Learn the steps to creating your own employee motivational plan.
Employee behavior management is the fuel that keeps organizations running efficiently and effectively. Investing in motivating exemplary employee behavior is central to organizational success. This takes strategic planning and implementation to develop, correct, and continuously encourage and engage employees to reach their full potential. There are many instances where organizations that invest in their employees notice those employees investing in that organization.
The first step in starting an employee motivational plan is pinpointing the behaviors you would like to increase and/or decrease. You might want to encouraged behaviors that increase interdepartmental collaboration, communication and marketing in what is known as cross-collaboration. Cross-collaboration happens when a group of people with different expertise work together to complete a task or project that aligns with the organization’s goals and mission.
The next crucial step in the planning process is defining what cross-collaboration looks like for the organization and departments. One might explain to their employees which behaviors they would like to see and which they do not. However, each employee may define cross-collaboration behavior differently and this often leads to staff confusion. It is vital you spend a lot of time defining cross-collaboration so everyone in the organization will see what cross-collaboration looks like when observed and how to demonstrate cross-collaboration behaviors.
Another important step in defining target behavior is providing examples of what the behavior looks like and does not look like. An example of cross-collaboration would be the summer camp department and the creative arts department working together to develop a summer camp that enhances camp participants’ experiences while increasing the departments’ outreach. An example of a lack of cross-collaboration would be the creative arts department and summer camp department offering the same camp during the summer, therefore not using the community space to the fullest potential and limiting potential of impact.
It is imperative to collect information to assess the staff at the early stages of your plan. Creating an employee survey is an effective way to collect information regarding employee motivation to cross-collaborate.
The fourth step is to analyze the employee survey data and summarize the findings to develop a measuring tool and intervention strategy. Start off by collecting baseline data to measure and monitor the effectiveness of the intervention. An example of a baseline measuring tool is having employees complete a pre-questionnaire relating to cross-collaboration tasks as outlined above.
The fifth step is launching the intervention. An example of an intervention might be a 30-day cross-collaboration challenge. The success of the intervention will be determined according to set goals, such as increasing cross-collaboration by at least 30% from baseline levels in 30 days.
An example of an intervention is having employees record instances of cross-collaboration using a scorecard they will turn in each week, and in turn, receive rewards for collaborating. However, the organization must provide a detailed intervention sheet so employees can understand every step of the invention in detail.
A detailed plan might look like this:
- Employees receive their scorecards and document daily points. Each week employees email their scorecard to the data collector.
- The scorecards are to be turned in by noon each Monday.
- A weekly graph is placed in the staff lunchroom by noon each Tuesday that shows each employee’s cross-collaborative frequency.
Employee 30-Day Challenge Information Sheet
Each employee will receive scorecards. If an employee turns in their completed weekly scorecards on or before the due date, the employee receives__________.
- If an employee increases their cross collaboration by 30% each week, the employee will receive___________.
- At the end of the challenge, ____________ employees will be able to cash in their total points for an item on the shopping list.
Developing an intervention plan that is fun, motivating, and simple will most affect employee engagement and motivation. Decreasing response effort by adding task prompts, system modifications, employee intervention training and goal setting will help start cross-collaboration among staff. Furthermore, providing quick feedback and individualized incentives may lead to more frequent cross-collaboration.
Finally, an organization should continue to monitor the intervention and make changes as necessary until the intervention is complete. After this time, the organization should seek employee feedback through a post survey.
