Figuring Out the Secret To Keeping Employees Motivated

Those that know me will know that I have a 'thing' for luggage. I've travelled over two million miles in the last decade and learned the value of good packing & good luggage long ago.

I also have a passion for learning about what makes companies resonate with others - and have collected a substantial list of behaviours and attributes that seem to work for most. 

Red Oxx is a company based out of Montana which fulfils all those criteria for me, and I recently discovered this news segment in which their CEO Jim Markel explains how employee engagement creates committed employees who get involved with company growth. (Click here to see the video).

Jim and the team have figured out the secret to keeping employees motivated. They capture the emotion, passion, strengths and values of every employee and demonstrate it with every action they take - be that creation of a better working environment or getting great new innovations into practice. 

Fundamentally, as he explains "It's all about  building culture within your company".

So how does that fit with my check list? Remember this is personal to me, it may not work for you....

1. This is a company that fundamentally does the right thing, they follow what they believe in and demonstrate it in thought, word and deed. Their public persona matches their private behaviour.

2. The passion for their products shines through, the things they create are loved by those that work there, and it shows in the quality and attention to detail.

3. Ethically they fit into my personal world view - whilst they manufacture an American product from mostly American materials in America using Americans, they also support a community in Guatemala creating the monkey fist zip pulls used on the bags - they don't promote this much, it's just something they feel it's right to do. I like the pride in domestic product and humility in helping those with less opportunity.

3. Their customer service is not just amazing, it's human too. If you call them, don't expect to get anything other than an engaged, charming and passionate person on the other end of the line who's willing to help.

4. Nothing is too much trouble. Five years ago we needed a very odd shaped, but simple bag to transport an infant car seat on vacation. The bag was with us in a few days - and the only additional cost from a standard bag was proportional to the additional fabric.

5. They deliver on promises. The end product is every bit as good (if not better) than described. Nobody is tougher on luggage than me and my family, and I simply could not travel effectively without my Air Boss (eldest son loves his Flying Box Car...the list goes on)

I like to buy things from companies I believe in. Hearing Jim talk about employee engagement reinforces my opinion and experience with the company. 

As you read this today, think about the companies you patronise - how many fulfil the criteria that work for me. Is your company behaving in this way? 

What are YOU personally doing to promote passion and engagement in those you work with, work for or manage?

Want to learn more - take a look at Gallups latest on Employee Performance and Engagement here.

Then visit the UK's Engage For Success project for more examples and see how you can help.

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Dead Horse Culture

I enjoyed this one arriving in my inbox a few days back, and found myself thinking of examples where I'd seen each of these behaviours over the years.

Not necessarily productive, but a lot of fun :-)

Dakota tribal wisdom says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. However, in business we often try other strategies with dead horses, including the following:

1. Arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses. 
2. Buying a stronger whip. 
3. Changing riders. 
4. Say things like, "This is the way we have always ridden this horse." 
5. Appointing a committee to study the horse. 
6. Increasing the standards to ride dead horses. 
7. Appointing a tiger team to revive the dead horse. 
8. Creating a training session to increase our riding ability. 
9. Comparing the state of dead horses in today's environment. 
10. Change the requirements declaring that "This horse is not dead." 
11. Hire contractors to ride the dead horse. 
12. Harnessing several dead horses together for increased speed. 
13. Declaring that "No horse is too dead to beat." 
14. Providing additional funding to increase the horse's performance. 
15. Do a Cost Analysis study to see if contractors can ride it cheaper. 
16. Purchase a product to make dead horses run faster. 
17. Declare the horse is "better, faster and cheaper" dead. 
18. Form a quality circle to find uses for dead horses. 
19. Revisit the performance requirements for horses. 
20. Say this horse was procured with cost as an independent variable. 
21. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position 

I've heard the 'flogging a dead horse analogy' a lot in recent years, in many companies the act of changing a culture can often feel that way.

An executive with the best of intentions sets out to build some camaraderie amongst a team or an organisation, and decides that some new values on the wall will help. At this point the horse is dead.

Dysfunctional teams can be helped by culture transformation, but it's using a sledgehammer to crack the proverbial nut.

If you're thinking of changing your culture make sure you have a clear diagnostic of the current state, a clear idea of the outcome you're trying to achieve and most importantly a passion and conviction for the journey ahead.

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