Coronavirus: Motivational action plan for employees, managers and the business

In these unprecedented times of COVID-19, businesses are being forced to take drastic action with regards to their employees, writes Steve Jones of Skills for Business.

More and more employees are working from home and many more will be self-isolating.

This in itself can present challenges to business owners, managers and employees themselves.

Who will respond well to working from home and who will struggle? How will managers cope when their staff are not in the office?

A quick look at what motivates staff can really help.

If you understand the motivational drivers of your employees, it can go a long way to identifying the correct strategies to adopt in managing them.

There are three key motivators:

1. Work motivators

   1. Builder: seeks money, material satisfaction, and above-average living

   2. Director: seeks power, influence, control of people/resources

   3. Expert: seeks expertise, mastery, specialisation

2. Relationship motivators

   1. Friend: seeks belonging, friendship, fulfilling relationships

   2. Defender: seeks security, predictability, stability

   3. Star: seeks recognition, respect, social esteem

3. Self-motivators

   1. Searcher: seeks meaning, making a difference, providing worthwhile things

   2. Creator: seeks innovation, identification with new, expressing creative potential

   3. Spirit: seeks freedom, independence, making own decisions

By identifying and analysing the motivational drivers for each of your staff, you can match their motivation to that of the business and understand who:

• will respond well to change

• will resist change

• will work well from home and who won’t

• which managers might struggle not having their team with them and which ones won’t

This information would enable business owners and their managers to continue to increase overall performance and create unity.

In the following charts we highlight:

• The fears and strategies behind each motivation

• The do’s and don’ts of managing each motivation

With this information at hand, combined with Motivational Mapping, you have the perfect tool for understanding what motivates your staff and the best way to manage them through the COVID-19 outbreak.

It takes an employee 12 minutes to complete and gives you a 15 page report on their/your motivation.

For further information email Steve Jones, managing director, Skills for Business:

[email protected]

www.skillsforbusinesstraining.co.uk