MOTIVATORS
kcoffey
19 Posts
We are planning a Spring Kickoff in April for our employees. I work for a landscape company and have 140 employees. I have decided that we are going to have a buffet style breakfast, but would really like some ideas on getting our employees motivated for the upcoming year. Does anyone have any suggestions? We have had drawings in the past, which I still may include, but would like to try something different.
Comments
In all seriousness, I dont think of these kinds of events as "motivating". Community building, yes. Enjoyable, sure. Memorable, possibly.
Motivating? Probably not. At least not the long term kind of motivation you are probably hoping for.
Of course that takes the pressure off doesn't it? Now you can focus on planning a community building, enjoyable, memorable event without all that pressure to motivate people.
Seriously, are you trying for better attendance, harder work, or what? It just becomes a bunch of background noise without a theme, and a pay-off for doing something better.
Are you trying to imply that the original posters workplace is unsafe and therefore the employees are unable to be motivated because they are stuck on level two?
Or am I reading too much into your two word post?
Hey, maybe that would be a great event? A Maslowe Buffet breakfast with five different areas for the employees to gather.
Area one would deal with basica physiological needs: food, water, shelter. Area two with safety: employment issues, etc. Area three would focus on love/belonging. You would want to be careful there. Area four: esteem. Area five: self-actualization.
Employees could wander around and visit the areas that are most appropriate to their situation.
The final fifth area would just be a circle of employees sitting crisc cross applesauce and meditating.
Just a comment that motivating 100+ folks over a long term, like a whole landscaping season, is difficult at best. I think it borders on impossible without having some sort of theme that is different or at least better expressed than any current mission statement.
Much of the work force shares my cynicism with respect to working for a living. If your hard work is going to translate into bigger profits that will not be shared, well then a lot of folks are going to say why should I work harder to get more done in an 8 hour day? Most will want that to translate into bonuses, promotions, etc - all targeted toward elevating that person up the heirachy pyramid.
If you buy into that logic, then extending it to the EE would mean the company would need to show that the harder work will benefit that person as well as the company.
Ok, a little convoluted, but there is our explanation.
kcoffey, the buffet breakfast is definitely a good start. Build on that with further incentives, most of which will be monetary. After all, none of us do this work thing for free. I say "most" because some will come in the form of proving the employees' importance to the company. This is done by actually incorporating employees' ideas, relying on their decision making and judgement, and giving them extra responsibility. However, you have to be ready to do this. Some companies cannot trust their employees enough to carry this out. Hopefully, yours does.
Treat people as you woild like them to be, and that they will become. This has worked for me.
If you want some ideas for your event, can you provide some more details on who will be there, what your budget is, how much time, the location, etc.
Marc and I can come up with something and split our fee 50/50.