How Do You Motivate People in The Digital Age? Try Gamification.

Lately I've noticed a pattern in my work; whether it's a CEO, a small business owner, teacher or parent—the same question keeps popping up: HOW do I motivate today's young person?

Now they are NOT asking me how to motivate a 15 year old. They are talking about anyone who is 40 years of age and younger! This may be confusing to many a Baby Boomer...why is this generation so resistant to growing up? I explain it in detail in my award-winning book Liquid Leadership, but for now, let me give you a simple breakdown:

Remember Bruce Dern and Ann-Margret in the 1980 comedy Middle Age Crazy? Bruce Dern is a 39 year old man about to turn 40. This was considered Middle Age when I was a kid. I was 17 when I saw it and thought he was so old. 40 was light years away for me and I kept asking "why did I have to wind up like him?"

Although it has some pretty harsh language, Bruce Dern's Graduation Speech from the movie is worth watching. And it says it all about this next generation.

Anyone born after 1977 was not raised like Baby Boomers or Traditionalists. They were raised to follow their passion. Live life doing what they want. Question everything. And NEVER give yourself over 100% to a company that doesn't value your contribution. They've been encouraged to speak up and tell their personal truth. Working at one company for 25 years is a waste of time. Where Boomers worked hard and sacrificed to have the good life, Millennials believe that life and work should be in balance. And now we wonder WHY 71% of employees are disengaged.

If you want ENGAGEMENT...and I mean real engagement, I recommend Gamification.

 

So, what is Gamification? Here's my definition:

"Gamification is the use of game-like strategies and tactics to give end-users the incentive to solve problems and preform tasks in order to obtain specific rewards and goals. Many of these action/reward tasks are done without the realization of the person preforming the tasks."

Your credit card company and bank have used Gamification in their rewards programs for YEARS. Airlines use it as well: "fly this many times, redeem your miles for stuff." It's Gamification in action. Simple. It gives people incentive to do more because they get rewarded for their actions.

Now how does this apply to your business? Nicolette Beard says it best on her TopRank® Online Marketing Blog: Gamification as a Content Marketing Tactic — How Brands Are Engaging Consumers. Take a moment to read her work. She lays down the pros and cons of Gamification.

But for me, how can we apply Gamification as a management tool? In my own Cross-Generational work, I recommend micro-incentives to managers and executives. Let the team determine goals and rewards. Meet a deadline, the company pays for a weekend retreat.

What makes it different for us Boomers is we were expected to wait all year for an evaluation and a raise. If we didn't get it, we still stayed with the company. But today, research has found that most people want to be appreciated. If they do not feel so, they leave.  

Time to GAMIFY Your Corporate Incentive Programs.

Gamification gives a shorter cycle of rewards and incentives. Unlike Boomers waiting all year for that raise, or Generation Y getting a trophy for showing up, the shorter Gamification life-cycle requires people to get the work done FIRST before getting a plaque to hang in their office.

Want to achieve what appears to be an impossible goal at your company? Lay out a map. Break it into simple achievable goals for each team. Let the team determine the strategies for getting there. And once achieved, determine the rewards. BEFORE you begin. And get a project manager to oversee it all.

Make it fun. Worth the effort. And EMOTIONALLY engaging! 

Many Fortune 500 companies are using Gamification driven software over their intranets to keep project management transparent and on task.

In order to keep the Next Generation on task and engaged, try Gamification in your company. After all, they are used to it. They've played over 10,000 hours each on some form of video game: Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Mario Brothers, Final Fantasy, Halo, etc...

Gamification can be used for accelerated learning, ROI, tight deadlines or keeping people on task. 

Let me know how it goes...and don't forget, I can help you set up an incentive program for your company.

Thanks for stopping by...

Brad

Brad Szollose
Global Management Consultant

Cross Generational Leadership Development & Workforce Performance Strategies

Executive Coach

Brad Szollose (pronounced zolis), is a globally recognized Management Consultant and the foremost authority on Millennials and Cross-Generational Leadership Development Strategies.

