Ashridge Report Motivation and Employee Engagement October2009

Ashridge Business School
http://www.ashridge.org.uk
Ashridge
Motivation and Employee Engagement in the 21st Century: A Survey of Management Views
By Viki Holton, Fiona Dent and Jan Rabbetts
September 2009
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank everyone who took the time to respond to our survey. We also are grateful to those who took part in the interviews we conducted.
Ashridge All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Ashridge. 25.00 ISBN: 978-0-903542-76-0
Ashridge Berkhamsted Hertfordshire HP4 1NS United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 1442 841172 Fax: +44 (0) 1442 841181 www.ashridge.org.uk
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Foreword
2009 saw the worst recession any of us can remember. The retail sector, already an extremely competitive environment, has not been immune to the economic conditions and several well known names are no longer on the High Street. In these difficult times, it is vital that organisations across every sector invest properly in motivation and employee engagement. Ashridge conducted this research to understand better the issues and challenges concerning motivation. The findings indicate that, rather like the traditional school report, many organisations could do better. In a recession some believe that people are lucky to have a job and therefore organisations do not need to take extra steps to ensure their employees are motivated. Others believe that the need to be motivated only really applies to high flyers. I would take issue with both of these positions. Here at John Lewis motivation is a key performance indicator and we believe it makes a huge difference to our results. The senior team are very interested in whats happening across the organisation and Partner (staff) surveys, introduced in 2003, mean that we know the level of engagement for each shop, our distribution centres and our Head Office as well as every department within these areas. I know that the two shops I manage have some of the highest levels of staff satisfaction in the Group. This gives me confidence that, with a high level of engagement, we are more likely to give great service to our customers and that, in turn, will lead to better sales and profit levels. Even if an organisation does not recognise the importance of motivation or measure it on a regular basis, time spent by managers ensuring that employees are motivated and engaged with the business will still have a positive effect on the all important bottom line.
Mark Venables Managing Director, Southampton and Southsea Stores, the John Lewis Partnership
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Contents
Section 1: Executive Summary .................................................... 1 Section 2: How Organisations Motivate Managers ........................... 8 Section 3: How Managers Motivate their Staff .............................. 16 Section 4: Conclusion and Recommendations .............................. 20 Appendix 1: Company Interviews ............................................... 26 1. 2. 3. 4. Motivation A View from Engineering Consultancy Halcrow Group ............................................................................... Motivation: The Multinational View (High Technology Sector) The manager, the employer and motivation .......................... Motivation - The Senior Managers View (Voluntary Sector) ..... A View from the Leisure Sector Recruiting Motivated Staff .... 26 29 31 34
Appendix 2: Profile of Respondents ............................................ 36 The Last Word: What Managers say about Motivation ................ 37
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Section 1: Executive Summary

