Power of Small Steps

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Recently, I joined the early morning Monday operations meeting of my company, as I often do, but this time, I had with me small packages (gifts) for those (no matter their positions) who in the past few months took significant steps (no matter how small), to move our organisation forward. One of the “junior” employees was so inspired and encouraged by this recognition. His reaction was so intense than I could have imagined.

Dale Carnegie, a renowned expert on human capital development said that “All people, from the president of the most successful companies to the clerk at the supermarket want to be told they are doing a first-rate job, that they are smart, they are capable, and their efforts are recognised. A little bit of recognition, a dash of encouragement at just the right moment, is often all it lakes to transform a good employee into a great one.”

He added that: “when dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotions.”

The clarion call today in the face of very challenging economic indicators, is that we must ignite emotions to ensure growth and productivity.

Driving distinctly value-adding innovation in the workplace requires creative productivity every day. Our employees. are “knowledge” workers, we must therefore “ignite their emotions, fuel their motivation and trigger their perceptions.”

Teresa Amabile, Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School in her research on the consequences of psychological experience on intrinsic motivation, noted that in order to boost team performance with individual and team accountability, employees must be made “to see their own progress”. “The employee is motivated to do something because it is interesting, enjoyable and satisfying to him personally and also challenges his skills and experience.”

She pointed out that we can achieve optimal motivational state for creativity in the workplace by watching out for the following: what influences day-to-day psychological state at work and what are the specific events that provoke the ideal psychological state.

As leaders, we must ensure good work and recognise it by giving tangible incentives, clear goals and interpersonal support.

“Inner Work Life” is the mix of emotions, motivation and perceptions on a work day. It examines how employees are motivated by intrinsic interests in the workplace. How happy they feel. How positively they view the organisation. Also, how positively they view the leadership, teams, their work and themselves.

The basic dynamic behind this model is that all responsibilities in the workplace definitely involve creativity. For us to therefore achieve value-adding creativity on a daily basis, we must positively manage and influence employees’ emotions and moods; motivation levels, perceptions of the work environment, perception of their work, daily events that stand out in their minds and of course, the ups and downs they experience.

It is very important that we do not lead with constant high pressure on employees to spur achievements. Putting associates under fear and intimidation is counterproductive and kills initiatives and creativity. Leading with fear and intimidation is “primitive” and outrightly kills ownership by employees or associates. Research has exhaustively proved that ensuring “Inner Work Life” enhances creative output and progressively generates greater productivity. This great mix of emotions, motivations and positive perception is critical to ensuring productivity and profitability.

Employees must be happy at the end of each working day. They must be convinced that they achieved something meaningful, no matter how small.

Leaders must seriously guide against blame and setbacks as well as joyless employees. We must motivate associates by impacting positively on their wellbeing. Do you know that this gives greater influence to the leaders? When leaders motivate and enhance creative output, they clearly support companies progress. The work must matter to the person doing it. Leaders’ actions must set in motion the positive feedback loop between progress and employee’s engagement as well as satisfaction.

To ensure the effectiveness of the Inner Work Life model, corporate culture must include positive habits that deliver comprehensively the well-being of employees. We must support each other’s daily progress and avoid negative feedback loops. Respect for each other must become a habit. Do not manipulate incentive schemes to make employees’ feel motivated and happy.

Guarantee sure progress by ensuring the general well-being of your associates. Treat them well and make them love their jobs. It is worthy of note that possibilities for rewards are endless. We just need to create them and give them every time we need to.

Four (words) in the IWL model are very germane. They are; catalysts, nourishers, inhibitors and toxins. Catalysts are actions that directly support and enhance work such as value-adding support from bosses, supervisors and colleagues.

Nourishers encapsulate the habitual show of respect as well as lavishly dishing out words of appreciation and encouragement.

Inhibitors are actions that fail to support and even hinder work. Toxins are undermining and discouraging events.

Big wins are great but significant small steps forward tremendously boost IWL and of course, great productivity. Small steps forward progressively add-up. They evoke tremendous positive reactions, motivations and favourable perceptions. They are “small milestones”. They improve and give a fillip to value-adding engagement in the workplace. They give very potent effect to creativity and productivity. They boost employees’ happiness and joy. They are small but significant and consistent steps forward. When shared by team members, they accumulate and securely guarantee excellent execution. They determine progress that are critical to performance, productivity and profitability.

People indeed, work for money, but they will go the extra mile for recognition, praise, encouragement and rewards. Creating an employee “ownership” environment in the workplace is a sine qua non to organisational success.

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