Author:
Jean Bertrand de Lartigue -
Chairman of HR specialist HR2all LTD

Jean-Bertrand de Lartigue, MD of Bridgend-based hr2all and lecturer at Cardiff Business School, explains how applying the right sort of motivation is the key to a competitive business.

Stress in the workplace is seen as one of the biggest problems in today¹s business climate. It¹s one of the biggest causes - directly and indirectly - of absenteeism. It stops people from working efficiently and even drives some to leave or take premature retirement. But putting the right sort of stress on people can actually create a positive environment where people blossom and productivity goes through the roof.

As a species, we all need some stress to help us function. It has been a driver to our evolution and to top achievers maximising their gifts. Ask any top performer how they feel before going on stage or into the stadium and they will describe symptoms that include raised heartrate and heightened senses - faculties that will drive them to a better performance. Most writers will tell you that their best work is done to a deadline. And it's a sure bet that Michael Schumacher doesn¹t get into his Ferrari on race day feeling laid back!

So most (although not all) of us can raise our game in the right circumstances. But how can you harness this hugely potent asset in the workplace - creating 'positive stress' - without generating all the downsides we normally associate with negative stress, such as ill health, tension and an inability to prioritise?

The answer is good, constructive management, creating the right framework for people to produce their best - and feel rewarded and appreciated for that effort.

To begin with, management has to learn to include their staff in their strategic thinking. if people don¹t know why they¹ve been told to do a task in a certain way, they can hardly hope to find ways of doing it better or more efficiently. In rigid, top down hierarchies, everyone apart from the top management has a fixed role and is not included in the strategic thinking.

There may well be a vision for the company - but the top management does not share that vision with their staff. They end up creating a “dependent” working environment where staff react to situations rather than take a proactive stance. Loyalty is low, and staff are often put into negative stressful situations because they are firefighting: lurching from one crisis to the next, and unable to interpret what it is that will keep their bosses happy.

The next stage of a company's evolution is an '1ndependent' state, where responsibilities are explained and shared: there is a vision for the company and the management take trouble to communicate that vision - and the road map by which they intend to achieve it.

As a direct result, the staff know where they are meant to be going. If unexpected situations or hiccups arise, they can take the initiative - confident that they will not be criticised. They know enough about the company¹s priorities for them to work to those priorities. First things come first.

This is not a bad company, but it is a long way from the finished article. For next, we have an interdependent company. Just as in a relationship between two people, independence is good, but interdependence is better.

Yes, people know where they are going because they have probably had an input into that vision. They share in the “ownership” of the company's direction. In order to achieve those objectives, they do not just turn up each day and work; they actively seek better ways to work.

One of these ways is creating multifunctional skills teams, where people get the best out of each other and themselves. When a job needs doing, a team is brought together to get that job done - using the tools and skills they have between them. This is particularly appropriate in businesses where projects form the main thrust of their workload.

People in this sort of workplace will come in each morning looking forward to a challenging day when their abilities will be tested and they have a chance to work with others who feel the same way. A real team spirit can be built up, where everyone works with and for each other towards a shared objective.

The bosses of these businesses have to control the pressure that people are put under. It should never be sustained: no-one can work like that. It should, instead, be cyclical, with people - like sportsmen or artists - being brought up to a peak performance, and then applauded and rewarded... and given time to recover their energies.

Just as importantly, there should be no expectancy that every task they undertake should succeed. One of my roles at Motorola was to co-ordinate pitches for new business. Often we succeeded, sometimes we failed, but every time I made sure that the team¹s effort was celebrated. In that way, a positive attitude was built up where everyone could freely examine why a pitch had failed - without recriminations.

Earlier I wrote that not everyone in the workplace will respond well to pressure - even if it is correctly applied. I believe you can divide the staff at most businesses into 20% of self starting, driven people; 70% of people who need to be directed and challenged, and 10% of people who are either underperformers or people who are best suited to working in very directed, mundane tasks.

Creating an environment where people are put under positive stress will bring out the very best in the self-starters, and out of the 70% who need direction. But managers have to be very careful with those who want to be told what to do, work hard and ³keep their heads down². In many companies there is a useful role for them. But few companies have room for people who really don't want to give of their best; creating a “team” environment where everyone looks to each other for support and encouragement will soon identify and weed out the underperformers.

People go to work for a unique combination of their own reasons: some just to keep the wolf from the door, or to be seen to succeed. But the best employees will also be wanting to fulfil long-held ambitions and to explore their potential... maybe as a stepping stone to a longer-term ambition - perhaps running their own business! By harnessing all these desires and needs, you can make them into an asset for your business.

By making your employees “happy” in their work, they do a better job; by having a flexible management structure where they feel they can explore their potential and “grow”, neither will they leave as soon as you¹ve trained them or primed them for a promotion.

Here I could talk about the next stage of a company's evolution, where continuous improvement is encouraged - but that is perhaps the subject of another article!