High levels of employee motivation don’t necessarily translate into better performance, according to Labour Solutions Australia’s Managing Director, Andrew Northcott, who says that work-related frustration can compromise engagement even when an employee is enthusiastic about their job.
He defines workplace frustration as, “a highly engaged employee’s inability to succeed in a role due to organisational barriers or the inability to bring the bulk of his or her talents, skills and abilities to the job”.
Frustrations might include needing to consult with multiple people in order to make a basic decision, or being unable to secure valuable resources because they don’t directly improve the organisation’s bottom line, for example.
“Managers are bombarded with messages about how important it is to motivate and inspire their people. Very little attention, however, has been given to how managers can most effectively translate employee motivation into optimal levels of performance,” says Northcott.
Research shows that nearly one third of employees think their managers fail to effectively communicate goals and objectives to their teams, and about one in three say they lack the authority to carry out their jobs effectively. A further 40 per cent say they don’t receive clear and regular feedback on their work from their superiors.
A key to ensuring that improved engagement leads to improved performance is to address the constraints that limit an employee’s ability to do a job well, thereby enabling them to perform more effectively, Northcott says.
Barriers to enablement include work cultures where employees lack the opportunity or inclination to share concerns and ideas with their managers, and workplaces where managers are unwilling to invest in enabling resources because they allow the costs to detract from the benefits.
These barriers become increasingly significant over time.
“As employees grow in experience in their roles, they begin to focus less on learning the ropes and more on achieving desired results. In the process, they are increasingly confronted with enablement constraints that limit their ability to get their jobs done effectively,” Northcott says.
Focus on enablement
In order to minimise frustration and improve performance and retention, Northcott says managers should:
- Clarify expectations – regularly discuss expectations with every team member; set specific, measurable objectives; and align performance goals with organisational priorities.
- Set challenging goals – talk to employees to establish ways they can use their core strengths to enhance performance, and explain the difference between a high performer and an average performer.
- Provide ongoing feedback – hold informal performance discussions with team members between formal reviews, and identify and address issues of poor performance in a timely manner.
- Give employees adequate authority – ensure team members understand which decisions they control, and agree with decision-making accountabilities; empower workers to make the decisions necessary to perform their jobs effectively; and address aspects of the culture that prohibit timely decision-making.
- Give employees input on work processes – intentionally seek feedback on work processes and ensure you have formal and informal procedures to solicit suggestions.
- Provide needed resources – where there are specific resources employees regularly request to increase efficiency, build a business case, specifying anticipated benefits, for the investment.
- Provide needed information – inform employees of changes that will affect their work, and do so before they hear rumours from other sources.
- Provide opportunities for up skilling – define the developmental needs and interests of your employees and ensure they are aware of relevant training programs.
Solicit contribution and encourage feedback
Even if managers believe they are open to feedback and consider their doors “always open”, their workers might feel otherwise, so it is important to be proactive when it comes to soliciting feedback and ideas, says Northcott.
“Along with soliciting input, managers must be clear on what type of input they want.” If they aren’t, their attempts to consult with employees could just frustrate them.
“In many organisations, employees express concerns that input is too often sought after decisions have been made. As a result speaking up may have no impact,” Northcott warns.
“Managers need to clarify whether they are asking for employee involvement in making a decision or determining how best to implement a decision that has already been reached.”
They should also beware of “consensus-oriented cultures” where expressing divergent viewpoints may be seen as a signal an employee is not a team player, thereby presenting a barrier to speaking up.