TEDX Speaker, Web pioneer and the author of the award-winning, bestseller Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia, Brad is a former C-level executive of a publicly traded company that he cofounded that went from entrepreneurial start-up to IPO in three years; the first Dot Com Agency to go public on NASDAQ. His company K2 Design, experienced 425% hyper-growth, due in part to a unique management style that won his company the Arthur Andersen NY Enterprise Award for Best Practices in Fostering Innovation.

 

Today the world’s leading business publications seek out Brad’s insights on Millennials, and he has been featured in Forbes, The Huffington Post, New York Magazine, Inc., Advertising Age, The International Business Times, and The Hindu BusinessLine to name a few, along with television, radio and podcast appearances on CBS and other media outlets. 
 

Brad's programs have transformed a new generation of business leaders, helping them maximize their corporate culture, expectations, productivity, and sales growth in The Information Age. 

Pick Up Brad's books...Liquid Leadership and the latest...

Journeys to Success: The Millennial Edition. 

#1 Bestseller on Amazon in Hot New Releases!!!

The Difference Between Motivation & Incentives

One of my most Popular Blog Posts:

Image courtesy of mack2happy
at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

One of the biggest problems facing business leaders these days is how to motivate people—I mean REALLY motivate people—getting them excited about their work, willing to put in the extra hours and take each project to the next level. Energy like that is contagious, and believe it or not, not that hard to create.

Now, some of you are thinking...
"Why do I need to motivate people to work? I'm paying them aren't I?"

And I have a counter question:

Would you like a workforce that goes above and beyond
the call of duty, or do you want people
who do only what is asked of them?

I am a Baby Boomer. The first time I heard of something called Results Only Work Environments (ROWE for short) I was cynical. Work is work. deadlines are deadlines. Period. But slowly, I realized that's all people were doing at my companies: working. No one was obsessed with our brand, willing to go the extra mile, putting their genius to work in the success of the company.

So I adapted my personal management style to a new type of workforce. A workforce that is tech-savvy, team driven, passionate about helping the world on top of earning a paycheck. So, how did I tap into that passionate energy? I treated them like a partner, shifted the responsibility to their shoulders, and engaged them in the success of my company.

Now I know, some of you are balking at this, but let's take a trip through history.

Frederick Winslow Taylor invented the concept of an employee in 1903. Factories and assembly-lines needed someone who would show up for a period of time and go home. A worker who obeyed the rules, kept their mouth shut and just assembled stuff. Before the Industrial Revolution, work was seasonal, according to the harvest, and workers moved from town to town. There was no time clock involved.

But for the the Industrial Age to work like a well oiled machine, the workforce needed to do the same. Assumptions were made, and Taylor revealed his arrogance when he exclaimed...

"Workers have 2 inbuilt flaws: they are stupid like an ox, and they are lazy. They will only do the minimum they have to do to not get punished."

REALLY? Sadly, this false assumption continues to this day and is getting in the way of taking us to the next level. Many of today's well-educated, computer savvy, team-driven workers are capable of increasing productivity, IF managed properly. But I bow to my colleagues on this subject...

Tim Askew, founder and CEO of the elite New York and Texas-based international sales execution and consulting firm Corporate Rain International corners the topic of motivation and incentives in his latest blog posting by citing Clayton Christensen, HBS professor and management guru...Tim's take on the subject hits the nail on the head in The Happy Entrepreneur.

Tim's breakdown of Christensen's latest book How Will You Measure Your Life? is exemplary. But and a quote based on a theory articulated by the late psychologist Frederick Herzberg..."Motivation means that you’ve got an engine inside of you that drives you to keep working in order to feel successful and to help the organization be successful."

Incentives on the other hand, are driven by benchmarks that management sets. Engagement is not part of the paradigm. Rules are what matters: was he/she on time? Did they sell enough this quarter? And ‘What do you want to be paid?’ I have seen many top sales people fired because they were late. The company goes out of business in less than 2 years and the owners wonder why.