In 2008 Ashridge conducted research entitled the Ashridge Management Index to understand more about the issues and challenges facing managers. The survey covered a variety of key topics including leadership, communication, learning and development; it also provided some interesting data about personal and organisational motivation. As a result of this research we felt there would be value in looking more closely at motivation and particular questions included: Managers views about the current motivational approaches offered by their employers, for example are organisations using the right approach? And what are the key factors which motivate managers? Do managers find it easy to motivate their staff? What are the implications of these findings for leaders, HR directors and managers? We distributed a survey questionnaire to some of those managers involved in the earlier survey and also to a new group of individuals attending Ashridge programmes during the first three months of 2009. As a result, a total of 210 managers responded to our survey. In addition, we conducted a number of company interviews including the engineering consultancy firm, Halcrow Group. See Appendix 1 for these interviews. Key Findings: The evidence of our survey confirms much of what we already know about what motivates people but our findings indicate that many employers get it wrong when it comes to managing motivation and employee engagement. Nearly half, 46 per cent, of managers in our survey say their organisation does not take the right approach to motivating them. This means that only about half of managers surveyed are positive about their employers, saying their organisation takes the right approach to motivating them. Those working in the private sector feel more positive 62 per cent of managers say the approach is right compared to 46 per cent among those in the public sector. Given how much is known about motivation these seem relatively low figures. When asked to describe what motivates them although financial rewards are mentioned it is often the intrinsic aspects of motivation which managers talk about. The desire for autonomy and freedom in carrying out their work is a key theme; having the freedom to take decisions, and having the power and authority to deliver their task in the way that they think is right, is important to them. Its also about being trusted and given space to get on with the job without being micro-managed.
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Sharing the vision of the organisation is another theme thats important in motivation, as one manager described their team as one where we all know where we are trying to go. What demotivates managers are often the opposite of the issues noted above; lack of vision (by the organisation or by the senior team) for example is mentioned by many. A number of respondents describe a poor environment where their organisation is doing little with regard to motivation. One person said that acknowledgement for a job well done is often missing. The relationship between survey respondents and their staff appears to be more positive and around seven in ten respondents say that personally they find it easy to motivate staff. As might be expected managers mostly use the same techniques and approaches as those that they find motivating themselves, such as providing freedom to help staff to develop their role, involving them in decision-making and creating a supportive environment where staff can develop and learn. The fact that the relationship between the manager and their staff is more positive than between the organisation and the manager seems something of a paradox. Surely, if motivation is less than ideal between employer and manager, then the same will be true for managers and staff? We know that motivation often tends to work well in personal relationships and so this may partly explain the survey findings - that the close working relationship between staff and their boss will be more positive than what is often a more distant, more formal relationship between the organisations and their managers. Figure 1: Motivation: between the organisation and manager
Nearly half, more than four in ten respondents, say that their organisation does not take the right approach in order to motivate them
54% Yes No
46%
Figure 2: Motivation: between the manager and their staff
The majority of managers, seven 1212% in ten, say that it is easy to motivate the staff that report to them Strongly agree
63% Agree Disagree
23% Strongly disagree
2%
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The survey findings appear to indicate that the relationship between people is more important from a motivational perspective than the relationship between the organisation and its people. We would offer the following practical model to help you assess your own motivation, your organisations approach to motivation and how you can help motivate others. Figure 3: Motivational Framework
The framework above suggests that there are five inter linked aspects of your working life that contribute to motivation. The organisation will provide the structure and processes for instance: performance management and reward schemes, training, interesting work. However, these systems can become overly relied on and turn into bureaucratic nightmares that begin to demotivate. So, structures and processes in themselves are not enough organisations do not motivate people, its people in organisations that motivate people. So, as our research shows organisations must be clear in terms of vision, communication and decision making processes. Leaders and managers must earn the respect of others, create an appropriate working environment and provide opportunities for people to grow and develop. Theres also the physical working environment to be considered, and the reaction to some recent innovations weve introduced horrible hotdesking! Another said their organisation is not addressing the structural problems which block effective working e.g. poor IT, buildings, working practices such as too many meetings and too little time for preparation, often too many key topics on the agenda for solutions.
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The individual also needs to be clear in their own mind about what it is that motivates them and how these needs can be satisfied at work. Individuals need to be more open about this and share their values with colleagues and with their boss. Organisations need to help individuals take more responsibility for this; and need a strategy and processes that make it very clear that individuals have a responsibility for their own development. The boss provides a crucial role in the motivation process not only acting as a role model but valuing each of his or her colleagues in a way that makes them feel motivated. This means that as a boss you need to take time to understand each persons needs and what makes them tick. A simple and useful starting point is to engage your people in a conversation about their motivation. Simple really, but think about how often do you do it? In addition to the boss our colleagues can play a major role in our levels of motivation at work. So being with like minded people can energise and motivate us, several managers in our survey emphasised this I personally get motivated by good feedback from those I work with. The darker side of this is where no collaboration or team spirit exists and can actually cause demotivation colleagues who whinge and moan and have a negative outlook. Many of us are also motivated by feedback from our customers (both internal and external) and clients. For instance, do you (the organisation) regularly conduct customer service reviews and share the results with staff? The issue here is, is this left to chance or part of an organisational process? The purpose of this report is to show that motivation and employee engagement are critical areas that can help organisations be more effective. The recent MacLeod Review 1 on employee engagement proposes a national campaign and this approach, led by role model employers, could create a more positive environment. However, response to the Review has been mixed and as well as the critics who dont see a need for such action, others will question why another national campaign is required when the UK already has a well-established approach in the form of IIP, Investors in People which has similar aims. The key findings from our survey noted above indicate that there are many managers, almost half of respondents, who say their organisation does not take the right approach to motivate them. It is a surprisingly high level of disagreement which also was found in
1 Engaging for Success: Enhancing performance through employee engagement. A Government report by David MacLeod and Nita Clarke, 2009. www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/employment/employee-engagement/index.html accessed July 2009
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Investors in People2 research where 1 in 3 employees (among a larger sample group of around 2,900) reported feeling demotivated at work. Such problems with employee engagement seem to suggest two very different types of employer, those who take motivation seriously and those, for whatever reasons, who do not appreciate how important it is or find it is too difficult to develop, or implement, a planned approach. It could also be that such neglect is unintentional and that HR practitioners and the senior business team are busy juggling too many other initiatives. As one HR manager said, I havent reall y spent much time thinking about the detail of motivation in our organisation. It may well be that talent management programmes and initiatives that do exist are not closely linked to business strategy; a point made in a major study on talent management conducted by Ashridge and CIM, the Chartered Institute of Management3. There are however some organisations where the role of HR is currently being re-defined, moving away from administrative towards a business partner role that would encompass motivation and talent management. As the HR director of a major retailer where this change has been made said, previously there were no quality conversations about talent HR was simply doing not thinking. So much has been written and discussed in recent years about motivation and phrases such as rewards and remuneration, employee engagement, the war for talent, employer of choice attracting and retaining the best, employer branding and talent management appear frequently in the press. These issues have been extensively researched and written about, for example, Ashridge research4 in the early 1990s on talent management and towards the end of the decade McKinseys5 report, which first coined the phrase war for talent. These studies both argue for the need to make talent management more organised and more strategic. Why then are so many organisations apparently missing a trick when it comes to how to motivate managers? Organisations certainly need to pay more attention to motivation. We know a good deal about what motivates and demotivates staff and it is interesting to reflect on the comments by one manager who describes his approach to staff is to be human and not a machine manager. Is it perhaps that appraisals and performance reviews are mostly administered by HR and may seem mechanistic and remote? Does the senior team take enough responsibility to personally motivate staff? It is interesting to observe the impact of a new chief executive or senior manager who arrives with energy and interest in good old-fashioned principles of how to motivate staff and find ways
2 www.investorsinpeople.co.uk/MEDIARESEARCH/MEDIA/Pages/PressReleaseDetail.aspx? PRID=47 accessed July 2009 3 Talent Management: Maximising Talent for Business Performance, by Eddie Blass, 2007, Chartered Management Institute and Ashridge Consulting 4 Managing Talent: Making the Best of the Best by Philip Sadler, 1993, Pitman Publishing 5 The war for Talent by Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones and Beth Axelrod.
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to be sure they have their finger on the pulse of the business, and what it is that will improve motivation levels. Invariably this creates a buzz of interest and energy everywhere. A more negative environment is summed up by two respondents, I see that some managers dont listen, dont value what people say in that they dismiss it out of hand people do talk to me about these attitudes there is a lack of true consultation from top leadership, although this is expected further down the line. Decisions are made by top management but without reference to those managers like me who will be directly involved. Another issue may be the impact of talent management initiatives. While such schemes undoubtedly add value to the business they may inadvertently create an exclusion zone, and that those who are not on the fast-track may feel excluded and as a result feel less valued and less engaged. It is also worth considering inconsistencies for example between values publicly stated and what staff actually experience, although my organisation says it wants innovation, creativity and to empower staff to manage it is not letting them do so we ignore high levels of sickness absence; we do not address poor levels of performance or lack of customer service particularly with regard to internal customer service. Another manager describes a negative management style where, individuals flaunt their authority and talk down to/demoralise people. There is also a lack of fairness in dealing with people different strokes for different folks. More than money: What then should employers do in order to attract and retain key staff? Motivation is vital for business success and yet, as our survey indicates, it is invariably a tough challenge to get it right. Recognising and rewarding staff needs to take account of both financial and the intrinsic, non-financial rewards. In this survey managers emphasise how important non-financial aspects can be. My organisation would achieve much more if it offered more non-cash benefits more holidays, flexible working, etc. Another manager highlights an environment where so-called bonuses are actually for relatively small amounts of money and this therefore contributes to a negative, demotivated atmosphere. Company culture, the calibre of the leadership team, the relationship with the boss, the level of support provided to managers and whether the management style is one where thank you or thankless prevails, are all issues likely to impact on motivation. There may also be a certain amount of lethargy among employers with too much reliance placed on annual or six monthly appraisal process. Motivation needs to be a continual, rather than just a yearly, process. Certain
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incentives introduced no doubt with the best of intentions can also backfire, we use an employee of the month scheme. This means that only one person can be good no matter how many have done great things! Some managers in the survey describe an environment where the individual is expected to take responsibility for their own motivation virtually a DIY, do-it-yourself, approach. Such a laissez-faire approach is dangerous, and talented staff may be more easily attracted by organisations which take motivation more seriously and offer more transparent structures to help with career development opportunities. A headline for recruitment at one major employer is, we take your career as seriously as you do and this may seem more attractive compared to an employer with little interest in such issues. Organisations with a clear strategy and vision for motivation, talent management and employee engagement are in our view more likely to be successful. The wide-ranging review of current practice by MacCleod and Clarke1 quotes evidence from retailers Boots in the Great Place to Work survey indicated that shops with the highest engagement scores (72 per cent against 67 per cent) had lower absence rates, lower turnover and a higher profit contribution. In the rest of this report Sections 2 and 3 provide more details about the themes of the survey noted above. Section 4 offers our conclusion and some recommendations. Appendix 1 features four brief company interviews including Halcrow, and a profile of the survey respondents is shown in Appendix 2.
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Section 2: How Organisations Motivate Managers

