Diagnosing and Improving Motivation

Diagnosing and Improving Motivation

MGT 425 Leadership & Motivation

Diagnosing and Improving Motivation

Motivation is the key to success. Tim Notke coined a popular phrase, “Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard.” In other words, without effort, there is no progress and a lack of effort means there is a motivation issue. Motivation is the difference between achieving organizational goals and missing them, this affects turnover, expenses and focus . Motivating a team is the most important skill of a leader, this requires diagnosing and correcting issues or concerns to improve motivation. After reviewing the case study, “Diagnosing and Improving Motivation,” we will discuss the team’s strengths and weakness, changes that can help motivate, enhancing feedback, customer service and replacing high quality leaders.

Describe the strengths and weaknesses of Jessica’s existing sales force

Like most teams, Jessica’s has strengths and opportunity areas. She has a team with leaders that are motivated to improve. She has a sales force that has a high percentage of quality employees. They are loyal, responsible, timely and work well together. Her team definitely has weaknesses, they avoid difficult or extra work, they aren’t excited about trying new things, they complain and wait for management to fix things . It is important to understand the biggest opportunity areas begin with her. There is a serious lack of structure and direction. The leaders are not on the same page and they have failed to share best practices. There is a true lack of vision and Jessica is out of touch with her sales force. She doesn’t know what motivates them and has assumed that commission is enough.

Describe changes to the company’s processes that would help motivate the sales force

It is a common assumption that individuals in the sales profession are motivated by money. While money is important, incentives focused on money do not necessarily meet everyone’s needs. Jessica assumed her sales force was motivated by commission and that the top sales people would win a trip to Bermuda. The best thing she did was create dialogue with the salesforce to identify what truly motivated them. She focused on creating options that would suit a wider variety of people and she also implemented a plan to spend more time recognizing and sharing of success stories.

Explain how enhancing the feedback process can improve productivity and performance

Feedback is a gift. Communication between departments helps identify what is truly important, what is working versus what isn’t. Feedback creates the opportunity for positive change. Whether it is to improve customer experience or employee experience. Employees feel valued and that their opinion matters which develops buy in and loyalty to the company. In return, employees are more likely to show initiative, work harder towards achieving goals and trust when it comes to change in the work place.

Describe how Jessica changed the sales force’s customer service emphasis.

Jessica’s team utilized reporting and other departments to identify the needs in different regions. They worked with accounting, advertising and service to dial in on specific improvements that could be made and how the sales force impacted all areas of the business. Jessica showed the sales force the bigger picture and how they contribute to the company. She also identified the needs of her employees and found what motivated them. A motivated employee working to achieve and provide will naturally improve the customers experience.

Explain how to maintain positive momentum with replacement team members.

Jessica needs to ensure she hires the right people to replace her recent departures. They need to be committed to motivating, achieving and development. If she hires the right individuals and onboards them correctly, progress should continue without a hitch. She needs to ensure she inspects what she expects and stay in touch with her new leaders. She needs to lead by example and not micromanage. If she trusts in her hires, stays in tune with her salesforce and continues to promote the positive change in motivation and vision, momentum will continue.

Conclusion

Effort is the key to success. finding the motivation in a sales force is a leaders most important responsibility. This is how winning is done. An unmotivated team can be detrimental to a company’s and a leader’s career. Awareness of the teams needs, providing a vison and offering empowerment are all a must, these are the things we saw Jessica do in the case study. More specifically, we looked at her team’s strengths and weakness, the changes that could help motivate, enhancing feedback, customer service and replacing high quality leaders.