Additional techniques to keep your team energized and driven

In our last column, we described how to motivate employees, we need to direct the rational rider, move the emotional elephant, and clear the path for smoother progress. Building on that foundation, let's look at additional techniques to keep your team energized and driven.

THE SUCCESS TRIO

Hearing the stories of how one person’s belief in another catapulted him to unimaginable accomplishments, it’s easy to believe that motivation is the key to employee achievement.

But that view is inaccurate; success is contingent on so many other elements.

Motivation is similar to flour in bread. It’s crucial, but you can’t make bread from just flour. You need, at the bare minimum, flour, liquid, and heat to create bread.

Similarly, to unlock your employees’ abilities, three core elements must be in place:

• Ability — We may believe fiercely in our employees, and give them ample opportunities, but they keep disappointing us. When that happens, the first question we need to ask ourselves is if they actually have the abilities and skills to perform the tasks we’ve assigned them. We may be assuming knowledge where it doesn’t yet exist. Sit with them, break down what has to be done, discover where they’re getting stuck, and find ways to ensure they can gain the abilities or know-how that they do not yet have.
• Opportunity — Sometimes, the opposite problem is at play: An employee may have abundant talents and be highly motivated, but if they’re not given the opportunity to use those talents, they’ll languish. Ever notice all the eager young nephews desperate to take the mic and sing at their aunt’s wedding? Often, that singing is mediocre, but sometimes, there’s a boy whose voice dazzles the crowd. He may have been highly motivated but couldn’t utilize his talents until he was given the opportunity. We need to notice our employees’ latent talents and ask ourselves if we’re giving them the chance to use them.
• Motivation — Once we ensure that an employee is capable of a task and we give her the chance to perform, the last crucial ingredient is motivation. They need to want to excel.

The combination of ability, opportunity, and motivation is the winning recipe for top-level performance.

With all that, always keep in mind that every person is a baal bechirah, and if Hashem has created man with choice over his actions, clearly, there’s only so much impact we can have over our employees’ behaviors. We can set an ideal stage, but how they act upon it is up to them.

Room to Grow

One of the greatest motivators is knowing that we can keep growing.

My first boss, Rachel Dvir, was a master at creating an atmosphere of growth. She regularly gave me jobs that were a little too big for me. But then she ensured that I got the training and support I needed until that job that had been too hard became a good fit. And then she’d push me to the next level.

People should know that if they come to work for you, in four years, they will not be the same person they were when they started.

Yes, I already hear the objections. There’s often a price to be paid for this approach: Your workers may eventually get so good that they’ll go out on their own. I know that. But I believe it’s a worthwhile price to pay because you’ll get people who are ambitious and hardworking, and that’s invaluable.

Rachel had someone on staff who served as a driver and errand boy. She’d replace him each year because, as she said, “I don’t want to work with someone who wants to be an errand boy his whole life. I prefer to train someone new each year, but get someone who sees this as a stepping stone and has greater goals for himself.”

Beyond the Carrot and the Stick

The Brisker Rav married off one of his children in a hall owned by a Mr. Wagschal. After the wedding, the Brisker Rav came to pay his bill. Mr. Wagschal said, “Brisker Rav, it is an honor to have hosted your child’s wedding. I could not possibly take payment for it.”

“The cheapest way to pay for something is with money,” the Rav replied. “I am not prepared to pay the exorbitant price of taking something for free.”

Money is the easiest way to motivate someone — and we’ll cover that in a later column — but money runs out. And the problem goes beyond that; sometimes, money is a poor motivator.

In his insightful book Drive, Daniel Pink argues that the old-school “carrot and stick” methods of motivation are falling short, especially in today’s fast-paced, creative work environments.

Pink shares decades of research that challenge the conventional wisdom that bigger rewards automatically lead to better performance. There’s a fascinating study from MIT where participants performed worse, not better, on complex tasks when offered larger financial incentives.

This was confirmed when the experiment was repeated in rural India, where the stakes were higher — the money offered equaled a month’s salary — yet the results were the same: more money didn’t mean better results.

Money can also be a poor motivator when it comes to trying to stop a certain behavior.

He gives the well-known example of Israeli daycare centers. Parents had to pick up their children by 4:00 p.m., but some showed up late. To fix this, the centers added a fine for pickups after 4:10 p.m.

It backfired. Lateness doubled. Why? Before, parents felt morally obligated to be on time for the sake of the caregivers. But once lateness had a price tag, it became a simple transaction, erasing the guilt that motivated punctuality.

Even after the fine was removed, the habit stuck. Parents had grown used to seeing lateness as something they could “buy,” and the original sense of responsibility was gone.

I see this in other realms as well. My children are chronically late when it comes to returning books. Our local library charges an overdue fine, and the kids have come to see it as a transaction — they pay the fine and get the books for longer, and by doing so, they are also losing the sense of duty.

On the flip side, when we ask very high-level speakers to address Temech conferences, we don’t offer payment. We know that what we can afford would be insulting to them, so we stay away from business terms. Instead, we ask if they’d be willing to give us the lecture pro bono — and once we enter the realm of volunteering, the same people who would turn down a low fee are willing to speak for free.

If money isn’t the powerful motivator we assumed it was, what does drive people to do their best?

Pink’s Three Keys to Motivation

1. Autonomy: The Freedom to Choose

When employees have control over what they do, when they do it, and how they do it, they’re naturally more motivated and creative.

Atlassian, an Australian software company, encourages innovation by giving its employees “ShipIt Days” — 24 hours to work on any project they choose. This freedom led to numerous breakthroughs and fresh ideas.

