Providing good service to your customer starts with a motivated staff. So, when you begin to think about service, doesn’t it make sense to think about creating an environment in which your people can thrive and excel? It’s one of the hallmarks of a good manager and a precursor to the success of any business.
Creating a nurturing and productive environment requires common sense and an understanding of people. We all like to be challenged, to receive compliments, and to be rewarded for good work. Easy, right? Well, yes and no. People are different, and your job as a manager is to pay attention to find out what works to get your people moving in the right direction.
MEETING THEIR NEEDS
There are basic considerations when motivating people. One well-known theory is Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, often illustrated as a five-tier pyramid of human aspiration. Maslow suggests humans cannot progress in life until their needs are met.
These needs begin with the basic physiological needs (food and shelter), move through safety needs (family, health, and job security), and social needs (friendship, love, family), to esteem needs (self-respect and respect from others), all the way to self-actualization (morality, creativity, acceptance of self and others). If you look around, you can probably recognize various stages of development in the people within your organization.
Put simply, different things motivate different people. For some, it’s paying the rent every month (physiological). Others are looking for health insurance (safety). Some want to organize a company picnic (social), or seek elevation to the management level (esteem). A few really believe they are providing a necessary service to humanity (self-actualization).
