"Its all about Motivation"

It was my third year in the Training Function, when one day our company’s business head barged into my office.

 “Nitin, my team’s performance is slipping. We haven’t met our business targets for the second quarter. I need a solution for this!”

 He looked at me expectantly. Perhaps he expected me to pull out a magical solution for his problem. If I could, I would have loved to do just that. But I really didn’t have even a practical solution, forget a magical one. So I kept looking at him silently.

 “Don’t you get it?” he asked sounding exasperated. “I want a motivational workshop for my team.” “What is a motivational workshop?” I asked.

 Believe me, I wasn’t trying to be sarcastic or humorous. I really didn’t know what a ‘motivational workshop’ was. The look I got was one of total disbelief and surprise.

 “What do you mean you don’t know what a motivational workshop is? I can’t believe that someone from the training function is saying this. Everyone knows what a motivational workshop is!”

“Actually I don’t. So help me. What is this motivational workshop supposed to achieve?”

He still didn’t believe that I was serious. “Achieve? It is supposed to motivate my people to put in their best and achieve their targets!”

 I didn’t know how a training workshop could achieve that. But I decided to find out. So I asked him to give me a couple of days and that I would get back to him.

 I called a few trainer colleagues working in other organizations to find out what motivational training was all about. The gist of what I got from them was, “Do a training program, preferably off-site to energise the participants. Talk to them about how their individual dreams will get fulfilled if they achieve the organizational targets. Like a football coach motivating the team before a big game.” I understood that. But that gave rise to another issue. How do you sustain that energy over a period of time? How do you make sure that the energy gets translated to output at work?

 I got several vague answers to that. The best one was, do another workshop in about three months. So motivational training was like that energy drink that they show in ads. An athlete has this drink every time he is tired, and he is ready to run another 100 meters in under ten seconds..

 It really didn’t make sense to me. Something was not right. So I went back to the business head and told him, “Look I really don’t know how to dothis motivational training.”

 He was angry. “If you are not capable of doing motivational training, I am going to get an external trainer to do it.”

 So he went ahead and found a trainer who took the team to someplace outside the city where they spent two days. Obviously disappointed with my response, I was not involved in the exercise. However, a couple of days after, the business head did drop into my office to tell me about it.

 “It was a great workshop. Really charged up my boys. You should have been there… learn a few things about motivation.”

 A couple of months later I bumped into our business head again. He looked tense. Naturally I asked him if everything was all right.

 “No, everything is not all right. Business is not picking up. Targets are not being met still and there’s a lot of pressure.”

 No wonder he was looking so stressed out.

 “So the motivational workshop didn’t work?” “I don’t know what’s wrong. They all seemed so charged up at the end of the training. But back at work, they were the same as before.”

 “Let’s talk about it. Maybe we can find some solution.”

 He looked sceptical. But maybe he was desperate enough to talk even to a trainer who did not know what a motivational workshop was. So he came to my office and sat down. It was an interesting conversation. At the end of it, I also learnt something about motivation.

 Me: Forget the word motivation for a bit. Tell me what you want your team to do.

Business Head (BH): I want my people to take ownership of their targets. I want them to do everything to achieve their targets. I am not asking for too much, am I? That’s what they have been hired for!
Me: And why do you think it is not happening?
BH: Because there is no motivation!
Me: I told you to forget that word. Think again…
BH (After a long pause): Because they are not taking ownership.
Me: You told me that. Why are they not taking ownership?
BH:I told you… there is no motivation!
Me: Please forget motivation… The word does not exist. Now tell me, why are they not taking ownership?
BH: I don’t know why they are not taking ownership. If I knew, I wouldn’t be sitting here!
Me: Ok tell me, what does taking ownership mean?
BH: This is such a waste of time! You know what taking ownership means!
Me: No I am dumb. I don’t know what taking ownership means. So please tell me.
BH: Look, I need to get back to work. I don’t have time for these silly games
Me: You have tried things that haven’t worked. Why don’t you give this conversation a chance. Maybe we will discover something that will work
BH (After another long pause): Ok….. So what do you want to know?
Me: I want to understand this word, ownership..
BH: Ownership… These people have been hired to do a job. They have to take responsibility for their jobs.
Me: And what do you do to enable them to do that?. .
BH (Almost exploding): DO?! Every day, twice a day I tell them to take ownership!
Me: What if our CEO also did just that? Just told you take ownership. Would it work?
BH: But that’s what has happened. The day I joined this company, he told me that meeting sales targets was my responsibility. After that I took ownership of sales and have been driving it.

Me: No he didn’t do just that. He also made sure that certain enablers were in place.

BH: What enablers? He does not tell me how to do my job!
Me: Well, he enabled you to create your own team. He made sure Operations team and the service team gave you the needed support. Systems and processes to ensure smooth functioning between departments, things over which you have no direct control.
BH: But these are things that are necessary. How would you otherwise run a business without them?
Me (Smiling): Exactly
BH (Now suspicious): What are you trying to tell me?
Me: Your team also needs certain enablers to do their jobs. It could be the right skills, or the right systems and processes, or even words of encouragement at the right time.
BH: Of course they have all these things!
Me: Why don’t you ask them?
BH: Ask them?! What do you mean ask them?
Me: Well your team is doing the job. They would best know what they need to do it effectively.
BH: (Another pause): I am desperate enough to try even this… But what about motivation?
Me: Come back when you have done this. Then we will talk about motivation.

He didn’t come back. The next communication I got from him was an invite to a party to celebrate achievement of the next quarterly target.

 I still don’t know about how to motivate others. I believe that you cannot motivate others. People drive themselves to do something. All another person can do is provide the right environment. I believe it is all about the enablers.