During the earlier research we listed a number of key motivators and asked respondents (c1400) to rank each of these in relation to importance to themselves and also with regard to how their organisation viewed them as motivators for employees. The following table highlights the major responses: Table 1: The 7 Key Factors for Motivation and Engagement
What Managers Want Ranking 1 29% 2 11% 3 10% 4 7% 5 7% 6 6% 7 5% What Organisations Rely On Ranking 2 14% 5 8% 6 7% 15 3% 8 4% 14 3% 1 18%
Challenging/interesting work Opportunity to continually learn and develop skills and knowledge A high basic salary Having the authority to run my own show Clear career advancement within the organisation Knowing my decisions have an impact on the organisation Performance related pay/incentive schemes
It is interesting to note the discrepancies between what managers want and what they believe their organisations rely on. This disconnect is one of the reasons we decided to explore this area in further depth. It was of particular interest to us that while performance related pay and incentive schemes had some motivating effect on individuals, the majority believe that their organisation over relied on these as key motivators when the basic salary was more important to individuals (especially if it was felt to be a fair one). However, that said both individuals and organisations seemed to recognise the importance of providing challenging and interesting work. Yet as noted earlier, many organisations do not get it right when it comes to motivating their managers. Why? A good starting place perhaps is to consider what managers say demotivates them. There are few surprises in the responses (shown in the box below) to this question. Not being valued, and not being given feedback are definite turn-offs. The quality of leadership also makes a difference. An organisation with a poor leadership team is likely to be one with low staff morale such as the situation described where acknowledgement
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of work is only being given to top managers. There is also a feeling among some working in the public sector that more detailed finetuning is required in order to get motivation right as one person said, Id like an admission that trying to motivate people in public service by copying fads from big business in the 90s hasnt worked. What does your organisation do to demotivate you? Poor management/leadership, slow decision making, risk aversion at the top risk averse and will always err on side of caution, going back on decisions, lack of leadership from immediate manager Poor top managers and leaders too many people who lack the skills to be top managers and leaders, who avoid positive feedback in these litigious times Not valued, lack of feedback lack of acknowledgement/acknowledgement of wrong people, not valuing what we do, not given feedback often.
So what needs to happen in order to create the right climate for employee engagement? The quotes below indicate just how important communication is and the need to empower individuals. What does your organisation do to motivate you? Autonomy, empowerment, trust and freedom trust being shown in me to deliver important outcomes, freedom to create Shares the vision, values and beliefs; engaged clear communicated picture of expectations of our division, clear values which are shared Involved, consulted and values my opinions values my contributions, informs me and involves me, I can suggest changes and be listened to Pay and rewards acceptable level of reward, salary (obviously!), a reasonable financial package, an OK salary.
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Mind the Gap:
Engaging staff in the vision of where the business is going and valuing their opinion are key aspects of motivation. However, one factor which may be relevant with regard to pay is about fairness, or rather lack of fairness, in the widening gap between senior salaries compared with average salaries. The data shown below highlights some substantial differences. (Other sectors as well as financial could be used to illustrate this e.g. the media coverage over the 50m payout to Wendelin Wiedeking at Porsche.) In recent years there is also evidence of a widening gap between the top and average salaries in the UK public sector6. Figure 4: Comparing Senior and Average Salaries in the Finance Sector
Source: Critics Round on RBS Chiefs Deal: Stephen Hesters 10m package puts pay back in spotlight by Philip Aldrick, Daily Telegraph 23.06.09
Employer:
RBS, Royal Bank of Scotland Stephen Hester 1.2m 2.4m (2 times salary), all in subordinated debt or shares 6.4m (as above) at target share price of 70p 18,979 (for lower paid staff) www.rbs.com/m edia.news/pressreleases/2009 Downloaded 9.07.09
HSBC
Barclays
Lloyds Banking Group
CEO: Base Salary: Maximum Bonus:
Michael Geoghegan 1.07m 4.28m (4 times salary), 40pc in shares deferred for three years 7.48m in share awards
John Varley 1.1m 2.69m (2 times salary), 25pc in shares 5.8m at 270p share price (2.154m share awards) 16,500 (for general Barclays employee) Amicus 15 October 2007
Eric Daniels 1.035m 2.33m (2 times salary)
Maximum long-term incentives: Average Salary: Additional sources (for average salary):
2.07m (2 times salary)
24,156 (for branch manager) www.glassdoor.com Downloaded 9.07.09
20-22K (for technical support specialist) www.glassdoor.com Downloaded 9.07.09
6 Salary Council Chiefs face Sack, say the Tories by Michael Savage, The Independent, 3.08.09. Power and Pay: Public Sector Chief Executives Catch Up by Peter Edwards and Heidi Blake, The Yorkshire Post, 16.06.09 www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/power-andpay/Power-and-pay-Public-sector.5368856.jp accessed August 2009. End Public Pay Excess, say Tories, article on BBC Website, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7984608.stm reported 6.04.09, accessed August 2009.
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How much does this wide gap between senior and average salaries matter? It is the issue of fairness which perhaps is at the heart of the problem. Its tough for staff to appreciate the value of such high pay if they are receiving relatively low levels of pay. The current climate of cut-backs and down-sizing, of 0.5 per cent pay offers, no pay increases, redundancies, or invitations to accept salary sacrifices and/or secondments may serve to accentuate what some might see as a one-sided relationship. The wider the reward gap, the harder it is likely to be for organisations to build and maintain employee engagement. Another aspect of fairness mentioned by survey respondents was bonuses generally and the small amounts paid as bonuses, we should receive proper bonuses rather than the tiny amounts that we get the organisation needs to link bonus payments better to performance and increase the transparency. Asked what else their organisation could do to motivate them (see box below), a number of managers highlight pay alongside issues such as the need to be appreciated, to be involved in decision-making and for the top team to really engage with others. As one manager commented, at an individual level, we seem to be rather too arrogant in thinking we "know what motivates people" and standardising our response, instead of just asking them! What else could your organisation do to motivate you? More recognition, thanks, encouragement and feedback. some kind of formal recognition would be good, better recognition of good work, wider recognition of success, say thank you occasionally Improved communications, more visibility of top team, contact, talk more, be more open better communications and a couple of thank you comments occasionally More money performance related pay for some, pay more, salary increases linked to performance
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Some organisations do celebrate success well. Danone, winner of the Best UK Workplace programme7, illustrates this. A three day visit to Morocco was recently given to thank staff for reaching their sales targets, and everyone in the UK operation (around 100 people), managers and support staff, took off for the trip. The two staff who remained at base to answer the phones were not administrators or support staff but the senior managers. Google also has a well-known, positive approach to motivation: the goal is to strip away everything that gets in our employees way. We provide a standard package of fringe benefits, but on top of that are first-class dining facilities, gyms, laundry rooms, massage rooms, haircuts, carwashes, dry cleaning, commuting buses just about anything a hardworking employee might want. Lets face it: programmers want to program, they dont want to do their laundry. So we make it easy for them to do both. Eric Schmidt, CEO Google8. Danone and Google may be regarded by some as exceptional, but the basic principle that both examples illustrate is the need to provide tangible and/or innovative perks, benefits and rewards which clearly demonstrate to staff that they are appreciated and valued. The comment from one respondent neatly sums up what needs to happen, my organisation needs to talk more, pay more, show more love. Motivating Senior Managers and Other Groups Targeting key staff groups is something that a number of employers have done with regard to motivation initiatives although traditionally the focus often is on graduates or high-fliers. PriceWaterhouseCoopers launched a diversity programme, Impact Scholars, in 2008 for African-American high school leavers to assist them gain admission to some of the best colleges in the New York and Washington areas of North America9. Ernst & Young together with Ashridge has since 2006 focused on senior staff with a New Frontiers programme10. This initiative for senior partners helps them re-vitalise their contribution (and also their motivation levels) to the company. BASF in Germany has also looked at similar age groups, with a number of initiatives aimed at retaining older workers especially key skill groups such as engineers and scientists11. Another major German
UKs Best Workplaces, May 2009. www.greatplacetowork.co.uk www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=benefits.html accessed July 2009 9 Reported on www.csrwire.com/press/press_release/27138-PricewaterhouseCoopersCongratulates-Inaugural-Impact-Program-Scholars- accessed July 2009 10 Read more in New Frontiers for Ernst & Young, by Delma OBrien. Converse, Issue 6, 2009. http://www.ashridge.org.uk/Website/IC.nsf/wFARPUB/New+frontiers+for+Ernst+&+Yo ung?opendocument 11 Keeping your Senior Staffers: Hit by a shortage of engineers, BASF found a way to retain older workers by Mina Kimes. Fortune, 20.07.09
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employer has focused on ways to attract and retain younger, Generation Y, staff (those born between 1980 to 2000). Rainer Jensen, Director of Learning and Development at Coca Cola Germany says that more than ever, management needs to adopt a mentoring and coaching role we will have to either create a different work reality or face a severe lack of attractiveness as an employer and a hole in our talent pipeline in the near future.12 However, it also is interesting to reflect upon another staff group, namely senior level managers. What is motivation like for them and is there a danger that their motivation levels are taken for granted by employers? As one respondent to our survey explains, When I sat down and tried to think about what happens here in terms of motivation I came up with a very short list pay, of course, and the fact that I work in the voluntary sector and my organisation is aiming to make a difference in areas that are also important to me. We are also supported with regard to training and development. But I thought hard about whether there are other things that I could put on the list but didnt come up with anything else. There may be a danger that employers target motivation efforts at new recruits and neglect other key groups of staff. The comments below from one senior manager in our survey are interesting in highlighting what helps and hinders their motivation. It seems likely that these issues could be relevant for other senior individuals. The fact that its quite a long list is also worth noting. The list also includes more demotivators than motivators which indicate the complexity of employee engagement. Office space and the working environment for example are included as negative issues and though these seem relatively minor issues compared to say promotion opportunities, they can quickly escalate to be significant problems.
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GenerationY: Talent Management by Rainer Jensen, EFMD Global Focus, Vol 3 issue 2 2009
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What Motivates and Demotivates (an example from a senior manager in one organisation) Motivators Celebrating success this might be in the team/the department or company-wide, e.g. Googles notice board (a central system/notice board where colleagues can nominate others who they think have done something noteworthy) Praise and recognition from my line manager A reasonable/fair salary Learning and development opportunities Work that is recognised and valued by the organisation Demotivators Work Environment Open plan offices staff here feel that they, and their work, are not valued by the organisation. This is especially true for staff that previously had their own office but lost these when we moved to new offices Immediate Manager Lack of clear direction theres nothing worse than asking my boss for clear direction and getting a load of faff and nonsense Micro management when my boss interferes in what Im doing. It makes it seem that he doesnt have confidence in me Intellectual property theft I put forward an idea to my boss and get a muted response but then hear it put forward at a meeting by my boss as their idea! Faint praise my boss received a really nice e-mail about me but instead of coming across the office (were in open plan offices) to tell me and to congratulate me, he simply forwarded it to me as an e-mail. It seemed like a mechanical process Performance Management Tolerating poor performers we havent in the past managed poor performers well; the company is too nice.
Research by Watson Wyatt13 asked around 170 employers, and more than 5,500 employees (in different organisations throughout Europe) about various aspects of rewards and retention. Their evidence supports the Ashridge findings that pay is only a part of the package and that other issues are important. The study also demonstrates the fact that employers and employees may have different views on motivation. Asked why staff are most likely to leave, employers appear to believe that limited career and promotion opportunities are the key issues as noted below but not stress levels apparently. (Stress was mentioned by less than a fifth of employers and so is not
Global Strategic Rewards: Playing to Win in a Global Economy, 2007/2008 http://www.watsonwyatt.com/research/resrender.asp?id=2007-US-0164&page=1 accessed July 2009
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one of their Top 5 issues.) Employees see things differently and cite stress levels as the key reason for leaving, followed by issues concerning levels of base pay. Among top-performing staff the factors are the same but in reverse order - number 1. base pay and number 2. stress levels. Although not matched samples (i.e. the employees surveyed are working for different employers), the message is clear some employers may not be listening carefully enough to what motivates (or demotivates) their employees. Table 2: Top 5 Reasons Why Staff are Likely to Leave Organisations Source: Watson Wyatt, Global Strategic Rewards: Playing to Win in a Global Economy, 2007/2008 European Findings.
Employers % 49 career development opportunities (lack of) 48 promotion opportunities (lack of) 43 base pay (dissatisfaction with) 31 relationship with manager 28 work/life balance All Employees % 35 stress levels 34 base pay 27 promotion opportunities 25 career development opportunities 20 work/life balance Top-performing Employees % 39 base pay 37 stress levels 27 promotion opportunities 20 career development opportunities 19 work/life balance
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Section 3: How Managers Motivate their Staff