Let me break it down even further:

Getting people motivated invites them to voluntarily take responsibility for the success or failure of the company. Their input is to be acknowledged and appreciated as a contribution to the bottom line. And if they fail, it is on the shoulders of the individual. Now isn't this a more adult work environment? Each person learns to self-manage their contributions without a boss standing over their shoulder. Work hard, help us succeed and you will be rewarded for your efforts.

Motivation beckons each person to get engaged
in the success of the company.

Incentives, on the other hand, are like a dangling carrot. Yes people will jump through hoops to win, but they are fulfilling tasks only. Obeying the rules? Yes. Pushing? Yes, but not really giving of themselves fully. And guess what else they are NOT doing? Being innovative. Usually in environments like this, people are afraid to rock the boat and bring new ideas to the forefront. Self starters are rewarded because THAT is their nature. Everybody else, just keeps their head down and works.

To be successful in The Information Age, it is important to figure out the secrets of motivation, innovation, creativity and productivity. There ARE new rules. And guess what the top business schools discovered? People are NOT motivated by money.

Engaging today's talent requires leadership to create an environment of support for truth, inspiration and creativity to thrive!  As a friend of mine recently stated "Incentives induces outer action, but a serious lack of engagement eventually follows. Motivation comes from within, and inspires a person to go above and beyond the call of duty." Well said.

Give me a call. I can show you how to move from Rules to Results in a very short time.

As always, thank you for your interest in my work...

Brad Szollose

Global Business Adviser and Consultant
on Millennials and Workforce Performance Strategies


Look up these resources when you get a chance:

For more on Harvard Business Professor Clayton Christensen his Website: http://www.claytonchristensen.com/

How Will You Measure Your Life?
By Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth and Karen Dillon.

From Amazon...
"In 2010 world-renowned innovation expert Clayton M. Christensen gave a powerful speech to the Harvard Business School's graduating class. Drawing upon his business research, he offered a series of guidelines for finding meaning and happiness in life. He used examples from his own experiences to explain how high achievers can all too often fall into traps that lead to unhappiness.

The speech was memorable not only because it was deeply revealing but also because it came at a time of intense personal reflection: Christensen had just overcome the same type of cancer that had taken his father's life. As Christensen struggled with the disease, the question "How do you measure your life?" became more urgent and poignant, and he began to share his insights more widely with family, friends, and students."


The Innovator's Dilemma
When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
By Clayton M. Christensen.

From Amazon...
"In this classic bestseller, innovation expert Clayton Christensen shows how even the most outstanding companies can do everything right—yet still lose market leadership. Read this international bestseller to avoid a similar fate."




For more information on Tim Askew and Corporate Rain:
Corporate Rain Official Website: http://corporaterain.com/

The Corporate Rain Blog:
http://www.corporaterain.com/blog/

Tim is also the Official Entrepreneurial Blogger for Inc. Magazine! See a list of his articles here: http://www.inc.com/author/tim-askew

I try to bring the very best and up-to-date information to my clients. Tim is on the pulse of bringing entrepreneurial wisdom to the executive suite. Wisdom that works in the real world.

This is powerful stuff, so I suggest you get in there and learn from these experts in the field;-)

Brad Szollose is a global business adviser on Millennials and the foremost authority on Generational Leadership Development and Workforce Engagement Strategies.

Author of the award-winning, bestseller Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia, Brad is a former C-level executive of a publicly traded company that he cofounded that went from entrepreneurial start-up to IPO in three years; the first Dot Com Agency to go public on NASDAQ. His company K2 Design, experienced 425% hyper-growth, due in part to a unique management style that won his company the Arthur Andersen NY Enterprise Award for Best Practices in Fostering Innovation.