Google’s famous “20% time” follows a similar principle, allowing engineers to spend one-fifth of their workweek on projects of their choice. Gmail was created during 20 percent time.

Many companies don’t have a culture that would allow them to give their employees carte blanche for 20 percent of their time, but there’s a vast continuum when it comes to offering freedom.

When I was a project manager at a software company, we took on a new client for a large project. I asked my boss what we were charging, and she said, “You’re the one who knows what work this entails, you set the price.”

I try to practice this approach as well. At Temech, once we settle on a budget, I give the number to the program director and let her decide how to utilize the budget.

Similarly, a new director named a program we were working on. It wasn’t the name I would have chosen, but it wasn’t even up for discussion once she’d named it; hopefully, if we used her name, she’d consider it her baby, and that was more important than having the perfect name.

All these examples are about giving employees ownership. More ownership equals more motivation and commitment.

2. Mastery: The Drive to Get Better

People are naturally drawn to challenges that help them grow, and they take great satisfaction in getting better at something meaningful. This is why open-source software developers contribute their time and expertise for free — they’re motivated by the joy of mastering their craft.

One example is Zappos, an online retailer known for its superior customer service, which they achieved by revolutionizing how their call centers operate. Typically, call centers are notorious for being unpleasant — think rows of cubicles where employees, tethered to their headsets, follow strict scripts and have their calls closely monitored. This leads to staggering turnover rates, with nearly 100 percent of call center staff leaving their jobs each year.

Zappos decided to break the mold. After two weeks of training, they offer new hires a choice: take $2,000 to quit immediately or stay on. This unconventional approach acts as a filter to ensure that those who remain are truly committed. But the real game-changer is what comes next.

Zappos gives their call center employees training and then offers a single instruction: Solve the customer’s problem. There are no scripts, no timing, no monitoring. They don’t care how you set up your desk or how long each call takes — it’s all up to you. The only focus is delivering exceptional service. This approach propelled Zappos to achieve some of the highest customer service ratings in the country, even surpassing luxury brands.

Another example: a manager I worked with had a great system. She’d assign team members professional papers or research to dig into, then have them present their findings at our meetings. The presenter always came away with a deep understanding (teaching is the best way to learn!) and the rest of us got to hear fresh ideas delivered in different, personal styles.

3. Purpose: The Meaning Behind the Work

When people believe their work contributes to something larger, they’re more motivated and fulfilled. Take Toms Shoes, for instance: They donate a third of their profits to charitable causes. This doesn’t just drive sales — it connects employees to their work.

At Novo Nordisk, a global healthcare company with a focus on diabetes care, they’ve set defeating diabetes as both a corporate goal and their mission. Many employees have personal or professional ties to the disease, which makes their work feel deeply meaningful.

Every organization has meaning, but those behind the scenes might not always see it. Share stories of those you help or give tours in the field to make it tangible. People crave meaning and are willing to invest time and effort to obtain it — just look at the massive wave of volunteers in Israel during the war.

At Temech workshops, we often speak of the inherent meaning in supporting your family. Focusing on that can help bring meaning to even mundane jobs.

Small but Meaningful Motivators

I’ve worked on many teams and led many teams. In addition to the overarching inner motivators Pink lists, there are many small things we can do to fuel our employees. Here are my favorites:

• Notice: Give specific feedback to every employee. Even something as small as, “I really liked that shade of yellow you used in the ad; it made the text pop,” is meaningful. People put their time and energy into every aspect of what they do, and when you notice the small details, they feel recognized.
• Be interested — know what’s going on in your employees’ lives and check in with them. “How’s your mother doing?” “How did that high school interview go for your daughter?” shows you care about them as people beyond their role in your company. Additionally, knowing what’s going on in their lives will help you understand if they’re experiencing a slump at work.
• Be there with them: At one of my jobs, we had a yearly project with impossibly tight deadlines. The only way to meet them was to work literally around the clock for a week. When some of my team had to do overnight shifts, I tried to be there with them whenever I could. This showed them that we were in this together and motivated them to do their best work despite the difficult hours.
• Offer choice: The choice could be when they work, where they work, or what exactly they’ll be doing. If you micromanage to the point that all that’s left is for them to execute, they’ll be drained of motivation. Some workers do need things structured for them — these are the ten tasks for today — but you can ask them in what order they’d like to do them.
• Celebrate success: This can be as small as sending a congratulatory email or getting a celebration cake for the entire team. Acknowledging what was accomplished fills the car with gas.

Motivation Isn’t Always Positive

It’s far more pleasant to focus on positive motivators, but we can’t ignore the power of negative motivation, i.e., the desire to avoid a particular outcome.

At one of my jobs, I ran a team that included the son of one of the owners. He’d dreamed of becoming a lawyer but didn’t get in to any law school, so he joined Daddy’s high-tech firm. He had only basic computer skills, so essentially, in my team of five, I only had 4.2 players.

I ignored the situation, but eventually, team members started calling me out on the clearly unfair distribution of labor.

I discussed the situation with my rav, and he advised me to let this man know that his position was at risk. “You’d be surprised at what people can do when they feel their job is in jeopardy,” he told me.

It worked. Once the man realized his job may be at risk, he started putting in effort. I provided him with checklists and other resources that stretched his capabilities. There was still a great deal he couldn’t do, but in whatever space he could, he pulled his weight.

We don’t like reaching this point, but as Brené Brown says in Dare to Lead, “Clear is kind.” When an employee is seriously slacking, we’re doing them a favor by letting them know what’s in jeopardy before it’s too late

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1041)