[MgmtSIG] motivating employees

Fri May 23 08:44:24 MDT 2008

Another great resource is Gallup's StrengthsFinder assessment. It's a different approach than Myers-Briggs and DISC, so people benefit from both approaches. This tool assesses a person's top five strengths out of a pool of 34. They also rank the top five. Gallup's research has shown that successful people operate out of their top five strengths. Of course, like Myers-Briggs or DISC, the assessment test is brief and the result takes two minutes to read, but to benefit from the results, you need to understand your strengths and seek to develop or apply them. StrengthsFinder has an impressive list of corporations that have used the assessment tool.

To take the online assessment, you can purchase the book, Now, Discover Your Strengths (Free Press, 2001), co-authored by Donald O. Clifton and Marcus Buckingham:

http://gmj.gallup.com/book_center/NDYS/default.aspx
The book contains a unique identification number that allows you access to the Clifton StrengthsFinder Profile on the Internet. StrengthsFinders

For college students, the StrengthsQuest assessment tool and book are available. The assessment tool is exactly the same, but the examples in the book for developing the strengths is geared towards a college student's environment. For college students, see:

http://www.strengthsquest.com/parentfaq.asp
My son's entire Freshman class was given the assessment during each summer orientation. When the freshmen arrived on campus, their top five strengths were posted on the dorm doors. Professors were trained to lead small groups during the first semester and dialog with students how their top five strengths influenced their study habits, performance in school, etc. I was pretty impressed.

The online prices for these tools are so reasonable now, people could easily take two and compare the results (since they assess slightly different things).

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From: mgmtsig-bounces+elsie.sanders=intervoice.com at mailman.stc.org [mailto:mgmtsig-bounces+elsie.sanders=intervoice.com at mailman.stc.org] On Behalf Of The Content Wrangler
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 5:35 PM
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Subject: Re: [MgmtSIG] motivating employees

I found an article at Consulting Magazine called 'Finnegan: Firms Should Look Inward to Improve Retention' that I thought would be of interest to those thinking through all the various ways we might motivate folks.

http://tinyurl.com/6lu83k

The author has some pretty interesting things to say.

Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler
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On May 22, 2008, at 5:49 PM, Bratten, Susan wrote:

This is timely . . . I just attended an afternoon training yesterday on how to motivate employees.

We learned, among other things, that "spot awards" are very good motivators. These can be $200 to $500 awards given as recognition of a job well done. They should be given very soon after the job has been completed. Another thing is "great idea" gifts worth $25 or less that are given the same week as someone has a good idea or does something to improve the workplace or the work itself. These are good because they are not reported as income to IRS. They must be given almost immediately to be effective. Research found that people are more motivated by small money rewards than by their yearly salary increases.

Sue

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