Motivation & Rewards: You Can't Buy Trust

By: EM Sky
Submitted: 2007-01-17 11:53:50
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As a manager, I really question the value of motivating people through reward systems and other motivational techniques. I don't think managers should approach people by trying to "motivate" them. Instead, I think we should be trying to engage them.

When considering any kind of "reward structure," remember that "rewards" place a lot of emphasis on the hierarchy system. You don't "reward" a superior. You don't "reward" a friend. You "reward" people who are beneath you in the hierarchy, and everyone knows it. So "rewards" can be a subtle way of reminding people of their "place."

If you want your direct reports to put their best foot forward, you aren't likely to get there by trying to buy their enthusiasm--or their loyalty.

The best manager I ever knew quickly became both my mentor and my friend. I have never felt so motivated to work hard and do a good job for a "boss" in my life. But he never once gave me a "reward." Here's what he did do...

1. He asked for my opinions. He always wanted my input, and I never lost even an ounce of his respect over a "bad" idea. There were just ideas we used and ideas we didn't, but every idea was worth mentioning. If he knew something wouldn't work, then he told me why it wouldn't, using it to teach me something new about the business from his own experience.

2. He gave me excellent feedback. He always told me what worked for him and--respectfully-- what didn't work for him. He always let me know how he was feeling about the project. I always knew where I stood with him, and I gained a lot of valuable experience from him very quickly.

3. He gave me credit for my suggestions. When one of my ideas ended up incorporated into a project or a business plan, he always gave me credit for it with his superiors. He made sure that the people he reported to knew about my contributions.

4. He made teamwork a way of life. In meetings and presentations, even with his superiors, he never said, "I'm going to do this," or "I decided..." He always said, "We're going to do this," or "We decided..." We weren't just his "employees" - we were his team.

5. He never made me "go it alone." When he gave me a new responsibility, he always gave me enough direction that I didn't feel lost. And he never chastised me for asking questions. I never once saw him get annoyed with or lose respect for anyone who asked for help.

6. He gave me room to make mistakes. When I messed up--even when I messed up badly--he simply explained to me where I'd gone wrong and told me what to do instead in the future. He didn't sugarcoat anything, but he never made me feel as though I had "ruined" anything either. He never made me feel that my mistakes couldn't be fixed.

7. He trusted me with real responsibility. He gave me meaningful tasks to accomplish right from the beginning, and over time he trusted me to handle more and more tasks on my own. He laid out a clear path to promotion, and he made sure I always knew what I needed to do to earn the next level.

Bill was a brilliant manager, but he never did any of these things in order to "motivate" his team. He did them out of his own values of respect, support, encouragement, and connection. Instead of "rewarding" his team, Bill chose to trust us, which goes a heck of a lot farther toward building real loyalty.

Some people will argue that "you can't trust everybody," but I don't believe that. Trust can start in the small things, and everyone can be trusted with something. It's important to remember that not trusting people often has more to do with us than it does with them.

Trust is a bond that has to be built on both sides. So if you're a manager and you haven't been trusting your team as much as you'd like to, it's okay to build that trust in steps. The first six management practices listed above lead naturally to number seven. Just start at the beginning and work your way through. A soon as you start to earn their trust, they'll start to earn yours.

--EM Sky has been a math instructor for The Johns Hopkins University, a special effects technician in Hollywood, a project manager for BellSouth, and a rock climbing instructor in Atlanta. She even tried being a lawyer for a while, but fortunately she came to her senses. Now she is an author, writing on business, life, and society for the whole human being. [http://blog.mindunbound.com]

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