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Vol. 7, No. 1, January 2009
HOW TO MOTIVATE PEOPLE BEYOND THEIR COMFORT ZONE: Motivating employees is more important than ever in today’s tough times.
In the article below, “Motivating Employees by Means That Speak to Them,” Matthew Neuberger, President and Chairman of Neuberger and Company, Inc., demonstrates how incorporating personal goals into specific company initiatives can motivate the entire company.
Neuberger and Company, Inc. is recognized for its leadership role in training "executional" leadership, sales and sales management training and sales technology integration across a multitude of industries.
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Operating nationally and internationally, FOCUS is currently working with buy- and sell-side corporate clients, private equity groups, holding companies and late stage venture capital firms in the following areas:
- Aerospace
- Automotive
- Building Products
- Business Process Outsourcing
- Business Services
- Call Center
- Construction
- Diagnostics
- Distribution
- Education and Human Capital Development
- Energy, Oil and Gas
- Food and Beverage
- Government Contracting
- Healthcare
- Information Technology Services and Software
- International
- Manufacturing
- Media and Publishing
- Medical Devices and Equipment
- Metals and Mining
- Payment Systems
- Professional Services
- Retail
- Security Systems and Services
- Supply Chain Management
- Systems Integration
- Technology
- Telecomm and Wireless
- Transportation
We have executed dozens of transactions in a range of market segments, but the same fundamentals apply across all of them. Our on-going transaction process provides us with up-to-the-minute market knowledge in these sectors that may be of corporate development interest to you.
Inquiries should be addressed via e-mail to info@focusbankers.com, by telephone to 202-470-1973 or by fax to 202-785-9413.Motivating Employees by Means That Speak to Them
By Matthew Neuberger, President and Chairman, Neuberger and
Company, Inc.
In today’s challenging economy, motivating employees is more important than ever. Although business owners are always looking for new ways to motivate employees and staff, unfortunately, it often is a wasted effort. There are few things as frustrating as trying to inspire the staff and getting little to no engagement in return.
Often, executives are inclined to blame the employees for lacking ambition or pride in their work. Chances are that simply is not true. Most of the time the motivation offered simply doesn’t excite the employee. Motivating employees effectively is a result of understanding their goals and desires and then catering to those preferences.
Identify Two Types of Motivation
There are two types of people: those who are motivated by pain and those who are motivated by pleasure. It is hard to nail down, but studies suggest that the population is split about 50/50 on their motivation preference. Most incentives are geared to the pleasure people--“If you hit this bench mark, you’ll receive this bonus.”
- Pleasure-motivated people often will react to these offers because it can help them realize additional gratification. These incentives likely will fail for at least half of the staff that is pain motivated. This is not to suggest that everyone doesn’t enjoy bonuses—but it does mean that pain motivated people aren’t likely to significantly modify their behavior for it.
- Pain-motivated people want to avoid problems. A more likely incentive is attaching a bonus in their compensation. If the benchmark isn’t achieved, then that bonus is removed, lowering their take-home money. Some pain-motivated people just want assurances that they are performing admirably and have a secure place in the organization. They won’t work for extra incentive, but likely will be motivated to keep something they already have.
How to Motivate People Beyond Their Comfort Zone
The second challenge faced by executives is trying to understand an individual’s goals and desires. This is challenging because it is on an individual basis. Money often is the vehicle used for motivation through bonuses, raises, etc. But some people are not motivated by money. They have enough to live on and will not exert significantly more effort for more.
The only way to motivate people beyond their comfort zone is by identifying and offering something that has value to them. It might be additional vacation, job promotion, flexible scheduling, travel or gift incentives, public recognition, stock plans, retirement plans, etc. The more flexibility there is in catering to the individual’s preferences, the more effective the motivation will be.
Strong Relationships with Employees Yield Results
So how do owners and executives know what motivates people? They have to form strong relationships. They need to ask about personal goals and desires. This will give plenty of insight into what motivates them. If a salesperson says their goal is to double their income and buy a new home, then you have a pleasure-motivated person. Monetary commissions and bonuses are likely to improve performance.
If it is an IT professional who says they want to grow within a company while enjoying a stable work environment, you have a pain-motivated person. Job security and possible promotions are likely to keep this person motivated to consistently meet goals. The point is that executives need to ensure that the direct manager is responsible for their direct reports being motivated. That is the only person in a position to understand what staff members’ desires are and put plans in place to motivate them through related incentives.
To get started, here are some action items to uncover and successfully cater to individual’s motivation preferences:
- Make a list of your team members and what you think their top three goals will be.
- Make a list of your top three goals.
- Schedule time to review each list.
- Develop a plan that incorporates personal goals into specific company initiatives with specific times and dates to achieve them.
- Make sure you have a platform that encourages sharing goals among team members. Using group accountability towards an individual’s personal goals strengthens and motivates the entire company.
FOCUS Forms New Government, Aerospace and Defense Group
Over the past several years, one of the most active industry sectors for FOCUS has been Government, Aerospace and Defense. To better serve clients in this segment, FOCUS has formally organized some of its most experienced investment bankers into a specialized team focusing on this industry.
The FOCUS Government, Aerospace and Defense team is led by Manan Shah from the MidAtlantic Region. Other team members include Eric Oganesoff, Doug Rodgers and Gerald Turner also of the MidAtlantic Region, John Slater of the Southeast Region and Paul Richey of the Western Region.
“The formation of this industry team, focusing on the government, aerospace and defense industry, is a natural outgrowth of our past success providing merger, acquisition and capital formation services to businesses in this sector,” said Manan Shah, Partner and Government, Aerospace and Defense Team Leader. “A large segment of FOCUS’ business originates from clients in this industry, and we continue to execute an increasing number of government, aerospace and defense deals.”
Further details on the new group can be found on the FOCUS Government, Aerospace and Defense Group web page, www.focusbankers.com/gad, featuring comments from clients, recent engagements, and descriptions of the services provided. For more information, contact Manan Shah at mshah@focusbankers.com or by telephone at 202.470.1980.
Keith Walz Joins FOCUS’ Midwest Office, Brings Wealth of Private Equity Investing Experience
Keith Walz has joined the FOCUS Midwest Chicago office as a managing director. Walz has more than 15 years experience in private equity investing, focusing on providing growth capital to privately held businesses in the enterprise software, network infrastructure and technology-aided manufacturing industries.
“Keith’s service on the board of directors of more than a dozen portfolio companies is a great asset to FOCUS. He provides exceptional strategic planning advice and has maximized the shareholder value of many of his clients. This is the kind of experience we believe will help grow our Midwest office and provide us a real advantage in transactions involving private equity groups,” said Fred Floberg, FOCUS Midwest Regional Manager.
About Keith Walz
Prior to joining FOCUS, Walz co-founded and was a Managing Partner of Kinsale Capital Partners, a leveraged buy-out private equity investment firm. He also was President and CFO of Sand Hill IT Security, a special purpose acquisition company, and participated in the sourcing and evaluation of over 100 acquisition candidates. Prior to the formation of Kinsale Capital Partners, Walz had been a Managing Director at ABN ARMO Capital’s Global Private Equity division with over $2 billion in investment capital. Read more...
