You will hear a passage between John and Larry, who are discussing the thorny issue of putting motivational techniques into prac

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Man 1: Larry, everyday you are concerned with a lot of issues, but what seems to be the most troublesome issue?
Man 2: Like me, managers, company owners, and supervisors have always been frustrated and bewildered by employees with little or no motivation.
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Man 1: Can you be more specific?
Man 2: We have all seen the "quit-but-stay" employees who have served their physiological contact with the organisation. Nothing seems to fire them up. They firmly park their brains and their enthusiasm in the staff car park in the morning, re-engaging them with gusto 30 seconds after the official end of work time. However, they shrewdly avoid doing anything that warrants dismissal and are content to keep their heads down, doing the minimum and volunteering nothing.
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Man 2: ... This leaves the company with little option but to mark them down as candidates for the next round of redundancies.
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Man 1: But what management techniques are available to repair and restore motivation?
Man 2: The answer is, I suppose, to give employees as much meaningful work as possible. The less intrinsically interesting the work, the more needs to be done to make it acceptable: job enrichment, job rotation and job sharing.
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Man 1: Are there any other means apart from that?
Man 2: There are now several other commonly accepted ways. The first is to give employees the information and resources needed to do a good job, and ensure, through ongoing training, that employees have the necessary skills to meet the requirements of the job.
Next, demonstrate a commitment to career development and promotion from within.
Equally important is to foster a sense of team spirit. You do not have to organise outdoor assault courses. It is enough to provide opportunities for people to meet, talk and share together. Recognition has been highly emphasized. Many companies now publicly recognise and congratulate employees for good work. Celebrate success and create heroes. Two more things are: provide regular and specific feedback to all staff through both formal appraisal and informal channel of communication.
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Man 2: ... Equally important is to foster a sense of team spirit. You do not have to organise outdoor assault courses. It is enough to provide opportunities for people to meet, talk and share together. Recognition has been highly emphasised. Many companies now publicly recognise and congratulate employees for good work. Celebrate success and create heroes. Two more things are: provide regular and specific feedback to all staff through both formal appraisal and informal channel of communication. Encourage feedback from staff and involve employees in making decisions that affect their work. Pay people what they are worth. Consider such factors as market forces, predatory competitors and the contribution each individual makes.
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Man 2: ... Celebrate success and create heroes. Two more things are: provide regular and specific feedback to all staff through both formal appraisal and informal channel of communication. Encourage feedback from staff and involve employees in making decisions that affect their work. Pay people what they are worth. Consider such factors as market forces, predatory competitors and the contribution each individual makes.
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Man 1: But it seems to me nothing is new in these techniques.
Man 2: They are not. The fact that we know some of the key factors in motivation, however, has not prevented many managers form ignoring them. Some people are fortunate enough to have a good boss, who may have more modeled positive motivational behaviours. But because few managers are trained or educated in the art of motivation and have themselves never been well-managed, we get the perpetuation of incompetence.
Man 1: This explains the paradox of why people have heard about but not seen successful motivational managgement in practice.
Man 1: Larry, everyday you are concerned with a lot of issues, but what seems to be the most troublesome issue?
Man 2: Like me, managers, company owners, and supervisors have always been frustrated and bewildered by employees with little or no motivation.
Man 1: Can you be more specific?
Man 2: We have all seen the "quit-but-stay" employees who have served their physiological contact with the organisation. Nothing seems to fire them up. They firmly park their brains and their enthusiasm in the staff car park in the morning, re-engaging them with gusto 30 seconds after the official end of work time. However, they shrewdly avoid doing anything that warrants dismissal and are content to keep their heads down, doing the minimum and volunteering nothing. This leaves the company with little option but to mark them down as candidates for the next round of redundancies.
Man 1: But what management techniques are available to repair and restore motivation?
Man 2: The answer is, I suppose, to give employees as much meaningful work as possible. The less intrinsically interesting the work, the more needs to be done to make it acceptable: job enrichment, job rotation and job sharing.
Man 1: Are there any other means apart from that?
Man 2: There are now several other commonly accepted ways. The first is to give employees the information and resources needed to do a good job, and ensure, through ongoing training, that employees have the necessary skills to meet the requirements of the job. Next, demonstrate a commitment to career development and promotion from within. Equally important is to foster a sense of team spirit. You do not have to organise outdoor assault courses. It is enough to provide opportunities for people to meet, talk and share together. Recognition has been highly emphasised. Many companies now publicly recognise and congratulate employees for good work. Celebrate success and create heroes. Two more things are: provide regular and specific feedback to all staff through both formal appraisal and informal channel of communication. Encourage feedback from staff and involve employees in making decisions that affect their work. Pay people what they are worth. Consider such factors as market forces, predatory competitors and the contribution each individual makes.
Man 1: But it seems to me nothing is new in these techniques.
Man 2: They are not. The fact that we know some of the key factors in motivation, however, has not prevented many managers from ignoring them. Some people are fortunate enough to have a good boss, who may have more modeled positive motivational behaviours. But because few managers are trained or educated in the art of motivation and have themselves never been well-managed, we get the perpetuation of incompetence.
Man 1: This explains the paradox of why people have heard about but not seen successful motivational management in practice.