The majority, three quarters, of managers we surveyed say that they find it easy to motivate their staff and some of the reasons given are illustrated below. Being valued, having clear goals, being trusted and empowered; familiar issues on the list of what managers say motivates them personally. It is hardly surprising to find that they use the same approaches when thinking about how best to motivate their staff. One company interview, Motivation, the multinational view, in Appendix 1 illustrates the differing philosophy between the manager who strongly believes in using a people approach with his staff and the company approach where a financial model dominates to the exclusion of people issues.
Question How easy is it to motivate the staff that report to you? Response and Reasons Agree 75% Involving, consulting, valuing opinions, shares the vision, gives clear goals, autonomy, trust, freedom Disagree 25% Negative environment in the organisation, Yes....you need to involve, consult, BUT I cant do it.
But a significant number of managers a quarter of our sample group say it is tough to motivate staff. In some cases this is because of a poor working environment around them but others may find the skills hard to learn. A number of organisations offer training to managers (the National School of Government launched a training initiative in 2008 focused on employee engagement) in giving feedback but perhaps more needs to be done to focus on key aspects of motivation and training that help managers adopt a coaching style. One of the toughest situations can be inheriting a demotivated team, whatever the history, whatever the reasons for the situation; the new manager has an unenviable task. The team leader faces serious people and engagement issues and at the same time they are expected to meet business targets. The company report, Motivation, the senior managers view, in Appendix 1 outlines the story of how one manager dealt with this challenge and managed to turn-around an under-performing team.
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Those managers (11 per cent of our total sample) who strongly agree14 it is easy to motivate staff emphasise some of the basic rules that every good leader knows almost off by heart. As outlined in the quotes below the need for simple, yet clear, guidelines are key for successful motivation: A management coaching style that helps staff learn, develop and most importantly to experiment A management attitude that respects staff and provides support to help staff grow. It is a supportive relationship working for a boss who has the time and skills to mentor/coach others A structure which clearly links the work to the overall departmental or company objectives No man or woman is an island. A good team ethos is valued, where everyone shares the highs and lows of the task in hand. A team that reviews performance together is likely to be one that achieves their targets and objectives. There is little evidence of an individual competitive model. Figure 5: Approaches used by Managers who Find it Easy to Motivate Staff (11 per cent of our sample group)
I coach them Give them freedom to organise their own work Let them use their own initiative I support my direct reports to learn and develop through making their own decisions and mistakes Always ensuring they receive the praise for an idea, not me or someone higher up the organisation We have a joint process of motivation, reviewing performance together They share my vision for the organisation Tasks in our department link to the strategy Am open, honest, encouraging and supportive Make my staff feel they are valued
I trust them and delegate to the maximum We respect each other
I am approachable and people feel they can come to me as necessary I involve them in decisions and strategy and they are keen to do well We have an excellent team spirit
Listen and take note of staff ideas
We support and challenge each other well
Respondents could either strongly agree, agree, disagree or strongly disagree in response to the question it is easy to motivate the staff that report to me.
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The qualities of managers who excel in terms of motivation can be used as a practical template. For individual managers, if you are managing a team, or are a team member, a tick-box approach may help. If you only tick one or two boxes in the grid shown above then you probably have low morale levels and problems engaging staff. So what do our findings mean for organisations and for managers? One interesting area to explore is the qualities that distinguish the manager who motivates staff from someone who is not able to achieve this. The following list highlights what we believe are some qualities for the ideal manager and can be used by individual managers or more formally in conjunction with HR professionals. Are you a Model Manager? Do you Survey quotes Give prompt feedback to staff (about both More praise and recognition would help; good and poor performance)? more honest communication of any doubts and anxieties, as opposed to stirring and whispering about people when they are not around Do you Or is it an environment where, Celebrate success with the team and with My current boss does not motivate me and others in the organisation? manages by fear. Excellent work is never acknowledged and negative feedback is the norm Do you My boss as well as the people in my direct Behave fairly, treating everyone fairly and working environment appreciate my work and honestly both in terms of pay and rewards value my opinion and with regard to day to day issues? Is everyone treated with respect? Do you My boss and my employer need to be clearer Spend time creating a good working with me that I am valued rather than relationship with your team? Do you know exploited as Im poorly paid to work excessiv e what motivates them? Do you give everyone hours a chance to take on more challenging work and also provide enough support so that they I have the right boss who is supportive, wont fail? challenging and a good communicator Id like more direction from my line manager to stretch me a bit more than Im stretching myself at present Theres always time when we discuss new projects to see what people would like to do what will give them a buzz I share much more information with them [the team] than my predecessor which is greatly appreciated. I always ask for their opinion and involve them in the decisionmaking process Nobody should accept that their management role is just focussed on financials or if they are then they shouldnt manage people I operate in Europe and my colleagues
Do you Take time to discuss motivation in business and project meetings? Do you Communicate clearly and regularly to the best effect? Do you check that all of your staff understand the messages? Do you discuss as a team general housekeeping rules and routes for efficient communication? Do you Create an environment which includes both financial and non-financial incentives to motivate staff? Do you
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Are you a Model Manager? Actively champion your team (and the work (staff) provide cover when Im away. With that is done) to others in the organisation? that I ensure if the business visit is in Europe that they attend in my absence which attracts criticism from other areas who see it as a benefit/perk when actually it is a business need I allow staff to take responsibility and always ensure they receive praise for the idea not me or someone higher up the organisation My team were also motivated by having personal confidence in me as their leader and seeing other senior staff have confidence in me: they felt I was a good ambassador for their work Do you Provide learning and development opportunities for staff? Do you look at ways to help with their career development? The company has focused on the development of its people and on leadership skills providing learning opportunities I value I have almost limitless career opportunities not necessarily upwards but across businesses/functions to get wide and varied experience Everyone in my team has a leadership role in an important policy or business area.
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Section 4: Conclusion and Recommendations

