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Employees Fears and their Motivation during Uncertain Times

By Bob Urichuck

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 23Mar2009 Word count: 889 Viewed: 334 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Many people are living in fear during these uncertain times. They listen to all the negative media around them and become a product of the environment.

In addition, the core of their internal self talk is brimming with negativity and overflows with tremendous fear. These individuals possess little or no motivation. They fear loosing their jobs and allow the economic downturn to profoundly impact their personal lives and dreams for the future.

These employees suffer from lack of motivation. Their fear becomes the dominant thought and is reflected in all conversations. This type of fear tends to encourage external negative gossip which results in poor morale and reduced productivity in the workplace.

Is this what is happening in your workplace?

If so, it is certainly time to introduce motivation. I am not referring to "the jumping up and down" type of motivation. This type of exhilarated hype is strictly in the moment and doesn't last very long. It actually wastes valuable resources within today's economy.

We all need a deep internal form of motivation. We must have motivation that works today and lasts a lifetime. I am referring to the type of motivation which is individualized yet captivates the team and builds morale.

This type of motivation must create and maintain self discipline and self confidence. It must generate self esteem and self respect. Let's strive for a profound motivation which will increase our self worth, and ultimately, our net worth.

Think about it. What is the most important asset within your organization? What investment are you making to that asset on an ongoing basis?

The most important asset in every business is the human asset - the employees who are working for you and with you. If you take care of your employees, your employees will take care of the bottom line.

Every employee, in every organization, wants to be part of a team and wants to contribute to the success of their organization. Do you trust your employees?

Are you engaging your employees to find solutions to sales or production problems, to improving morale or to relieving their fears? (Please note I used the word engaging, not communicating, as there is a big difference.)

Of the top ten motivating factors in the workplace, involvement and contribution are ranked second. People like to feel they are worthy and if they are engaged, they feel trusted and empowered; and they are happy to be a contributing member of the organization.

This one step alone builds employee self confidence and self esteem. This empowerment leads to self motivation, providing the employee is dong what he/she wants to do. Of course, this statement will be addressed in a future article and will delve into the subject of permanent self motivation.

We all know that only you can motivate you, no one else has the inside track. As a leader, all one can do is create an environment in which people are encouraged to motivate themselves. To do that, you need to engage your employees in finding a solution.

You need to change your role from a leader or communicator to a facilitator who engages employees into discussions - individual and team discussions.

I recommend having private discussions with every employee and determine what their personal dreams are for the future. What do they want to do, to be or to have whether for the short, medium or long term?

Then, create a plan together to contribute to the realization of the goals. Guess what will happen? You will find yourself with a motivated and loyal employee even during the down times.

Why? Your employees are now able to see beyond today, or this week, or next month, and more importantly, beyond an economic crisis. They will realize that their job is a stepping stone to helping them get what they want out of life and your job, as an employer, is to engage them in that vital discussion.

However, an employer should ensure he/she has followed the same process before engaging others. As a leader, you need to demonstrate appropriate behaviours. You must know what you want out of life, where you are going, and how you will get there. Only then, will you be able to nurture others along the way.

The same values apply to team discussions where it is imperative you facilitate the most suitable work environment required by the team, and entice positive attitudes and appropriate behaviour from the team. You must set significant ground rules that will lead to success.

Our dominant thoughts affect what we attract into our life. As a leader, it is your responsibility to ensure those thoughts are positive ones and proceed in the direction that you and your organization want to go.

You have a choice. If you do nothing, then fear remains the dominant thought. It is far more beneficial to facilitate a discussion concerning the present situation and develop a solid plan on how to move forward into the future.

The solution is: a discussion on how "we" as a team can get there. The team must take ownership of their ideas and implement them. All of a sudden, you create different dominant thoughts.

These are the thoughts of personal involvement, contribution, growth, and satisfaction. Hence motivation and productivity increases in leaps and bounds.

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