Want to know the secret to motivating employees, increasing productivity, improving quality, reducing absenteeism, increasing sales, and gaining employee commitment? Well it’s really no secret -- at least not a very well kept secret. Success in business and in motivating employees comes down to one key element: the power of people working together toward a common goal.

People want to be part of something bigger than their own activity; they want to be involved. Once they are involved, employee motivation occurs naturally. In other words, meaningful involvement creates the connection that causes employee motivation. Motivating employees, begins by creating the right environment. To do that, you need to start by taking off your supervisor's hat and becoming a mentor, coach and collaborator.

Manager or Coach?

The time worn definition of management has not changed. Management is still the "art of getting things done through others." However, what has changed dramatically is how the definition of management is being interpreted. Today, getting things done through others, in other words motivating employees, does not just mean telling people what to do. Sure, you will need to provide direction now and then. But most of the time you will need to be more of a coach than a boss. Employee motivation -- the self-induced kind -- is created through collaboration.

Sports provide a good analogy. In sports, the coach is not in the game. He or she remains on the sidelines. Sometimes the coach calls some plays, but most of the time the coach relies on the experience and skill of the players on the field. When the season is over, the coach will be recognized and rewarded based on how many games the team won. If the team has a winning season, the coach will be considered a "good coach".

Similarly, motivating employees to contribute is the key to your winning in the management game. When your employees are motivated to be successful, you will be recognized as a successful manager. When your people are not doing so well, you will be seen as an unsuccessful manager regardless of what you, as an individual, are doing. In other words, the rules of the business world dictate that, as a manager, you don’t get paid for what you do; you get paid for what your people do. Motivating employees is central to your success.

So, what does that mean? It means that you must do everything possible to help your employees achieve success. After all, if one of your employees does not succeed, it is as much your failure as their success is your success.

Steps to Winning Employee Commitment

How hard your employees work and how motivated they are to perform their work depends on the commitment they have for their job and the company. Commitment is influenced greatly by the immediate supervisor, the working environment, the fit of the individual with the job, and the level of the employee's involvement in how the job gets done. To make sure your employees become and stay motivated, as a manager you need to do three things:

1. Have a clear understanding of what needs to be accomplished and when. By creating a strategic plan and sharing it with employees, you will give your staff much of what they need to know to do their job. They need to know where the company is headed and how they can contribute.
2. Through careful hiring and selection, create a work force matched to the jobs in your firm. The job match must be in terms of mental abilities, thinking style, behavioral traits, interests, and work experience. Develop a specific set of requirements and results expected from the job. Then, in addition to behaviorally-based interviewing and reference and background checking, use assessment tools to screen out the people who are not right for the job.
3. Create a work climate that promotes a high level of teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and fulfillment for everyone. This is where your role as a coach and leader is really demonstrated. You can foster a positive work environment through leadership by example and with sincere care and concern for each employee’s needs. Think of leadership as a relationship, not a title.

Whatever your leadership style, it is contagious to the people who report to you. A domineering boss creates fear and loss of creativity. On the other hand, according to research conducted at Case Western University, a boss who demonstrates a positive interest in the success of his or her employees and shows that he or she is willing to help them succeed sends a message of hope and affirmation that actually stimulates creativity.

The manager as coach also gives employees an appropriate level of power to make choices in how they do their job. This practice demonstrates respect for the individual and affirms value. Finally, always keep your promises, or trust will wither and die.

What this all boils down to is building relationships with employees by building them up and encouraging them to grow. Carl Rogers, writing in the book Perceiving, Behaving and Becoming, says, “The degree to which I can create relationships which facilitate the growth of others as separate persons is a measure of the growth I have achieved in myself.”

Let them have their say

Building solid working relationships and helping employees become engaged in their work also means creating methods for employees to tell you what is on their mind. In the end, if you listen to every word your employees have to say, everyone will benefit. Ask employees what is important to them. Ask them if there is something that would help them do a better job. Ask them how you can achieve lower turnover or less absenteeism. Tell them about operating problems and ask for their help in solving them. Having their feedback will help you decide how to invest your time, money, and energy.

Expect excellent results

Another way to encourage appropriate work behavior is for managers to expect excellent results, what some researchers are calling “the Pygmalion effect.” In George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, Eliza Doolittle explains the concept:

“You see, really and truly, apart from the things anyone can pick up (the dressing and the proper way of speaking and so on), the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated. I shall always be a flower girl to Professor Higgins because he always treats me like a flower girl and always will: but I know I can be a lady to you because you always treat me as a lady, and always will.”

In research gathered by J. Sterling Livingston, founder of the Sterling Center for Applied Managerial Leadership, the data reveals:

• What managers expect of subordinates and the way they treat them largely determines their performance and career progress.
• A unique characteristic of superior managers is the ability to create high performance expectations that subordinates can fulfill.
• Less effective managers fail to deliver similar expectations, and as a consequence, the productivity of their subordinates suffers.
• Subordinates, more often than not, appear to do what they believe they are expected to do.

Maintaining high expectations and a positive outlook are impossible to fake. The expectations have to be genuine and they generally start by expecting the most from yourself. Superior managers have confidence in their own ability to select and train subordinates.

In the end, by creating a system of management and an environment in which people are engaged in decisions about their own work, doing work that is valued and worthwhile, and working collaboratively rather than competitively, you can do away with incentive plans and performance appraisals, because the environment will ensure pride of workmanship and accountability in everybody.