In tough economic times such as the current down-turn the quality and commitment of staff becomes even more important. Success is more likely to follow if you attract, and keep, high calibre staff who feel valued and appreciated. Finding ways to demonstrate the importance of motivation, and looking at a variety of ways to communicate this across the business are tangible ways to show staff how much they are appreciated and valued. We believe the following attributes are important for success: Processes and policies Formal systems to manage motivation and employee engagement. As noted earlier, a number of managers report that the organisational approach appears to consist of doing little in this regard, and as one person said currently the organisation is doing very little in terms of motivating staf f. Another person commented, most of what my organisation does to motivate is indirect e.g. excellent training offer, good pension. Finding different ways to create a good relationship between employer and employee invariably includes a good approach to communications. An IRS survey which looked at employee engagement indicates that various aspects of communications are the most important among employers which report a positive environment with their staff15. Top level support A commitment, and clear indicators, from leaders to take a personal role in motivation. MacCleod and Clarkes report concludes that generally there is limited awareness at senior levels about the power of employee engagement. As noted earlier, one of their recommendations to Government is the need for a national awareness campaign (which will be led by the Secretary of State and supported by business leaders). Creative reward systems Clarify and continually review rewards and benefits financial and non-financial available to staff. Are these reviewed regularly? What about experimenting with a cafeteria-style package? What about flexible working and work/life balance initiatives? The dangers of relying too much on financial incentives are illustrated in the company interview, The Multinational View (High Technology Sector) in Appendix 1. Interviews with the Bank of England and retailers John Lewis (featured in earlier Ashridge research) highlight a variety of key issues for motivating staff. See pages 31-35 in the Ashridge Management Index, 2008, URL link below,
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It Pays to Talk: Gauging the employment relationship by Charlotte Wolff, IRS Employment Review No. 811, 12.11.04
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www.ashridge.org.uk/Website/IC.nsf/wFARATT/Ashridge%20M anagement%20Index%202008:%20Meeting%20the%20Chall enges%20of%20the%2021st%20Century/$file/MeetingTheCha llengesOfThe21stCentury.pdf Consider introducing schemes, or reviews, for staff at key career stages; say those in their first management role, parents with young families, those with technical roles, after two years, five years of service, etc., and look at ways to improve motivation for each group. Asking staff generally about these issues is also important. Centrica, owner of British Gas, has some 30,000 staff and regularly runs focus groups and pulse surveys to explore employee engagement issues - described as Say, Stay, Strive issues. See details in the 2009 People Plan
www.centrica.co.uk/files/pdf/.../centrica_people_plan.pdf
accessed July 2009 Learning and development State of the art learning opportunities and career development support help send a message that staff are valued. Halcrow Group has two mentoring programmes to help staff develop project and technical skills. Mentors are senior managers within the business and both schemes have helped exchange expert knowledge and improve skill levels across the business. (See Halcrow company report, A View from Engineering Consultancy in Appendix 1.) Halcrow also provides opportunities for all staff, we have great training schemes for people at all stages in their career. The average number of years of service at retirement is 27 years and we believe that one of the basic reasons that our employee turnover is so low (less than 5 per cent per year) is that we help people grow in their personal capabilities on an ongoing basis, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman, talking about Nestl. Support for line managers The manager plays an important role in motivation, a point highlighted in research by Nitin Nohria et al (reference details shown below16). Look at ways to trade expertise about motivation across the organisation e.g. set up a knowledge exchange between star motivational managers and others who perhaps are taking on their first management appointment or have recently been appointed to a more complex role or work with larger groups of staff. Consider ways to assist managers who inherit (or manage) a demotivated team, appendix 1, The Senior Managers View illustrates the difficulties of re-energizing such a team. Metrics Measure motivation and employee engagement levels; see the example below at Dow Chemical. One test is turnover
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Employee Motivation: A Powerful New Model by Nitin Nohria, Boris Groysberg and Linda-Eling Lee, Harvard Business Review, July-August 2008
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rates at a major retailer with a significant focus on employee engagement staff turnover is 20 per cent, half the sector average. The number of those returning from maternity leave is another measure. Some companies, such as Accenture, manage to achieve a return rate close to 100 per cent. Another simple metric is the percentages who respond to staff opinion surveys the higher the response rate, the more likelihood that employees feel interested and involved in the organisation. Sainsbury for example achieve a high response rate 80 per cent for the 2008 staff survey. The potential of rewards and recognition to contribute to employee engagement has been tracked in some organisations. Sarah Dickins, retail people director at Asda spoke recently about the companys high retention levels, this is because of the way we run our business and reward our staff; and she highlights the share scheme which paid 43m to 16,500 staff in 2009 which has helped reduce turnover to below 20 per cent (compared to an average elsewhere of around 30 per cent)17. More personal forms of recognition are used at Dow Chemical. The business has introduced an on-line, e-rewards recognition programme which is used by staff to nominate colleagues who have made a contribution over and above what might normally be expected. A high percentage, around 80 per cent, of the 200,000 nominations received each year win awards. As a result staff engagement levels have risen dramatically, increasing from a relatively low base of less than 65 per cent to 85 per cent18.
Recommendations
Our recommendations, based on our research, are for HR directors and senior managers to consider the following questions to determine how well their organisation is doing with regard to motivation. The list below also draws upon our research findings and the Gallup 12 questions19 published at the end of the 1990s. The areas identified may also be helpful to individual managers or teams who would like to review their own area of the business. There are ten areas that we believe are worth reviewing, and where appropriate, improving. You might be able to add a few more but these are the ones which will help your organisation be more effective.
Asda Share Scheme Aids Retention, Personnel Today, 9 June 2009. Reported in The People Management Guide to the Reward and Benefits Market, January 2008. 19 First, Break all the Rules, What the Worlds Greatest Managers do Differently by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, 1999, Simon & Schuster.
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Ten key areas for Measuring Motivation Communication Management style Motivation Work relationships Performance Management Praise and recognition Teamwork Learning and development Work environment Career development
Thinking about your organisation consider the following statements: Score on a scale of 1 (Agree) to 5 (Disagree) 1 2 3 4 5 Communication Managers are offered regular training about effective communication Staff opinions at all levels of the organisation are regularly surveyed Communication is a two-way dialogue between the organisation and staff Praise and recognition The culture is one of praise and recognition Success is celebrated regularly e.g. within teams, for individual achievers and other staff groups The statement our people are our greatest asset is a key value Staff feel fairly rewarded for the work they do Senior managers actively take a personal role in employee engagement and motivation Management style Managers are given autonomy to run their own show Managers behave with integrity Managers treat staff fairly Managers give prompt feedback to staff (about both good and poor performance) Managers are expected to cooperate with other departments/business areas Managers encourage a culture of respect and trust Teamwork Creating good working relationships in each team is important
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Score on a scale of 1 (Agree) to 5 (Disagree) 1 2 3 4 5 Managers act as good ambassadors and champion their teams within the organisation Motivation There is clear ownership at senior levels for motivation and employee engagement Leaders in our organisation understand what motivates and engages staff Managers take time to discuss motivation in business meetings A range of both financial and non-financial incentives are available to motivate staff Staff feel that their work is valued and recognised by the organisation Learning and development A learning and development culture exists which encourages staff to develop Staff at all levels have opportunities to learn and grow Managers give staff opportunities to take on more challenging work and provide them with support to do this Work relationships Managers have good working relationships with their staff and colleagues Managers are encouraged to develop their relationship management skills Work environment Staff have the necessary resources to do their job effectively Staff are encouraged to contribute ideas that will make the organisation more effective Efforts are made to recognise and tackle the issue of work-related stress Importance is attached to work-life balance Performance management All staff understand what is expected of them and have clear objectives Poor performance is managed well Managers receive regular feedback about motivation levels in their team Career development All staff have regular career development discussions
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Score on a scale of 1 (Agree) to 5 (Disagree) 1 2 3 4 5 Significant support and advice is available to help staff with career development Promotion processes are fair and transparent Career development and talent management are closely linked to business strategy
Examine your scores Scores of 1 and 2 are areas of strength in relation to engagement and motivation in your organisation and should be built upon Scores of 3 indicate areas for further development Scores of 4 and 5 are areas of weakness and therefore need urgent attention.
Organisations that take employee engagement and motivation seriously should be scoring mostly 1s and 2s. A profile where there are significant numbers of 4s and 5s is cause for concern! When you have finished this first process an overview of the current environment you might wish to use the list again to consider your ideal state. This then will provide the key areas where you should focus your efforts. An alternative approach is to use this checklist across a number of different business areas.
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Appendix 1: Company Interviews

