ILMA Compoundings - May 2021 - 30

The solution to these problems starts with more frequent
engagement. " Establish a shorter communication cycle
time, " said Altschuler. " If you scheduled a weekly check-in
before the employee started working from home, that may
not be sufficient now. Remember that you no longer benefit
from those quick water-cooler conversations to fill things in.
So, maybe now you need to check in twice a week. "
Managers also need to show interest in the remote worker's
working habits and emotional state, and they need to give
permission to take breaks and walks. " Home workers tend to
spend more hours at their desks and often fail to get enough
physical exercise, " said Borysenko. " That can affect their focus
during the day and translate into productivity problems. "
Managers can also encourage home workers to network as
a team and engage in activities that improve their psychological well-being. Perhaps they can organize exercise groups or
do conferencing on cellphones during walks. " Try organizing remote workers in pairs and have them work on tasks
together so they do not feel so isolated, " said Altschuler.
" You might establish a larger mission by organizing a Red
Cross blood drive or a volunteer group at a food bank. Such
culture-building activities bring people together. "

Hot Buttons
If Anita and Robert represent employees in general, the
advice for remotivating them is valid. But in human
psychology, one size does not fit all. " Good managers realize
that people are motivated by different things, " said Dennis Whittaker, Ph.D., a Charlotte, North Carolina-based
psychologist who specializes in corporate psychology. " They
make an effort to discover each person's hot button - the
motivator intrinsic to their personality - then push that
button every day. "
Some people may be motivated by status and by sales
results. Others might be motivated by workplace stability,
by joy in the process or by the details of their work assignments. Still others might desire to collaborate and bring
people together. Furthermore, people can possess mixed
motivational bags.
Sometimes you can ferret out hidden motivators by just
asking. Other times, employee actions can be revealing. " Pay
attention to what people do well, " said Borysenko. " When
you see employees who thrive in group settings and seem to
love bringing teams together, for example, you can be sure
they are motivated by collaboration. "
One final thing: Many supervisors assume that financial
compensation is a prime motivator. But experience shows
that employees usually want something more. " Money is
just a satisfier, " said Forlines. " If you pay people fairly for
their expertise, money will not be an issue. "

MAY 2021

| COMPOUNDINGS | ILMA.ORG

Indeed, she said, money most often comes into the
picture when people think they are not being fairly compensated. As a productivity booster, it falls short.

The Success Environment
Successful motivation occurs not so much by working some
magic on an employee but rather by reengineering the working environment in ways that stimulate each individual's hot
buttons. " There is a fallacy that you can motivate people, "
said Kevin D. Gazzara, D.M., founder and senior partner,
Magna Leadership Solutions in Phoenix. " That's not true.
What you can do is create an environment that raises the
potential for motivation. "
Some motivators can light fires under all of your employees, whether they are still working at home or back at the
traditional workplace. For example, most of the Roberts
and Anitas of your world will respond productively to a
consciously and gradually increasing degree of autonomy.
Phrases such as, " Use your judgment about the best way to
get this done, " will help spark creative initiative by focusing
on results rather than method.
Providing the right degree of autonomy is something of a
balancing act. " You need to create a motivating environment
in which the work given people is challenging enough for
them to avoid boredom, but not so intimidating as to cause
anxiety, " said Gazzara. " When people have the right balance
of challenge and skill, they can get into a zone I refer to as
'the flow.' And then their engagement with the enterprise
goes way up. "
The right amount of autonomy will encourage employees
to exercise creativity in problem solving and to master new
skills. They will also see their work as having a meaning
deeper than just the earning of a paycheck. " Engaged people
enjoy what they do, do more of it, and work longer and
harder, " said Whittaker. " As a result, the business gets more
mileage out of their working hours, and that is the very
definition of productivity. "
Enhanced performance can lead to unexpected benefits.
One is the retention of top performers. " Engaged people
are more likely to stick around, " said Whittaker. " And that's
good, because the business can avoid the expense of recruiting, interviewing, assessing and onboarding new people. "
Those same deeply engaged employees are likely to
identify closely with your enterprise, helping you recruit still
more high-quality people. " Motivated employees take the
initiative to perform better and improve business processes, "
said Whittaker. " But they will only do that if they feel their
future is tied to their place of work. "
Perry is an award-winning journalist and director of EditorialCalendar.net.
He is based in New York City.

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ILMA Compoundings - May 2021

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