Known for his humorous and thought-provoking presentations, Brad’s keynotes and workshops are highly interactive, heart-warming, and filled with high-content information that challenge assumptions and help leaders and managers create a better work environment for innovation to thrive.

Today, Brad helps smart companies like Dell and MasterCard, understand just how much technology has transformed a new generation, and how that impacts corporate culture, management interaction, expectations, productivity and sales in The Information Age. 

* 2011 Axiom Business Book silver medal winner in the leadership

* #1 Amazon Best-Selling Author

"I just had my mind blown..." - A.S., Vistage, New York

Liquid Leadership by Brad Szollose is available at all major bookstores and for Kindle, Nook, iPad and Sony ereaders. Internationally published in India and S. Korea.

What Is The Difference Between Motivation and Incentives? Try Results As Your First Criteria for Success

Image courtesy of franky242 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

One of the biggest problems facing business leaders these days is how to motivate people—I mean REALLY motivate people—getting them excited about their work, willing to put in the extra hours and take each project to the next level. Energy like that is contagious, and believe it or not, not that hard to create.


Now, some of you are thinking...
"Why do I need to motivate people to work? I'm paying them aren't I?"

And I have a counter question:

Would you like a workforce that goes above and beyond
the call of duty, or do you want people
who do only what is asked of them?

I am a Baby Boomer. The first time I heard of something called Results Only Work Environments (ROWE for short) I was cynical. Work is work. deadlines are deadlines. Period. But slowly, I realized that's all people were doing at my companies: working. No one was obsessed with our brand, willing to go the extra mile, putting their genius to work in the success of the company.

So I adapted my personal management style to a new type of workforce. A workforce that is tech-savvy, team driven, passionate about helping the world on top of earning a paycheck. So, how did I tap into that passionate energy? I treated them like a partner, shifted the responsibility to their shoulders, and engaged them in the success of my company.

Now I know, some of you are balking at this, but let's take a trip through history.

Frederick Winslow Taylor invented the concept of an employee in 1903. Factories and assembly-lines needed someone who would show up for a period of time and go home. A worker who obeyed the rules, kept their mouth shut and just assembled stuff. Before the Industrial Revolution, work was seasonal, according to the harvest, and workers moved from town to town. There was no time clock involved.

But for the the Industrial Age to work like a well oiled machine, the workforce needed to do the same. Assumptions were made, and Taylor revealed his arrogance when he exclaimed...

"Workers have 2 inbuilt flaws: they are stupid like an ox, and they are lazy. They will only do the minimum they have to do to not get punished."

REALLY? Sadly, this false assumption continues to this day and is getting in the way of taking us to the next level. Many of today's well-educated, computer savvy, team-driven workers are capable of increasing productivity, IF managed properly. But I bow to my colleagues on this subject...

Tim Askew, founder and CEO of the elite New York and Texas-based international sales execution and consulting firm Corporate Rain International corners the topic of motivation and incentives in his latest blog posting by citing Clayton Christensen, HBS professor and management guru...Tim's take on the subject hits the nail on the head in The Happy Entrepreneur.

Tim's breakdown of Christensen's latest book How Will You Measure Your Life? is exemplary. But and a quote based on a theory articulated by the late psychologist Frederick Herzberg..."Motivation means that you’ve got an engine inside of you that drives you to keep working in order to feel successful and to help the organization be successful."

Incentives on the other hand, are driven by benchmarks that management sets. Engagement is not part of the paradigm. Rules are what matters: was he/she on time? Did they sell enough this quarter? And ‘What do you want to be paid?’ I have seen many top sales people fired because they were late. The company goes out of business in less than 2 years and the owners wonder why.


Let me break it down even further:

Getting people motivated invites them to voluntarily take responsibility for the success or failure of the company. Their input is to be acknowledged and appreciated as a contribution to the bottom line. And if they fail, it is on the shoulders of the individual. Now isn't this a more adult work environment? Each person learns to self-manage their contributions without a boss standing over their shoulder. Work hard, help us succeed and you will be rewarded for your efforts.

