It’s Time to Motivate Our Employees!

It’s absurd to hear of a parent complaining about it because life is all about making choices.

The fact that you chose to have children denotes your readiness to raise them to realise their full potential. That is exactly what we ought to do, however, painful it might be! The 5th phase government has embarked on a number of schemes aimed at strengthening public service as well as scaling up the economy.

It’s working hard to block all inroads that have ‘eaten’ the moral fabric of the civil services for years and in the process all we hear is a mountain of complaints from all quarters.

As you all know change is part and parcel of human life. Typically, change is inevitable and a process. In the initial stages when it is implemented, however, one would expect a lot of resistance because inherently humans are resistant to change especially when it threatens their status quo.

The current government has come up with a number of austerity measures which we were not accustomed to. Sadly, the measures have reduced the status quo of a number of heavy weights to a low ebb. Gloomily, the business community and civil servants have been badly hit by the ongoing 5th phase ‘fagio la chuma currents’.

Whilst I support the ongoing ‘revolutionary’ moves by President JPM and his government, a lot of care and caution must be exercised to circumvent unnecessary fear and/or self-censorship by civil servants and decision makers.

To elucidate this, look at the number of traffic police personnel in our roads today. Observe the way they behave when they stop you for a routine traffic inspection. Instead of providing the much needed education awareness which is core to the traffic department and a thing which the head of Traffic Department Kamanda Mpinga is drumming up all the time, they will run for an EFD machine and the rest is everybody’s guess.

Heartrendingly, they seem determined to fine you up. And rumour has it that they are rewarded 5% of every offence they charge and that explains why they embark on methods and tactics that leave much to be desired.

Boldly put, the traffic department has been motivated financially. So, what happens when employees are not motivated? I have posed this question because it is a naked fact that public service employees nowadays are less motivated and are cursing the choices they made-to work in the government!

No more travel allowances, no more every week seminars and workshops, no more ubabaishaji meetings!And I don’t have to be mtabiri to know that currently the public servants have lower level of involvement or commitment to what they are obliged to do.

A good manager would be in a good position to observe the following unusual or unacceptable behavior by employees - unusual delays or unexplained and repeated sick leaves; impression that the employee is intentionally sabotaging projects or acting as a roadblock; repeated mistakes or signs of thoughtlessness; negative behaviour and attitude; lower productivity and performance and disregards to warnings and comments. I am sure most managers in public offices are grappling with what I have just outlined.

According to Chron. com, “motivation is ‘the willingness to exert high levels of effort toward organizational goals, conditioned by the effort’s ability to satisfy some individual need’.

” Apparently, JPM government eyes the people of the land first to which civil servants are supposed to serve. The civil servants on the other hand are not used to that kind of treatment and that’s where problems start. Chron.com goes further to observe that, a need in this context is an internal state that makes certain outcomes appear attractive.

An unsatisfied need creates tension that stimulates drives within the individual. These drives then generate a search behavior to find particular goals that, if attained, will satisfy the need and lead to the reduction of the tension.

As you might know, needs are physiological or psychological deficiencies that arouse behavior. These vary over time and place, they can be strong or weak and are always influenced by environmental factors. Motivating employees to complete their duties at a satisfactory or better level can be challenging. Staff members show motivation when they are self-inspired to perform tasks and proud of their work product.

“Employees who do not have the drive to succeed at your organisation adversely impact others in the workplace, which can directly affect the success of your business. Dissatisfaction in the office environment, leading to no employee motivation, can cause negative consequences,” Chron.com observes.

Equally, employees who are not motivated perform at a lower level than other workers. If there is no excitement for the mission of the organisation, it can be difficult to maintain the momentum needed to complete a project. Low productivity is a consequence of not being motivated, and other employees may feel that they must work harder to compensate for unfinished tasks.

Tying in organisational goals with employee objectives helps your staff members to see the importance of their positions. Encouragement helps employees know they are appreciated. However, poorly performing employees can consume an inordinate amount of a business owner’s time, and dealing with late or unfinished projects can directly impact your earnings.

Unmotivated employees may not have the energy or patience to deal with customers. If your employees are responsible for sales, order fulfillment, returns or handling complaints, they may not adequately represent your company to the public. Consequences of no motivation can include a lack of follow-through, not offering suitable explanations, no interest in satisfying requests or being rude when customers complain.

Once your company develops a bad reputation in customer service, the negative impression can be far reaching when the word of mouth gets out there. Have a Great Sato Comrades!