Proudly serving the industry for which it was named for more than 50 years, Outdoor Power Equipment provides dealers who sell and service outdoor power equipment with valuable information to succeed in a competitive market.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/38457
As an owner or a manager, you are now that someone to oth- ers — you need to balance challenging your employees with sup- porting them when they need help. Challenge your employees too much, and they will give up. Give them too much support, and you rob them of initiative. Employees thrive on an intermedi- ate level of challenge — enough to make the task interesting, but not so much that it becomes nearly impossible. A proper balance of challenge and support are key components of a motivated workforce. Achievement carries its own reward. Employees are au- tomatically proud when they accomplish something challenging and worthwhile. If allowed to celebrate their victory, they will be highly motivated to repeat their efforts — and even improve on them. But, if you rob them of the natural rewards of success, their motivation will die. Praise the good work that your employees do and make others in your dealership aware of what they have accomplished. Your employees will respond to your praise by giving you more effort and working harder to make you notice them again. Keep in mind, however, never praise good work and then follow that praise with the word “but.” More than any other word, “but” kills all the momentum built with praise. The word “but” negates your praise and creates a hollow victory for the employee. Like a parent telling a child, “You did a great job on your math test, but I am surprised you missed that question.” The moment you said the word “but,” your praise became conditional and killed the motivation. I know a manager who claims that motivating employees and holding feedback sessions are a waste of time because, he says, “My people know they are doing a good job because when they don’t, I let them know.” Unfortunately, this owner’s management style is based on negative consequences, and his employees tend to focus on avoiding to upset him rather than on achieving success. It’s important to understand that in the short run, negative moti- vation such as threats or fear may pay off, but in the long run, it destroys a motivating environment and comes at a high price — mediocrity and high turnover. Get your employees on the bus Buying into the work environment is like climbing onto a bus. We’re willing to ride if we know where the bus is going, like its destination, trust the driver, find the cost reasonable, and know that we’ll have enough legroom to be comfortable. Similarly, an employee will want to belong to your dealership and willingly come along for the ride if — and only if — your company has a clear purpose that aligns with the employee’s own purposes, if the employee trusts the ownership, is not asked to sell his or her self- respect, and is allowed some room for self-expression. For most employees, one of the greatest obstacles to working successfully with others and to owning their work is unclear ex- pectations. When unfulfilled expectations accumulate, an em- ployee’s commitment to the dealership diminishes and will eventually lead to the failure of an employee who began the trip on your “dealership bus” as an excited, motivated passenger. Communicating what you expect of your employees is a daily mission. When there is clear, consistent communication, your ex- pectations and your employees’ understanding of your expecta- tions come together, creating success in your dealership. Listening to your employees is critical enough to warrant establishing listen- ing time. I encourage all owners and managers to commit time OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT AUGUST 2011 19