What Exactly Are You Be Working For?

Philippines
August 17, 2011 7:43am CST
I've been struggling lately to remind myself how to motivate people. I'm running out of ideas and I sure could use everybody's help. I handle a team of people at the place I work in. Time for meeting up with them is very constrained, and sometimes we hardly ever meet at all in a month given the workload that they're taking on. They've already done every imaginable proect, or game or team up in order to take the monotony out of their work. And most of them are tenured employees. Now all I'm seeing is a team that is working daily to just to earn, never mind if they hit their performance goals. I've consulted them what they need in order to work for their performance so they can achieve incentives and get higher pay. But all they really want is some extra break time during work. A breather, sort of. What could i do for them? Is there anything I could actually do for them? How about ou, what motivates you to work? What do you think about to get you through the day? What do you think about to boost your performance?
4 responses
• United States
23 Aug 11
My work has little contests. Nothing big but usually an entry to win a gift card for our store. If they need numbers to meet corporates demands sometimes they'll say the first one that gets so many will get a candy bar or something like that. We also have a sheet everyday with our goals listed on it to help get the store to it's goal. It's mostly a suggestion as you are not punished if you cannot reach your goal because you can not force customers to sign up for things they do not wish to KWIM? The boss for my area will come around when numbers are down and ask how you approach things and give you a pep talk. Maybe give your employee's a pep talk about their earning potential if they would put more effort into their job... you know encourage them to go beyond what is expected. As if they do well on their job that reflects on you doing your job well.
18 Aug 11
hi apoljuice1:) I work mostly to buy the things that I need and to pay for my obligations, and have extra for savings if there is left. for now I have a goal of buying a new cellphone, and that motivates me to work hard,and my mothers birthday is coming next month, so I want to buy her something that she likes.
@dodo19 (47038)
• Beaconsfield, Quebec
18 Aug 11
I think that we each have our own reasons for working. I am working because I want to provide for my family, getting out of debt, and just being able to do something good, feel like I'm contributing something, one way or another. My family really is my primary motivation. However, these are my own reasons. I think sometimes you just need to try and remind yourself why you're working. It's not always easy to do, but sometimes it can help to motivate yourself.
@haopee (493)
• Philippines
18 Aug 11
Hi apoljuice1. If only your team members could see how concerned you are about them. My old boss used to treat us when my officemates can reach their quota and he also adds new supplies of coffee or soft drinks in the refrigerator when he earns a little extra. One technique I've noticed is the incentive system. A friend of mine earned a little extra (usually a small allowance worth one meal) whenever he performed above his expected workload. And by the end of the week, the one who performs best is also rewarded extra compensation, such as an additional day allowance or what my colleagues called the Sunday allowance.