Company Interviews include: A View from Engineering Consultancy Halcrow Group The Multinational View (High Technology Sector) - the manager, the employer and motivation The Senior Managers View (Voluntary Sector) re-creating motivation in a team A View from the Leisure Sector recruiting motivated staff Earlier company interviews on motivation conducted by Ashridge at John Lewis and the Bank of England can be found at www.ashridge.org.uk/Website/IC.nsf/wFARATT/Ashridge%20Manage ment%20Index%202008:%20Meeting%20the%20Challenges%20of %20the%2021st%20Century/$file/MeetingTheChallengesOfThe21stC entury.pdf see pages 31-35 of the report.
1. Motivation A View from Engineering Consultancy Halcrow Group
John Martin is Technical and Innovation Director at Halcrow Group, a major engineering consultancy business. Based in the UK the group has grown rapidly over the past decade and now employs over 8,000 staff, 2,200 are based in offices across the UK and others are spread across the globe in 70 offices including China, Latin America and India. The company is involved in a wide variety of projects including the flood barrier for St. Petersburg and the Man Made river irrigation project in Libya. Work is fast paced and whether the contract is large or small, tight deadlines and total precision are crucial. It can be pressurised, but it can also offer opportunities for exciting, leading edge work. John says that the company has always taken motivation seriously and that the variety and challenge of their work has helped considerably with this, even though Halcrow has grown significantly over the past few years we have managed to keep our people focus. We do care about everyone who works with us and a lot of people have stayed with us over the years as they enjoy working here; we are also at the leading edge of technical and engineering knowledge and that has a big impact on motivation. Being involved in a major project can be really inspiring for the teams who experience every part of project design from ideas, and scoping the initial designs through technical complications, to completion and operation. Staff turnover levels are relatively low, typically around 12 per cent, though the figure is somewhat higher with regard to graduates. The company has in recent years looked at what could be done to improve the situation. New graduates are given assistance to gain their professional qualifications in areas such as civil engineering. This type of support is available in other professional firms but Halcrow
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has also introduced other initiatives such as a foundation skill group, to be started in late 2009. Another approach is an induction programme which aims to bring together new recruits around the world for a three day project (around 200 graduates join the company each year). This is traditionally held in Swindon and a programme of activities to facilitate networking between the graduates and help to raise awareness of the business. The challenge event this year is to launch a rocket and see who can send it the highest, leads to real competition between teams. A key aim is to create a shared experience for recruits at the start of their career and provide a cohesive international network or alumni that they can refer to in future. Two mentoring schemes Project Excellence and Technical Excellence which are briefly described below have also been launched and are proving successful. Staff who are mentored feel that the company is investing in them and so they feel valued. The company also sees a return as both schemes have already helped to improve skill levels. 1. Project Excellence was introduced back in 2002 and sets out to improve skills of project managers. Mentors are appointed to help the protgs think about their skills and in particular identify where improvement is needed e.g. commercial skills and delighting clients and delivering solutions. Currently there are 957 protgs with 365 mentors. 2. Technical Excellence, is designed to offer support to technical staff. The competences in four key areas are reviewed. Having established which skills need to be developed, an action plan will be agreed and this may involve: Training programmes either in-house or via external providers Specialist tutoring usually expertise provided by another member of staff Self-study Work shadowing or on-the-job training and experience John, who is a company sponsor for the initiative and acts as one of the mentors for the Technical Excellence programme, says it is proving to be very popular, staff want to progress and we want to help them to do this. Currently there are in excess of 100 mentors and protgs. Training is given by the learning department on mentoring / coaching skills before they are introduced to the scheme. The key focus for the mentors is passing on their knowledge as part of our talent development and succession planning programmes. The mentors are volunteers who want to share their knowledge and to help generate the behaviours that will assist staff in the development of their careers. A future idea is to link to competency assessment. In some cases mentoring is arranged on a one-to-one basis, sometimes on one to several. What about motivation and the younger generation, Generation Y, do they have different needs? There some similarities, for instance the fact that everyone identifies with the company values such as respect
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for others, (see box below). One difference John observes among some graduates joining Halcrow is a level of impatience in wanting too much, too soon.
Halcrows Company Values Act with integrity Be open and honest Respect the dignity of others Share knowledge freely
We can find new graduates who think that they can become project managers within a matter of months from when they are recruited. We like ambition but of course project management is a responsible role and it takes a long time to develop staff capable of doing this type of complex job well. We are managing big projects such as designing and building a new bridge, often involving a budget of thousands/ millions of pounds. Unrealistic expectations can exist but is something that can be managed. We split our projects into packages creating a scaled down project management role that gives staff the opportunity to gain the experience they need in a safe and supported environment. The role of the project manager (a key job at Halcrow) also makes a difference in terms of motivating staff. John says that the outstanding managers are those who have good people skills; they understand the value of talking to graduates and the need to do things together with them, involving them for instance in some new, developmental areas of work that they will find interesting. Does Halcrow do enough with regard to motivation? John says the answer is probably not, as we can always do better. For example we are developing a more joined up approach to the performance review process. A good deal has been written about creating a great place to work and whether companies simply pay lip service to this ideal. Halcrow is different as it really is committed to making the company somewhere special and not only for graduates. As Chief Executive Peter Gammie explains, I believe we have great training schemes for people at all stages in their career. If only every company could say the same! What Halcrow offers Structured career opportunities and an emphasis on homegrown talent. The chief executives career is an example of this, as he joined the company over 20 years ago Mentoring schemes Technical Excellence and Project Excellence for project managers and technical staff Flexitime working
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A reward and recognition scheme which celebrates staff achievements with certificates and a small financial reward Support to assist with work-life balance. Halcrow recently won an award from Working Families www.workingfamilies.org.uk A Choices benefit scheme including healthcare cover, childcare vouchers and the opportunity to buy up to 6 extra days holiday each year A strong culture of learning and development which starts at the top of the organisation. John says that as a leadership team were committed to developing ourselves, and one recent event focussed on coaching and mentoring styles. Various in-house and external training programmes are available along with support to help graduates gain professional qualifications e.g. ICE, IEE, IMechE, CIWEM and IStructE Competitive salaries A profit-sharing scheme up to 49 per cent of shares can be owned by staff An internal jobs market with opportunities to work overseas staff recruited in Poland can apply for posts in other countries and likewise UK recruits might spend time working in India, the USA or elsewhere.
2. Motivation: The Multinational View (High Technology Sector) The manager, the employer and motivation
Yves Kohl (not his real name) works for a high technology multinational and has been with the company for ten years, most recently as Country Manager in middle Europe. He has a team of 50 people currently, although staff numbers have reduced dramatically over the past year. The current environment (Summer 09) he says is challenging, not least because the technology sector is one of rapid change. The current tough economy is also relevant, it was a competitive market we were in before the recession but now this is even more the case. Significant changes are just ahead such as a planned merger later this year with another company. What the manager does Motivation is often harder to maintain in tough times like these. However, Yves is clear that motivation is, one of the most important things for any company; especially one like this. Were in the service business and theres no doubt that you make your money by your people and so they have to be motivated. His own philosophy for motivation is what he describes as a personal approach. Its important he says to do the following things: Provide work that is worth doing well, to create a feeling that staff are doing something that is very important for the company; they need to feel they are creating value Communicate effectively; find ways of involving staff especially with regard to information. I try to ensure they know as much as possible. This way they feel engaged and will know that their role counts. Even if this is not the prevailing culture of the organisation Yves says it is something that every manager needs to do if they want to motivate their staff
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Act as a role model and show the good behaviour that they want from their people in the way that they behave. If Im motivated then this has a big impact on my team Find non-financial goals for the team, every team needs a goal beyond financial targets, what counts is having a focus. For example in my team its about bringing good, high quality work to the customers. Something which in turn gives staff pride in the work that they do Provide feedback, you tell someone immediately if things are good praise them, compliment them but also you must approach someone if there are problems. In the case of underperformance its important to tell them that this is not the expected result. I give people the possibility to talk about the issues and together we will look at how to improve the situation. There are not solutions in every case. If things dont improve, in spite of lots of help and support from me or from others in the team then maybe its better for the person to move on somewhere else to another job that fits them better Close, constant attention is another principle, and this is especially true he believes with regard to managing technical staff. We have a lot of clever technical people working for us and they have a reputation of being difficult to manage. However, in my experience I think that you have to appraise them and manage them on a constant basis, and not allow demotivation to happen. What the organisation does This personal approach that Yves uses to motivate his country team does not reflect the company approach in the way that it deals with employees. Instead the preference he says applied across every country which the multinational operates in is a financial one. Yves says that this pervades the organisation and over the past few years he can see the negative impact it has on motivation and morale, you can feel it everywhere in the company; that nothing else apart from the finances are seen to matter. This is not to say that targets and the business financial objectives are not critical, and as he explains obviously you have to get these right otherwise there will be no business. What has happened though is that the financial numbers are paramount and those at the top of the business, the chief executive and the senior team; believe that the people aspects of running the business are unimportant. The impact of this approach on staff is predictable; it is hard for them to see that the company values them as individuals. What could the organisation do to improve motivation? It may be a sophisticated, high technology sector but the remedy to improving motivation in this organisation requires a shift to put the focus back on to people issues. This would require a radical change of direction, possibly a different set of values. Instead of valuing a financial model to the exclusion of all else, the leadership team need to understand the difference that a personal approach can make. The changes briefly outlined below would help kick-start such a process:
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1. Hand back more motivation to the managers: Provide the space and freedom for managers so they have more personal opportunities to motivate their staff. Currently there are few opportunities to reward and recognise staff, a point emphasised by some managers in our survey. Yves says that, over the past few years there are less and less tools and techniques for managers to use. We do not have any more the opportunity to do motivation. 2. Take a medium to long-term view, and not just focus on the short-term: Investment in learning and development, and career development Yves says are part of what motivates staff. If this is scaled among the other cut-backs within the business this has implications for morale as staff will feel less valued. It also will create problems longer-term because as he explains, if you pay by quota or yearly results you maybe win short-term, though I think this creates problems and is not always motivating to people, but the business has to plan for the mid to long-range view as well. An example of this is currently happening with regard to learning and development. Skill improvement and education are great motivators for people. But, because we are under cost pressures, the company is cutting back on training and in the long-term this will hit us hard. We are OK at the moment and are on top of technology in terms of our skills but in order to stay there, we have to continue investing in training and education otherwise we will not have the workforce to beat our com petitors. And it is worth reflecting on the crucial role of the manager in motivating staff and as Yves says, nobody should accept that their management role is just focussed on financials or if they are then they shouldnt manage people.
3. Motivation - The Senior Managers View (Voluntary Sector)
Re-creating motivation in a team Xandra Martin (not her real name) has been in her current role for three years and manages a highly motivated, professional team in the voluntary sector. But it wasnt always like this. When she first joined the organisation to take on her current job she also inherited a team of people. The team had been without a manager for over 18 months and felt neglected by the organisation. Staff felt that although other people externally valued what they did, the organisation did not; and they felt abandoned. Not surprisingly morale was at a very low level and it was therefore a challenging job for Xandra to take on. Not only did she have to focus on a new role, going out on the road to meet people across all the UK regions where the organisation operated, she also had an unhappy team at base. Added to this were further complications. Younger than the others in her new team, she was an outsider, recruited
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externally whereas most of the team had been there for a long time. What were her first impressions? I inherited the team. Most of them had been here for a long time. They thought their role was important and cared about it but were feeling very demotivated when I arrived. I felt that I needed to build the team back up. Xandras first step was to hold one-to-one conversations with everyone in the team. She explains, It was important to listen to everyone and spend time with them. I made a conscious call to be around for the team they could interrupt me whenever I was here. In those early weeks especially I made sure I was in the office for a few days each week and not constantly out on the road. This decision was not universally popular; there was an expectation from more senior levels that her immediate priority was outside the office, getting to know the regions. The choice however was clear for Xandra, the team needed clear leadership, clear direction and this is what I tried to provide for them. I focused on what was expected of them individually and what the team had to achieve. The team were similarly frank in some of their comments to her, as one member said, if you dont get a grip on all of this by September then Ill be gone. Weekly 9 oclock coffee meetings on sofas were held for the immediate team (of five), and each month a meeting for the wider team (of eleven) where staff from other departments were invited. As well as a chance for us to hear about work elsewhere in the organisation, it meant other departments could see what our team were doing. Using invited guests in this way also helped provide a platform where the team could talk about what they had achieved. Another change over the first few months was that the organisation began to appreciate the team much more. Xandra says that what motivated the team a lot was seeing the profile of their work, and their department, raised in the organisation. Seeing volunteering recognised as key to the delivery of the strategy, a core aspect of organisational success rather than a "fluffy" and "nice to do" thing was really motivating for them. Xandra had quickly recognised that this type of change was important and employed a number of different tactics to achieve this when she joined the organisation, I was proactively out there seeking opportunities to position volunteering in this way with senior stakeholders. I also developed a number of clear, succinct messages about the value of volunteering and presented them in a way that I thought would catch the imagination of the organisation. So, as much as it was about managing the team well it was also about leading the function they were in and getting very senior stakeholders on board with what we were about.
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Another big difference came when I persuaded our Director of Operations to stand up at our senior management conference and talk about how he had experienced a "light bulb moment" (his phrase) realising the strategic importance of volunteering. For the team this was as motivational, if not more so, than the core line management good practice. They were motivated by the fact that their work was getting attention it deserved, it was being valued and in turn they saw this turn into more volunteer management roles being created in the organisation. If it all sounds like a straightforward, textbook, recipe of what every good manager should do then Xandra would agree, although as many managers know from experience what sounds fairly simple in theory can be tough to implement. But the situation was harder she says because of the low levels of morale, I had to apply more of it, more constantly, in order to change the team. Another difference in this story is that Xandra had the confidence and courage to set up a systematic approach to managing the team. It wasnt easy, I really struggled with my confidence when I joined. The task was daunting, and another factor was the towering reputation of the previous manager, the person who held the job before me had been there over twenty years, was respected, widely admired for their expertise, and had won awards. It was a difficult act to follow. Of course motivating a demotivated team is not always possible. Lots of things can de-rail the work. It is a slow process of so many months with good days and bad days along the way. The real turning point Xandra says was about seven months after she arrived, when a team event was organised to celebrate the successes of the past year. I remember sitting at home cutting out big gold stars for a garland of stars; each star had a caption about a success and included lots of work achievements as well as the personal issues such as three new babies ! I wondered if this was all a bit too contrived, a bit too much and whether the celebration event would be a disaster but it wasnt; it was a great focus on work well done and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. The advocacy work of those early weeks and months promoting the teams work to others in the organisation was worthwhile and X andra says that the team, were also motivated by having personal confidence in me as their leader and seeing other senior staff have confidence in me: they felt I was a good ambassador for their work. It was key to motivating the team. Not every manager wins the confidence and respect of the team they lead but it is important as it helps create a high-energy working environment where staff are more likely to say they feel proud of the team and the work they do.
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4. A View from the Leisure Sector Recruiting Motivated Staff
Robert Hudson (not his real name, and some details are also altered) is Head of the Project Management Office at a well-known Leisure Group where he leads a team of ten staff. Although he and his team are based in the UK, their work is global dealing with IT strategic issues such as direct customer access and telephony tools. It is a challenging role, not only because of the scale of the operation with over 4,000 staff world-wide across a number of business units. Another factor is the scale of change one task for the team is incorporating IT systems of new businesses and standardisation across the Group, a major project which began about two years ago. Not least of course is the impact and implications of the current recession (Summer/Autumn 2009) on all leisure companies. Since Robert joined the company three years ago he has recruited almost all of the current team. He says that motivating the team is easy; partly because the people recruited have the right attitude. The terms attitude and motivation are inter-changeable in his view and also he believes that the team is only likely to be successful if everyone involved is positive and arrives with a can do mentality. He explains that whilst you can influence attitudes to some degree, you cant change the basic attitude of people. I think these qualities are important, and they can make all the difference when dealing with projects that involve a lot of change. Were dealing with technology changes, with strategic projects, and we often have to convince people about the value of the change thats being discussed. So someone in our team who can see positive rather than negative is a great asset in helping drive through the ideas. This emphasis on attitude is obvious in the detail of the recruitment process for project management team members. If I have two equally qualified candidates then someone who appears to be motivated is the one that Ill go for. The project management team has grown in size and Robert has been involved in recruiting all bar one of the current team of ten. He explains that he takes a factual, honest approach to interviewing: Im keen at the interview stage to tell people what its like, he explains, I think its helpful to be as honest as I possibly can about the difficulties, the problems and any issues I think might happen. I would rather scare them away. I dont want people to arrive and then find that the job isnt what they expected. Its an approach that would not suit every manager and in most organisations there are stories told about people who on their first day dont recognise the job they applied for. Robert says that total honesty is a valuable technique, not least as it means that by the second interview stage candidates who are not really keen have ruled themselves out. An added bonus is that when the new person arrives
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there are no unpleasant surprises, as the role and the job are exactly as described. Those first few weeks in a new role are key for the manager and the individual to get to know one another well and it can be a delicate balance between too much, or too little supervision. Roberts own approach is to give the new team member some space, I let them run for a few weeks and get them to do something from each of our main activities we have operations; knowledge management tasks and strategic projects. About a month after they join then well sit down together and write some objectives and Im keen to have different types of objectives. He includes project related tasks and something non-business, such as individual attitudes. The company system is set up for annual performance reviews but Robert also schedules a half way discussion, explaining that this isnt so much a formal process but more about have the objectives changed were in a fast-paced business and so this does happen and are we still on track? Its also worth stating the diverse background and skills base of team members which includes pharmaceuticals, IT and banking. This might present a greater challenge for some managers but Robert says he feels quite comfortable leading this type of team. The same mix is true with regard to nationality as the team includes German, French, Italian and Swiss. His own background is also international he was educated in Austria and has worked in Brussels and is now living and working in the UK. Considering the role of money in motivation, Robert says that the leisure sector is rarely competing with the high salaries which have caught so much attention recently such as those in banking and investment, what is important though is that people feel adequately compensated for the role that they take on. For myself, money is important but its also important to have a challenging role where you can grow and make a difference.
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Appendix 2: Profile of Respondents (n=210)