Motivation beckons each person to get engaged
in the success of the company.

Incentives, on the other hand, are like a dangling carrot. Yes people will jump through hoops to win, but they are fulfilling tasks only. Obeying the rules? Yes. Pushing? Yes, but not really giving of themselves fully. And guess what else they are NOT doing? Being innovative. Usually in environments like this, people are afraid to rock the boat and bring new ideas to the forefront. Self starters are rewarded because THAT is their nature. Everybody else, just keeps their head down and works.

To be successful in The Information Age, it is important to figure out the secrets of motivation, innovation, creativity and productivity. There ARE new rules. And guess what the top business schools discovered? People are NOT motivated by money.

Engaging today's talent requires leadership to create an environment of support for truth, inspiration and creativity to thrive!  As a friend of mine recently stated "Incentives induces outer action, but a serious lack of engagement eventually follows. Motivation comes from within, and inspires a person to go above and beyond the call of duty." Well said.

Give me a call. I can show you how to move from Rules to Results in a very short time.

As always, thank you for your interest in my work...

Brad Szollose

Look up these resources when you get a chance:

For more on Harvard Business Professor Clayton Christensen his Website: http://www.claytonchristensen.com/

How Will You Measure Your Life?
By Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth and Karen Dillon.

From Amazon...
"In 2010 world-renowned innovation expert Clayton M. Christensen gave a powerful speech to the Harvard Business School's graduating class. Drawing upon his business research, he offered a series of guidelines for finding meaning and happiness in life. He used examples from his own experiences to explain how high achievers can all too often fall into traps that lead to unhappiness.

The speech was memorable not only because it was deeply revealing but also because it came at a time of intense personal reflection: Christensen had just overcome the same type of cancer that had taken his father's life. As Christensen struggled with the disease, the question "How do you measure your life?" became more urgent and poignant, and he began to share his insights more widely with family, friends, and students."


The Innovator's Dilemma
When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
By Clayton M. Christensen.

From Amazon...
"In this classic bestseller, innovation expert Clayton Christensen shows how even the most outstanding companies can do everything right—yet still lose market leadership. Read this international bestseller to avoid a similar fate."




For more information on Tim Askew and Corporate Rain:
Corporate Rain Official Website: http://corporaterain.com/

The Corporate Rain Blog:
http://www.corporaterain.com/blog/

Tim is also the Official Entrepreneurial Blogger for Inc. Magazine! See a list of his articles here: http://www.inc.com/author/tim-askew

I try to bring the very best and up-to-date information to my clients. Tim is on the pulse of bringing entrepreneurial wisdom to the executive suite. Wisdom that works in the real world.

This is powerful stuff, so I suggest you get in there and learn from these experts in the field;-)

PS: If you are interested in one of our white papers entitled... 

What Every Business Needs
to Know About Generation Y:
Understanding How Technology Transforms Culture and Behavior,
and Impacts Management, Interaction
and Expectations 

 

email us with your name, title and email address.
Your information is confidential.

Ask me how I can help your company evolve into the 21st Century.

Brad Szollose is the foremost expert on Cross-Generational Issues and Workforce Culture, management consultant and keynote speaker who helps smart companies understand just how much technology has transformed corporate culture, behavior, management interaction, expectations and sales in The Digital Age.



But this is not based on management theory: With a 30 year career as an entrepreneur he knows firsthand what it’s like to grow a company from a simple idea in a coffee shop to an internationally recognized brand.


Brad is a former C-Level Internet Executive who went from entrepreneur to IPO in 3 yrs—co-founding K2 Design, the very first Dot Com Agency to go public on NASDAQ. His company experienced 425% hyper-growth for 5 straight years, expanded from 2 business partners to 4 with 60+ employees and offices worldwide. At its height, K2 was valuated at over $26 million. 

