Employee Motivation Lessons from the Military

Unlike Hollywood’s depiction of motivation in the military (the harsh drill sergeant) the armed services have developed much more sophisticated ways to motivate improved performance.  Not many would argue that collectively the US Military is the best in the world.  It's also no wonder that those who have served often go on to successful careers as leaders in many industries.

What lessons can we learn from how the military communicates and trains its leaders and troops? 

The military has known for years that their  personnel are motivated by recognition.  In the 1700’s it was Napoleon who coined the phrase:

“A soldier will fight long and hard

                                                for a bit of colored ribbon.”

                                                                     

After researching several articles on the subject, here are just a few of the ideas on motivation and leadership that we found:

• Your focus should always be on leadership and team building
• Your concern and interest in your employees has to be real.  If you can’t muster true empathy and pride in the people who work for you, you won’t go as far as you think you should
• Always put your employees needs first
• Empower your employees to perform at their highest levels, take roadblocks and needless regulations out of the way.
• Make sure that what you ask your employees is attainable and then tell them the how and the why 
• Effectively communicate your vision and objectives through as many different objectives as you can.
• Manage by walking around and showing genuine interest in your people
• Make recognition and appreciation a constant
• Respect those who report to you as individuals and you cannot take them for granted

For more information on Ultimate Choice Inc.’s products or services or other white papers please contact us at Ultimatechoiceinfo@cox.net

Employee Engagement Drives Significant Corporate Benefit

The Gallup’s most recent State of the American Workplace report paints a fairly clear picture or how important employee engagement is to company success. 

When compared to organizations with lower levels of employee engagement, those with higher levels of engagement typically experience these type results:

• 41% lower absenteeism
• 24% lower turnover (high turnover industries)
• 59% lower turnover (low turnover industries)
• 28% less shrinkage
• 70% fewer employee safety incidents
• 58% fewer patient safety incidents
• 40% fewer quality incidents (defects)
• 17% higher productivity
• 20% higher sales
• 21% higher profitability

As the majority of employee engagement is based on employee satisfaction, and employee appreciation and recognition is a key component of satisfied employees, it is also fair to say that employee recognition and awards are key in increasing performance.  For years, the C-Suite constantly asked for the return on investment of recognition and reward dollars.  Is it not also fair to say that employee rewards systems can drive bottom line results and the increase in profits noted by the stats above?

For more information on Ultimate Choice Inc.’s products or services or other white papers please contact us at Ultimatechoiceinfo@cox.net