Tweet

Motivation with consequences

Guest post by: Howard Miller

Article Overview: How do you motivate someone to do something they don’t want to do?

Motivation with consequences

In one of my management workshops we were discussing motivation techniques. An attendee said it sounded liked I suggested they threaten their employees.

I quickly responded by saying no don't threaten them, just have motivation with consequences.

The class laughed because they thought that phrase was a creative way of saying threaten your employees.

But it isn't. Not really.

You can't motivate someone to do something they don't want to do. Well, maybe you can, but the motivation won't last.

So how do you motivate someone to do something they don't want to do?

You need to find out what's in it for them.

Will there be rewards if it gets done? Will there be consequences if it doesn't?

The employee needs to get bothered one way or another. Their stability needs to be shaken in order for a motivating factor to work.

Otherwise why would they change?

If there weren't rewards or consequences for them, why should they change doing something they don't want to do?

Having a reward is a more pleasant, Zen, healthier way for motivation.

But when there isn't a reward, go for consequences!

In order to get someone motivated:

• You need to find out what motivates them
• Find a reward or consequence which will personally affect them
• Follow up on what you say will happen

Don't offer a reward or consequence if you can't give it. That would only make future motivation more difficult.

And how do you find out what motivates others?

Simple: Observe them, ask them and listen to them.

Then you have your data to offer rewards or consequences!

Related Articles
  What's Your Motivation?
  My Sales Force Won't Use CRM
  Turn Your Resolution Into Success
  Becoming a Leader – 5 Fountains of Motivation
  3rd of the Top 10 Kurlan Sales Management Functions
  Employee Motivation is Volatile: Employers Must Both Create and Sustain It!
  Why Motivation Malfunctions at Midlife
  5 Ways to Motivate Your Salespeople
  Procrastination to Motivation
  The Laws of Execution - How to Systematically Get Things Done - Five Part Series - Part Five
  How to Use Inspiration or Desperation to Sell More
  Sure Fire Confidence Builders
  Big Bird’s Guide to Change Management - Learn your A, B, C, Ds
  The Most Important Sales Leadership Discipline to Motivating Sales Teams
  Sales Training - Making it Stick!
  Can you have high accountability if you don't have consequences?
  What are the important steps to examining employee motivation and reducing employee turnover
  Use Your Motivation To Your Advantage
  Probing For Pain
  Self-Doubt -- Motivation

Article Tags: absenteeism, acronyms, always, asking questions, behavior, behavior assessment, Change management, coaching, colloquialisms, communications, conflict, conflict resolution, consequences, dealing with difficult people, dealing with difficult situations, difficult personalities, DiSC, do as I say not as I do, effective questions, facebook, facts, fair, fairness, focus, gen x, gen y, generational differences, glass half empty, glass half full, how to deal with difficult people, humor, leadership, listening, management, management skills, management skills for new managers, managing techies, managing technical people, miscommunication, motivation, never, new managers, objective vs subjective, opportunities, optimism, personality, powerful questions, questions, rewards, shift, sometimes, time management



Related Forum Posts
Re: How To Stay Motivated In Your Business - Motivation spurs people into actions every time. When there is no motivation the reason to move forward seems lost. Thanks so much for this post Evan
Patent Pending Status & gettin Royalties absent an agree - Hi I am an inventor and I want to know what the consequences are, if any, if a manufacturer sells my product absent a licensing agreement with me. There are hundreds of manufacturers who can convert their manufacturing facilities and easily produce my product. And there are others who can pop up out of nowhere and produce my product as well. Also how long will take to get patent pending status?
Re: Are You Complying with the FTC? - Hi Jeff, I understand the apparent benefits of these regulations to us as consumers. However, from a legal stand point, don't you think they will set precedents and open the doors to more stringent regulations on the internet? Monitoring? Datamining? Subpoenas? I know some advocacy groups must. I'm not taking any sides in this issue. And perhaps "outrage" is a strong word. But I do think that if FTC begin to heavily regulate social media, there will be deeper consequences. Do you foresee drastic behavioral changes from bloggers and the online entrepreneurial community?
Re: Finding AND Keeping Good People - Employee retention or as you mention “Keeping the Good People” is one of the biggest challenges for any growing business. It takes a huge effort from the entrepreneur’s end. I can come up with the following when it comes to KEEPing the good people- 1. Motivation of the employees 2. Recognition of the needs of the employees 3. Activities to make the employees feel valuable towards the organization 4. Make benefits more accessible 5. Offer profit sharing incentives 6. Create clear career paths at the company 7. Consider telecommuting, job sharing and other flexible working arrangements 8. Incentives are essential and they don't have to be huge 9. Have other managers praise an employee's work 10. Be sensitive to the balance between work and private life
Re: What Franchisors Want From Franchisees - Kevin - Here's a rough summary of your questions. Your credit score - below 600's and you're considered high risk. Best if you are in the high 600's and above... if you're in 700's you're golden. Franchisers want to see people who can relate to other people. If you are very shy or you dislike working with the public, then this can count against you. Even if you can fake it... why would you bother? Great customer service is a benchmark any business owner should strive for... Financing arrangements will vary - if you can show that you have 20% above all of your start-up costs, this would help. The more assets you own the better. Motivation can be expressed in HOW you plan the start-up. It's all in the details. Are you taking the opportunity seriously? Are you learning and studying business attributes like marketing, salesmanship, and customer service? Demonstrate that you are motivated. Subscribing to their system would be about following their rules. If you have a maverick mentality... then consider starting your own business where you make the rules... not a franchise. Franchisers have different ways in how they evaluate their prospects. Your professional background or history can play an important role in the final evaluation. This is really about common sense...


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

SEO and the Entrepreneur

Are You Reaching Out?

Is the Media to blame for losses in super?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.