(Note where do not total 100% due to inclusion of other category) Age Group (years) 30 or under 31-40 41-50 51-60 61 and over Where based UK Outside UK Length of time with organisation Less than 1 years 1-5 years 6 - 10 years More than 10 years Organisation % Private Sector Public/Third Sector 49 51 % 1 33 41 23 2 % 67 33 % 3 31 23 43 Number of direct reports None 1-5 6-10 11-20 More than 20 Gender Male Female Managerial level Senior Middle Professional/specialist Junior Number of people employed by organisation 100 or less 101 1,000 1,001 5,000 5,001 10,000 Over 10,000 % 21 39 19 10 11 % 61 39 % 67 20 10 1
% 8 28 19 15 30
Private Sector Organisations % 3 Utilities 18 Manufacturing/production 3 Construction/engineering Retail/distribution/transport 6 9 Financial Services 3 Training
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The Last Word: What Managers say about Motivation

. and their boss
My organisation doesn't really do anything to motivate me which in my case is the right approach. I am very self-motivated and there is nothing I like less than a manager who is determined to motivate me - that's usually when I reach for the job ads! Having autonomy and flexibility in my role is important for my motivation but it's also important for me to work for people I have confidence in and can learn from Having the right boss - who is supportive, challenging, and a good communicator. My MBA support helped and exposure to 'special projects'! e.g. acquisitions etc. Being part of a good strong team with clear goals. Talking to me about my future.....career discussions My boss as well as the people in my direct working environment appreciate my work and value my opinion Many managers haven't even got the slightest idea HOW much damage they are causing by inappropriate actions and behaviour! I am involved in key decisions. Being empowered to shape and run my team according to my vision. Being consulted on areas that may not be core responsibility to me, but where my expertise and judgment are still valued I recently asked for mentoring but this was only offered on a very limited basis for a short time a few meetings with a senior manager. Also my own manager at that time was quite threatened by my request and asked me to justify it in terms of what deficits I wanted to address! I wasn't working to a deficit model but was seeking a positive role model, an opportunity to reflect and develop my skills and understanding with support from someone who had already worked at a senior level in the organisation
. and the job

Im with people I enjoy working with and my job is intellectually stimulating
and the organisations approach

The approach to the general staff... not me is You are lucky to have a job in this current climate so knuckle down and sweat out the bad times" We have a survey annually - the results of which were not published widely this year...
and HR
Admin (expenses, booking travel, self-help HR, getting invoices paid, etc.) becomes more and more burdensome
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Some of the HR people planning processes and procedures, especially on-line content, are cumbersome and bureaucratic
and the team

We need clearer and even more frequent team meetings and communication Theres very little recognition or understanding of what my team and I do so not much visibility, little feedback or encouragement More support staff would enable my team to do more for the company and therefore be more pro-active and effective I believe that development of the teams to deliver corporate initiatives should be more transparent and open it currently seems to be based on who you know rather than what you know We need to stop the focus on individual performance to the detriment of team behaviours.
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About Ashridge
Ashridge is a leading international business school based in Hertfordshire, England. Founded in 1959, Ashridge works with individuals and organisations from around the world in its three core areas of executive education, research and consulting. It is consistently ranked as one of the worlds leading business schools. In the latest Financial Times ranking for customised executive education (2009), Ashridge was ranked number one in the UK for the second year running. It is one of a handful of business schools to be accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB); the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) and the Association of MBAs (AMBA). Ashridges activities and areas of expertise include: Open and tailored executive education programmes MBA, MSc, PhD & Diploma qualifications Organisation consulting Coaching Applied research
Visit www.ashridge.org.uk for more information.

Ashridge Report Motivation and Employee Engagement October2009

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Ashridge Business School

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By Viki Holton, Fiona Dent and Jan Rabbetts

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Section 1: Executive Summary

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Figure 2: Motivation: between the manager and their staff

63% Agree Disagree

23% Strongly disagree

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Section 2: How Organisations Motivate Managers

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Mind the Gap:

Lloyds Banking Group

CEO: Base Salary: Maximum Bonus:

Eric Daniels 1.035m 2.33m (2 times salary)

2.07m (2 times salary)

24,156 (for branch manager) www.glassdoor.com Downloaded 9.07.09

20-22K (for technical support specialist) www.glassdoor.com Downloaded 9.07.09

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Ashridge Business School

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Section 3: How Managers Motivate their Staff

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I trust them and delegate to the maximum We respect each other

Listen and take note of staff ideas

We support and challenge each other well

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Section 4: Conclusion and Recommendations

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Appendix 1: Company Interviews

1. Motivation A View from Engineering Consultancy Halcrow Group

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3. Motivation - The Senior Managers View (Voluntary Sector)

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