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It’s more than money! Science says financial incentives do not work.

By Liza | Categories: Career advice, Consulting, Recruitment, Recruitment advice | No Comments

Here at Enigma HR we love TED talks.

 

They’re inspirational, thought provoking and delivered by some of the most fascinating thought leaders in the world. Like this talk, from Dan Pink – a career analyst and former speechwriter to Al Gore.

 

For a long time we’ve all asserted that there’s pretty much a direct relationship between reward and performance.

 

That’s wrong says Dan.

 

He says science proves that people can actually perform worse (not better) when they’re offered financial rewards. While incentives are not disincentives, they can act as a distraction in roles that require right brain and creative thinking.

 

Rewards, he says, work really well for simple linear type tasks where there is a simple set of rules and a clear destination. However, rewards by their very nature, narrow our focus and concentrate the mind. For real life problems in the working world of the 21^st century, you don’t want to be looking straight at the task when the solution may actually lie in the periphery.

 

Dan says we’re rewarded and engaged when we do things that matter to us, when we like what we’re doing, when we find the task interesting and when we feel we are doing part of something that is important. Put simply there are three things are critical to true motivation – “autonomy”, “mastery” and “purpose.”

 

These are the foundation for a new way of looking at our businesses and working lives:

 

- Autonomy is the urge for us to direct our own lives

 

- Mastery is the desire to get better and better at something that matters

 

- Purpose is the urge to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves

 

What’s our take out of all of this?

 

Well, we hope to surprise you too, given what we do.

 

We say – before you throw more money at a performance problem with your staff; before you decide to offer the big dollars to attract new staff and before you personally decide to go after the big dollars, watch Dan talk and think about what really matters to you.

 

Then when you’ve done that come and talk to us.

Why do we make such horrible bosses?

By Liza | Categories: Career advice, Consulting | No Comments

It’s easy to get a reaction when you write a story about horrible bosses. Everyone, it seems, has a tale or twenty three.

 

Take a look at this article in the SMH – the comments are both depressing and enlightening.

 

This one is one of the more “reasonable” comments from readers urged to tell their tales:

 

“I’ve had two really bad bosses. One was disguising her incompetence with severe bullying and buck passing. Everyone hated her. She was rather nice when not under the stress of a job she couldn’t do.

 

The other one I can’t even think of a reason. He would give you half bits of info and then berate when it wasn’t exactly what he was looking for. He would straight out lie about everything, trash talk former employees and try to get employees to side with him about other employees amongst other things. I left there and was instantly happier. I wouldn’t wish him upon my previous boss.”

 

Many people jump online when they are feeling super frustrated, angry and just need to vent. But this is not a reason to dismiss such comments as the ravings of the outraged.

 

Researchers from Florida State University surveyed more than 700 people working in a variety of jobs about their opinions of the treatment from their supervisors on the job. Here’s what respondents reported:

 

• 31% reported that their supervisor gave them the “silent treatment” in the past year.
• 37% reported that their supervisor failed to give credit when due.
• 39% noted that their supervisor failed to keep promises.
• 27% noted that their supervisor made negative comments about them to other employees or managers.
• 24% reported that their supervisor invaded their privacy.
• 23% indicated that their supervisor blames others to cover up mistakes or to minimize embarrassment.

 

According to the researchers: “employees stuck in an abusive relationship experienced more exhaustion, job tension, nervousness, depressed mood and mistrust.”

 

No kidding!

 

So what’s going on here?

 

Do we all turn into bullies and ogres when given a little bit of power, or is the question a whole lot more complicated than that?

 

If we met someone at a BBQ we probably wouldn’t describe them as a “bully”, a “narcissist”, a “self-absorbed control-freak” or a “lazy”, “arrogant”, “buck-passing moron.” Yet if they are someone’s manager, you can pretty much guarantee that someone, somewhere, at another BBQ down town, is describing them in the same way.

 

It’s ironic that in all of the discussions around what makes a good leader, very few people actually ask this question:

 

“We’re generally not horrible people, so why do we turn into horrible bosses?”

 

Are we under too much pressure, and in the pressure of getting the job done we forget the niceties in the way we may ask people to do things? Does that stress mean that the only way to get a job done is the way we think it should be done, regardless of whether that’s the best way of doing things – so we turn out to be controlling.

 

Does the stress of the job mean that as managers we are so focussed on our own issues that we forget the impact of our behaviour on others or how people may interpret what we do?

 

Or as human beings do we simply lack a lot of empathy? So when we become bosses we forget what it was like to be bossed? Have we never had good bosses ourselves to witness a positive example?

 

Are we not good at giving feedback? Or are our employees not good at receiving it? That’s a pretty lethal combination when you think about it. Most people have an ego, varying levels of insecurity and a need to be right. That works on both sides of the management table.

 

There is not one easy answer to any of these questions. But there is a big cost if we don’t start with some self-examination.

 

The Australian Human Rights Commission publicised the estimates the cost of bullying in the Australian workplace to be between $6 – $36 billion dollars every year when hidden and lost opportunity costs are considered.

 

“The effects on a workplace can include decreased productivity, increased staff absenteeism, staff turnover and poor morale. Financial costs can include legal and workers’ compensation and management time in addressing cases of workplace bullying.”

 

There may not be one easy answer to any of our questions, but some honest self-examination can help. If you need assistance with developing your management team, give our workplace solutions team a call – 02 8221 0553.