His results only management model (ROWE) was applied to the first wave of young Generation Y workers producing great results—winning K2 the Arthur Andersen NY Enterprise Award for Best Practices in Fostering Innovation.

Brad Szollose is also the *award-winning author of Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia which explores the subject of new leadership styles – mainly how to get the tech-savvy Generation Y and analog driven Baby Boomers working together. ISBN-13: 978-1608320554

Known for his humorous and thought-provoking presentations, Szollose received the highest testimonial of his career from a C-Level audience member: "I just had my mind blown." Brad’s keynotes and workshops are highly interactive, heart-warming, humorous, and filled with high-content information that challenge assumptions and help leaders and managers create a better work environment for innovation to thrive.

Today, Brad helps businesses close the Digital Divide by understanding it as a Cultural Divide – created by the new tech-savvy worker...and customer. 



* 2011 Axiom Business Book silver medal winner in the leadership

* #1 Amazon Best-Selling Author

"I just had my mind blown..." - A.S., Vistage, New York

Liquid Leadership by Brad Szollose is available at all major bookstores and for Kindle, Nook, iPad and Sony ereaders. Internationally published in India and S. Korea.

What If You Had a Team of Experts to Mastermind With? Join me for the 2014 Ultimate Mastermind Summit in Chicago

What if you had access to some of the smartest business minds in the world? An International Community of experts that could help you design your business from the bottom up?

Well I am inviting you to join me for 3 amazing days at The Ultimate Mastermind Summit 2014 in Chicago, IL. on September 17th, 18th and 19th!

For three days you WILL have access to the very speakers you see onstage... who will spend time with attendees in a Mastermind Session on the 19th! Bring your business plan, and plenty of paper for note taking (or an iPad with Notes on it;-)...real business people who have written international bestsellers and have made MILLIONS advising businesses and business owners. And KNOW first hand what works and what fails.

Check out this Infographic of the UMS Speaker Lineup for 2014:

Here are just a FEW of the Keynote Speakers and Business Advisers you will be able to work with:

• Sales Legend and author of The Closers Ben Gay III.
• Chairman of CEO Space Berny Dorhmann. 
• Newsletter Guru Jim Palmer.
• Motivational Coach and Business Adviser John Di Lemme.
• Learn how to get your business message FOCUSED with Ann Convery. 
• The POWER of Small Business for Big Thinkers with Cynthia Kay promises to help you break out and up into a new level.
• A special keynote from Tom "Too Tall" Cunningham that will give you the tenacity to survive AND THRIVE! No matter how bad it gets.
• Or the POWER of word of mouth advertising with Dave 'The Shef' Sheffield, author of Blabvertising!
• Tony Rubleski will show you how to capture more customers, and get them fascinated with your brand in his Mind Capture methods.
• Lost your job and want to start a business? That's exactly what happened to Johnny Campbell. He has thrived so well that he earned the nickname The Transition Man.
• And of course You Know Who will be there...How Much Money Are You Losing because You Do NOT Understand Millennials? Brad Szollose (moi) will walk you through the steps that I created to build a multimillion dollar international brand that grew 425% for 7 straight years! (using Gen X and Millennial Talent)...

Stop playing SMALL and join me in Chicago. And if you get in EARLY on the 17th, we have a private VIP Event planned for VIP Registrants to have dinner and private sessions with all our speakers. Don't hesitate, REGISTER TODAY as seats are selling out.

I am excited to see you...



Brad Szollose 
Bridging The Generational Divide: Multigenerational management expert, award-winning author, business consultant and keynote speaker


PS: If you are interested in one of our white papers entitled... 

What Every Business Needs
to Know About Millennials:

Understanding How Technology Transforms Corporate Culture, Generational Behavior, and Impacts Management, Interaction and Expectations 

Email us with your name, title and email address.
Your information is confidential.

Ask me how I can help your company evolve into the 21st Century.

