Sudden Impact
I was speaking to a home care agency owner last week about sales compensation. When we got to the point of "how to figure out commission" I stated (as I always have) that immediacy is the key to getting great sales performance. That is, the rep should know in real time how what they just did (admission, etc) affects their compensation. If they have to wait until after the month or quarter is over, the immediacy of the action is gone....and provides little motivation to do it again. Once you lose the connection of "I did this and earned this" you have a comp plan that is not very motivating.
This goes for all other areas of your business as well.
We know that employees stay at their jobs past 2 years for a few key reasons..
1. Recognition
2. Appreciation
3. Respect for supervisor
4. Connection to the company's mission and performance.
If you focus on numbers 1, 2, and 4....you can see the parallels between sales compensation and employee motivation. If you are going to recognize or show appreciation for your team....for maximum impact it must come very soon after the reason you are recognizing and appreciating them. You must connect the two things so they understand why they are so appreciated....so they know what you want from them, and so the rest of your team also knows the performance standard you are setting.
If you want people to have a connection between their actions and company's success then you must show and tell them what that is.....as soon as is reasonably possible. Employees crave this kind of feedback. Let's face it....they can work for a paycheck almost anywhere.....so money alone isn't going to make them stay with your organization.
Now...if you've focused on numbers 1, 2, and 4....guess what?
Number 3 takes care of itself! That's right....the supervisor who does these things regularly is valued by their team.....they'll give you their absolute best performance because they appreciate someone who appreciates them.
Imagine at the next summer Olympic games....at the 100 meter race....
The runners line up in the start blocks but there is a 7 foot high wall between each lane.....they can't see each other. When the gun goes off they know someone is running next to them....but they have no idea of how far ahead or behind they are. What do you think will happen?
Sure, Usain Bolt is likely still going to win the race.....because he's naturally gifted and the fastest man in the world. What about the others though? Without that visual prompt of how they are doing.....most of them will never run their best times....because they don't have that visceral drive and motivation to do so.
You don't need to worry about motivating the Usain Bolts on your team.....but you only have one of them. You need to spend your energy getting the best out of the middle of the pack employees so that with your motivation and recognition....you turn them all into olympic champions.
Our leadership training helps owners and department managers learn the skills to build a high performing team that loves to come to work each day. Let us teach you too!
Email Michael at michaelg@powershottraining.com for a no obligation phone consultation today.
