won't stop even if you tell them to!

In the end, I think adults aren't much different from this.

HR should stop doing 'work to boost motivation'

In the past, as an HR professional, I thought about boosting employee motivation all day long.

Create evaluation systems.
Introduce award systems.
Increase 1-on-1 meetings.
Instill the vision.
Plan company events.

Of course, these have some effect. In fact, retreats do increase a sense of unity, and people who are awarded seem happy.

But unfortunately, it doesn't last long.

So what do you do?

Think of new measures again.
Do another event.
Increase 1-on-1s again.

Before you know it, running 'motivation improvement measures' becomes the job itself.

Of course, I'm not saying none of these have meaning.
I also think companies that haven't adopted them yet should try them.

However, it is dangerous to misunderstand the job of HR as 'boosting employee motivation'.

What is important is'not lowering it'.
I think that for busy HR professionals, doing just that is more than enough (though that is the most difficult part).

Companies that lower motivation have common traits

I have seen various companies so far. Their sizes and industries vary.
However, companies where motivation is low have common traits.

There is no logic in the evaluation

It is obvious, but often misunderstood, that people do not quit because their evaluation is low. They quit because they cannot accept it.

"This is where you fell short"
"Once you achieve this, you will be promoted next time"

If explained like that, many people would be able to accept it, even if they feel frustrated.

But
"Overall"
"As an expectation"
"I gave you a good rating, but the higher-ups..."
"There were overall adjustments..."

If you are given such an evaluation, anyone would lose the reason to work hard. Evaluation is not about scores, but about logic and explanation.

Decisions are made too slowly

In your workplace, how much time do you spend considering or executing what members have gathered the courage to propose?
Taking it to a meeting. Taking it back. Another meeting. Taking it back again.

And a month later.

"Sorry, we're passing on this for now..."

By that time, the passion of the person who made the proposal has already cooled down.

Slow decision-making can also be a message that "your proposal is of that level of priority." Of course, there are situations where caution is necessary, but if you cannot decide, you should at least be able to answer what is needed to make a decision or who has the authority to decide. At the very least, you should decide when you will decide. Just doing that makes it surprisingly easier for the team to work.

What you say and what you do are different

This is the most damaging thing.
"We support challenges," you say, while lowering evaluations when someone fails.
"Customer first," you say, while only talking about numbers in meetings.
Members see everything, even if it seems like they don't. They are just pretending not to notice. Your vision doesn't need to be grand. But if you set one, you must be able to uphold it.

Something I think is a little dangerous

From here on is purely my own theory, but honestly, when I hear the phrase "I want to boost motivation," I even think, "This company is a bit dangerous."

Of course, most people say it out of concern for their employees. But that phrase sometimes carries the danger of steering the conversation toward "Isn't the lack of results due to the employees' lack of motivation?"

Is that really the case?

I believe that many things that appear to be people problems are actually structural problems.
When people are constantly told to "try harder," they start to feel like they are the problem. Or rather, some people even harbor distrust toward the other person, thinking, "They must think it's my fault."

However, in reality, it is not rare that "the structure was such that even if you tried hard, you wouldn't get results."

Work that only management can do

If you have an hour to think about motivation-boosting measures, please use that hour to think about a winning strategy instead.

Where will you fight?
Who will you choose not to fight?
What will you discard?
What kind of weapons will you use?

The worse a company's performance is, the more they talk about employee motivation in meetings.
Conversely, companies that are growing talk about the market. They talk about customers. They talk about competitive strategy.

Work where the path to victory is clear does not lead to exhaustion, even if it is busy. Conversely, work that never leads to results no matter how hard you try will easily cause people to burn out.
Telling someone to 'do your best' when they only have a bamboo spear in an era where the opponent has guns won't resonate, and telling them 'I'll give you a reward if you can catch a fish' in the middle of a desert is meaningless.

A manager's job is not to inspire employees, but tocreate a place where employees can win if they work hard. Is it right to have them holding bamboo spears? Are there actually fish there? I would like you to spend a little more time discussing those things.

Motivation is not something you create. Trying to intervene in motivation has low leverage.
I believe that when the path to victory is visible, people's motivation will naturally well up on its own.