Wanted: New Head of Motivation

Are you our new Head of Motivation?: 

Your 'chair' is brand new. You will report directly to me. I am the company's managing director. You will be tasked with managing engagement in our company. By that I mean that all managers and all employees are interested in the job and are committed to doing it. Your new title will be 'Head of Motivation'.

Your task will be to keep track of the commitment of all our managers and employees. They have earned it. And it's not something I just write for fun. I mean it so emphatically that you must follow the commitment so closely that we know the level on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Then nothing gets behind us. Our employees must be committed every day and all day. You will monitor this and alert the managers so that they can motivate timely and properly.

Let me start with a few examples. First, example #1

One Saturday I stood in a queue at a checkout in a supermarket. The belt was full of goods. The front customer had just placed a few new shopping bags on top of the items. But the cashier had started beeping in items and didn't pay attention to the shopping bags, which the customer really needed. The customer had to alert the cashier to beep the bags so she could pack her goods. My point is that if the cashier had a motivating manager, then this manager would have a committed cashier who took an interest in the customer's need for immediate delivery of shopping bags. The cashier was a disengaged employee.

Here comes example no. 2

When I started as an office trainee in a large Danish industrial company, I met the managing director after 1 week. He came by chance into the reception where I started my time as a learner. I did not know him, either by appearance or by name. So I jumped up from my chair and said the words: 'How can I help you?' The man had already gone a few meters past me and turned around and was now facing me, saying: 'I'm actually the CEO here.' And then he went on. The director was a non-committed director.

And here comes example No. 3

A driver in a major building materials company had to go from Copenhagen to North Zealand to deliver a table top. When he loaded the tabletop, he saw the scratch in the tabletop, but chose to drive off anyway. The customer received the table top and immediately spotted the deep scratch and refused to accept the item. The driver apologized and returned the next day with a new and flawless table top. The driver was a disengaged employee.

Our work becomes a play

With motivating managers, committed employees and you as motivation manager, work becomes a breeze. So we achieve our goals, fulfill our mission, live our values ​​and pursue our vision.

Your job ad reads like this:

Are you our new Motivation Manager?

As Head of Motivation, you must help to strengthen the management quality in our company. All managers must be prepared to ensure that all employees are engaged. The chair you will be sitting in is brand new.

We have not yet settled on our index figure for engagement, as this whole initiative is new. Our investment in engagement is also an expression of our firm belief that it is valuable for everyone to be engaged. The investment first goes to the managers' ability to motivate the employees. Next, the investment is in ensuring that the employees' commitment is present every day and throughout the day. As Head of Motivation, you must follow the commitment daily and week by week. And you must help the managers if the number fluctuates. What else does the Head of Motivation have to take care of?

The Head of Motivation must also create a long-term plan that follows all other strategies and plans and goals in the company. At the same time, the Head of Motivation must make an overview of everything that can happen in the company and what you need to be ready for. It could be, for example, special work pressure for a period. An unsuccessful project. A lost order. An unexpected termination. Decline in the market. A hacker attack. Etc.

The Head of Motivation must prepare us for it all. The Head of Motivation also knows who makes a lot of noise and what needs to be done about it in advance.

All incidents have been logged by the Head of Motivation. Maternity. Birthdays. Anniversaries. Brand days. Duty schedules. Celebrations. Markings. Private circumstances. Everything is logged and managers can be informed in time so they can prepare. This is called being strategic.

The Head of Motivation is ahead of everything and has prepared for everything. Only then does engagement cease to be random and become strategic.

In our company, I estimate that the potential for committed employees is quite large. I'm not saying that to bother anyone. Nah, I look at myself in the mirror and ask if I can't do better. It is my job to motivate the managers. They must be dressed to motivate employees so that they can engage in work again. I want to do something active and quick about that. Are you the one who can help with that?

This article was written by Michael Meinhardt, LEADERS WAREHOUSE. I offer a training course for leaders explaining this new concept 'Strategic Motivation'. It is a 4 day training where leaders learn to produce, control and maintain the commitment of all employees. Read more HERE

Michael Meinhardt
LEADERSwarehouse.com 

☎ +45 71 92 55 63 ✉ info@LEADERSwarehouse.com