Brad Szollose is a much sought-after generational expert, management consultant and keynote speaker who helps smart companies understand just how much technology has transformed corporate culture and behavior… and how that impacts management interaction, expectations and sales in The Digital Age.



But this is not based on management theory: With a 30 year career as an entrepreneur he knows firsthand what it’s like to grow a company from a simple idea in a coffee shop to an internationally recognized brand.


Brad is a former C-Level Internet Executive who went from entrepreneur to IPO in 3 yrs—co-founding K2 Design, the very first Dot Com Agency to go public on NASDAQ. His company experienced 425% hyper-growth for 5 straight years, expanded from 2 business partners to 4 with 60+ employees and offices worldwide. At its height, K2 was valuated at over $26 million. 

His results only management model (ROWE) was applied to the first wave of young Generation Y workers producing great results—winning K2 the Arthur Andersen NY Enterprise Award for Best Practices in Fostering Innovation.

Brad Szollose is also the *award-winning author of Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia which explores the subject of new leadership styles – mainly how to get the tech-savvy Generation Y and analog driven Baby Boomers working together. ISBN-13: 978-1608320554

Known for his humorous and thought-provoking presentations, Szollose received the highest testimonial of his career from a C-Level audience member: "I just had my mind blown." Brad’s keynotes and workshops are highly interactive, heart-warming, humorous, and filled with high-content information that challenge assumptions and help leaders and managers create a better work environment for innovation to thrive.

Today, Brad helps businesses close the Digital Divide by understanding it as a Cultural Divide – created by the new tech-savvy worker...and customer. 



* 2011 Axiom Business Book silver medal winner in the leadership

* #1 Amazon Best-Selling Author

"I just had my mind blown..." - A.S., Vistage, New York

Liquid Leadership by Brad Szollose is available at all major bookstores and for Kindle, Nook, iPad and Sony ereaders. Internationally published in India and S. Korea.

The Difference Between Motivation and Incentives

Brad's Best Blog Posts

Image courtesy of mack2happy
at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

From December 1st, 2012

One of the biggest problems facing business leaders these days is how to motivate people—I mean REALLY motivate people—getting them excited about their work, willing to put in the extra hours and take each project to the next level. Energy like that is contagious, and believe it or not, not that hard to create.

Now, some of you are thinking...
"Why do I need to motivate people to work? I'm paying them aren't I?"

And I have a counter question:

Would you like a workforce that goes above and beyond
the call of duty, or do you want people
who do only what is asked of them?

I am a Baby Boomer. The first time I heard of something called Results Only Work Environments (ROWE for short) I was cynical. Work is work. deadlines are deadlines. Period. But slowly, I realized that's all people were doing at my companies: working. No one was obsessed with our brand, willing to go the extra mile, putting their genius to work in the success of the company.

So I adapted my personal management style to a new type of workforce. A workforce that is tech-savvy, team driven, passionate about helping the world on top of earning a paycheck. So, how did I tap into that passionate energy? I treated them like a partner, shifted the responsibility to their shoulders, and engaged them in the success of my company.

Now I know, some of you are balking at this, but let's take a trip through history.

Frederick Winslow Taylor invented the concept of an employee in 1903. Factories and assembly-lines needed someone who would show up for a period of time and go home. A worker who obeyed the rules, kept their mouth shut and just assembled stuff. Before the Industrial Revolution, work was seasonal, according to the harvest, and workers moved from town to town. There was no time clock involved.

But for the the Industrial Age to work like a well oiled machine, the workforce needed to do the same. Assumptions were made, and Taylor revealed his arrogance when he exclaimed...

"Workers have 2 inbuilt flaws: they are stupid like an ox, and they are lazy. They will only do the minimum they have to do to not get punished."

REALLY? Sadly, this false assumption continues to this day and is getting in the way of taking us to the next level. Many of today's well-educated, computer savvy, team-driven workers are capable of increasing productivity, IF managed properly. But I bow to my colleagues on this subject...

