How does people get motivated

So how do you create a work environment where all employees feel motivated and energized? At Thomson Reuters, we encourage our employees to be curious and challenge the status quo. We also focus on ensuring we have an environment of trust and openness, where our employees can feel safe to take interpersonal and ideational risks. I seek out ways to contribute to important projects that provide me with a sense of ownership both in my own work and my overall work environment.

This isn't just about the technology, although I love that too, for me it's also about finding ways to be more effective. I always want to see what's around the next corner, and having the freedom to apply that learning to the work I do every day has been one of the best parts of working at TR.

I love thinking up fresh solutions or designs. I also like to be challenged to help make them more effective or providing inspiration to pivot to a new idea.

It's exciting to see customers using something we only initially imagined in our minds. I like learning new things that I never could have imagined I would have encountered or comprehended. I can't stress enough about the culture we have which acts as a catalyst to innovate, try new things, not to be afraid of failures. I'm challenged and at the same time encouraged to find creative ways to solve problems. I'm grateful to the great leaders we have who inspire me every day to be passionate and to love my job.

We spend the majority of our time in the office, we should enjoy it. Putting together a menu of possible outcomes is a crucial prerequisite to scheduling a formal encounter with the employee that is designed to solve or resolve the situation. Keep in mind that this menu may be augmented with a solution from that unlikeliest of sources: the employee. Jerry has recently been appointed a department head at a pharmaceuticals company.

As he settles in, he discovers he has inherited one very troublesome subordinate. Bernard—like Jerry, in his mids—is an extremely competent scientist and very independent minded.

Bernard performs well enough when given a defined and highly complex piece of work that puts his technical expertise to the test. But he fails to discuss his results until it is too late for Jerry to provide his own input. And Bernard resists doing anything that departs from his accustomed routines. Jerry suspects that Bernard could do his work more quickly without sacrificing quality.

Jerry learns that Bernard was once passed over for promotion and has had a bad attitude ever since. In fact, Bernard has made it plain to everyone that he resents having to report to someone he regards as his inferior in technical knowledge.

Although Jerry thinks that Bernard should have been reined in long ago, he has attempted on numerous occasions to win over Bernard with friendly approaches. Jerry decides that Bernard feels a need to preserve his dignity, which was diminished when he was passed over for promotion.

This trait is getting in the way of Bernard making an energetic commitment to working for Jerry. Instead, he hopes to motivate Bernard by leveraging his inherent desire for dignity, respect, and recognition. He would like Bernard to see that he is taking a self-defeating stance and that big personal rewards can be had from bringing these drives to bear on new challenges.

At the same time, Jerry knows he needs to be tougher than he has been. So he decides to undertake a focused, face-to-face encounter with Bernard. In fact, Jerry has even come to realize that he is part of the problem and that any positive outcome will almost assuredly require him to modify how he manages Bernard.

If all goes well, Bernard, too, will begin to transform the way he views the situation. It should be a carefully staged event that underscores its importance. Hold the meeting on neutral ground—say, a conference room—and block out at least an hour for it. In fact, it may take more than a single meeting, depending on how far you get in the first encounter. You should tell the employee about it a day or so in advance, but emphasize that no materials or preparation are needed; this will not be a formal appraisal meeting but a chance to review and revise your working relationship.

In fact, the only physical props you will need are a table and two chairs, set at a right angle. But you also honestly describe the current problem as it looks to you and assert that things cannot and will not continue as they are now. For example, Jerry might say to Bernard:. I admire your talents and what you offer the company, but our previous conversations have shown me that we see our roles quite differently.

I think you can help me to help us get on a different footing and identify new ways to work together. You then need to engage in what I call leverage questioning. This is an intense and extended inquiry that tests hypotheses you have formulated in the course of developing your picture of the situation.

While one aim of such questions is to find unknown and potentially fruitful areas of agreement, they are also meant to bring differences into the open.

Care is needed here: It is very easy to slip back into telling and selling, shoveling facts and arguments onto the employee in order to bury that individual under the weight of the evidence. Even if you avoid this pitfall, the employee may still be evasive, defensive, hostile, or uncommunicative.

So what do you think my role should be, then? What can I do to help you? Nobody around here with any technical smarts gets any respect anyway.

Is that how you feel? Well, I guess I can see how that might have been a problem in the past. But I value technical expertise.

I think we could figure out how to put yours to better use—and in a way that would give you some credit for it. The stage is set for the moment of truth.

Jerry and Bernard have reached some agreement on at least part of the problem. And Jerry has brought Bernard to the point where he can help find a solution—one that plays to the qualities that motivate him.

To return to the judo metaphor, Jerry has blocked Bernard by insisting that things will not continue as they are. Thanks for being so open with me. I have a much better understanding of the issues as you see them. What you are saying suggests that your job might be restructured so you can do things that take fuller advantage of your exceptional talents.

But continuing in your present position, at least as you have defined it, is not viable. What do you think? Remember that the method I have described guarantees a resolution, not a solution, to a problem of the kind Jerry faces. In her encounter with Colin, Annette engages in a new kind of conversation, hoping to figure out what his drivers are and where they are being blocked. She sees that such pressure will only be heightened if she tries to make him feel guilty about letting down his team when it needs him most.

He needs different, not greater, responsibility. When Annette probes to find out what really engages Colin, the key turns out to be helping others. How can this insight be used to motivate him? During their meeting, Colin raises the possibility of assuming a training role—one that he successfully migrates into during the subsequent months. The problem is resolved but not solved.

But after some thinking, Paolo decides he simply wants George to see that moving beyond the current situation is going to require making some difficult choices. The two agree that the next step is for Paolo to help George move into a role with less customer contact.

Send a handwritten note thanking them for the extra effort on a large project. Certificates, gift cards, plaques, public recognition, another interesting project, and more responsibility are all ways to reward people. Even if you have only a tiny budget, you can do something to show your gratitude. Challenge them. Start a friendly competition among teams or departments, ideally one in which everyone can win or learn something. Keep the competition among teams, not individuals, to prevent it from becoming too contentious.

Celebrate them. Inform them. Even after their contribution is complete, let them know how the project turned out. If you want to accomplish big things, you need cooperation from others. Motivating others will help bring your vision to life. Get involved in the discussion. Post your comments, follow the discussion, and suggest topics for future columns in the Career Development section of the ACS Network www. Contact the reporter.

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Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need. Don't miss out. But things being what they are these days, the best you may be able to offer is the hope that no one will lose a job. Inspiration, on the other hand, involves changing the way people think and feel about themselves so that they want to take positive actions. Commencement speakers — the best ones, at least — inspire their audiences.

They talk about the challenges the graduates will face, either personally or collectively, and the possibilities of making a difference.

Your reputation, your character, your behavior will inspire people more than anything else. The only way to call the best out of others is to expect the best from yourself.

And the right thing they do may not be what you were expecting; it may be something beyond your wildest expectations. Motivation and inspiration are not the sole province of professional speakers and preachers. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. Who knows, you may be surprised by what they do. He helps CEOs gain board approval and company-wide support for initiatives.