Tie it all together
Each employee’s progress toward a goal should fuel the company’s overall improvement. Although that usually happens naturally, you have to keep the relationship in check.
Obviously, an employee’s financial goals will directly affect the company’s cash flow, making a connection between the individual and the team clear. But even abstract goals, like improving communication skills, tie into the overall company’s growth.
“You can’t not improve the team when you improve yourself,” Cox says.
For example, a baseball player will hone his batting skills independently with additional practice. But when he hits a home run at a game, the reward isn’t solely his own. Because he’s part of a team, his improvement is inherently a contribution to the other players.
“Even in being self-serving, if you serve yourself well, you will serve the organization of which you’re a part,” Cox says. “Motivation has to contain a certain amount of self-interest.”
That’s why goal setting shouldn’t start with a heavy-handed fiat of what’s best for the company. It’s easier to start with each employee’s internal motivators than to force yours on all of your employees. Their internal drivers will propel them further and faster than your mandate — and will automatically reap broader benefits, as well.
But you do have a problem if someone’s self-interest becomes paramount. For Cox’s domino effect philosophy to be true, others have to actually benefit. Personal motives become cancerous if — instead of serving as an example and encouraging co-workers to improve — employees boast about their achievements and demean others.
Cox keeps an eye on this by simply walking around the office and watching employees interact. You know there’s a broken link when other employees shy away from the top performers instead of asking them for advice.
If you give employees recognition that’s relevant to them, they’ll be less likely to demand it from others egotistically. That may range from a simple thank you to a night on the town. Cox personalizes recognition by pulling from the priorities each employee built their goals on in the first place.
“Everybody should be treated individually and in a special way,” he says. “It’s about really reading that person at the first discussion when you say, ‘What motivates you most?’”
By setting an example in your own search for improvement and building several layers of accountability, you create an environment where employees feel compelled to challenge themselves. When each employee strives to improve — even when their goals start with personal motives — the whole company will benefit.
“It’s like Lily Tomlin says: We’re all in this together alone,” Cox says. “At the end of the day, each of us are responsible for ourselves. And when we do that … all of us are the better for it.”
How to reach: Cox Financial Corp., (800) 481-0996 or www.coxfinco.com
