Perhaps your partners, your employees, your teammates don’t need gold stars. Maybe they don’t need the bonus incentive to do extra work. It’s possible the reward system is a band-aid to a larger problem, not the solution to it.
There’s a few things I know for a fact when it comes to getting others to go the extra mile, take on more work, create something remarkable in addition to their job description.
1) Praise. I don’t need to show you the statistics of those who would rather receive less pay if it meant more recognition. And there is this. Endorsed by the one and only. I give email shoutouts to my team of writers when one of them does something way in advance or something remarkable and unasked. Everyone sees who the shoutout is for and why.
2) Passion. As manager or whatever similar title you hold, it falls under your job description to encourage your team to work with passion. If they are assigned a task that doesn’t suit them (and you should know without them mentioning it), then work out a different way to frame the objective to ignite the fire in their belly. You achieve this by acting on fact number three.
3) Connection. You must connect with each individual to learn what encourages them to go past all expectations. Every one is different and to treat them or reward them all the same is a tragedy. You wouldn’t treat all your customers the same, why would you your team?
The question isn’t what can you reward them with for working extra. The question is how can you get to know them better to learn what drives them to do more.
Often times, simply by connecting, it is reward in and of itself.
Stay Positive & Toss The Gold Stickers And Bonuses, Your Team Deserves More
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