Tim Askew, founder and CEO of the elite New York and Texas-based international sales execution and consulting firm Corporate Rain International corners the topic of motivation and incentives in his latest blog posting by citing Clayton Christensen, HBS professor and management guru...Tim's take on the subject hits the nail on the head in The Happy Entrepreneur.

Tim's breakdown of Christensen's latest book How Will You Measure Your Life? is exemplary. But and a quote based on a theory articulated by the late psychologist Frederick Herzberg..."Motivation means that you’ve got an engine inside of you that drives you to keep working in order to feel successful and to help the organization be successful."

Incentives on the other hand, are driven by benchmarks that management sets. Engagement is not part of the paradigm. Rules are what matters: was he/she on time? Did they sell enough this quarter? And ‘What do you want to be paid?’ I have seen many top sales people fired because they were late. The company goes out of business in less than 2 years and the owners wonder why.


Let me break it down even further:

Getting people motivated invites them to voluntarily take responsibility for the success or failure of the company. Their input is to be acknowledged and appreciated as a contribution to the bottom line. And if they fail, it is on the shoulders of the individual. Now isn't this a more adult work environment? Each person learns to self-manage their contributions without a boss standing over their shoulder. Work hard, help us succeed and you will be rewarded for your efforts.

Motivation beckons each person to get engaged
in the success of the company.

Incentives, on the other hand, are like a dangling carrot. Yes people will jump through hoops to win, but they are fulfilling tasks only. Obeying the rules? Yes. Pushing? Yes, but not really giving of themselves fully. And guess what else they are NOT doing? Being innovative. Usually in environments like this, people are afraid to rock the boat and bring new ideas to the forefront. Self starters are rewarded because THAT is their nature. Everybody else, just keeps their head down and works.

To be successful in The Information Age, it is important to figure out the secrets of motivation, innovation, creativity and productivity. There ARE new rules. And guess what the top business schools discovered? People are NOT motivated by money.

Engaging today's talent requires leadership to create an environment of support for truth, inspiration and creativity to thrive!  As a friend of mine recently stated "Incentives induces outer action, but a serious lack of engagement eventually follows. Motivation comes from within, and inspires a person to go above and beyond the call of duty." Well said.

Give me a call. I can show you how to move from Rules to Results in a very short time.

As always, thank you for your interest in my work...

Brad

Brad Szollose
Understanding The Millennial Mindset: Multigenerational management expert, award-winning author, business consultant and keynote speaker

Look up these resources when you get a chance:

For more on Harvard Business Professor Clayton Christensen his Website: http://www.claytonchristensen.com/

How Will You Measure Your Life?
By Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth and Karen Dillon.

From Amazon...
"In 2010 world-renowned innovation expert Clayton M. Christensen gave a powerful speech to the Harvard Business School's graduating class. Drawing upon his business research, he offered a series of guidelines for finding meaning and happiness in life. He used examples from his own experiences to explain how high achievers can all too often fall into traps that lead to unhappiness.

The speech was memorable not only because it was deeply revealing but also because it came at a time of intense personal reflection: Christensen had just overcome the same type of cancer that had taken his father's life. As Christensen struggled with the disease, the question "How do you measure your life?" became more urgent and poignant, and he began to share his insights more widely with family, friends, and students."


The Innovator's Dilemma
When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
By Clayton M. Christensen.

From Amazon...
"In this classic bestseller, innovation expert Clayton Christensen shows how even the most outstanding companies can do everything right—yet still lose market leadership. Read this international bestseller to avoid a similar fate."




For more information on Tim Askew and Corporate Rain:
Corporate Rain Official Website: http://corporaterain.com/

The Corporate Rain Blog:
http://www.corporaterain.com/blog/

Tim is also the Official Entrepreneurial Blogger for Inc. Magazine! See a list of his articles here: http://www.inc.com/author/tim-askew

I try to bring the very best and up-to-date information to my clients. Tim is on the pulse of bringing entrepreneurial wisdom to the executive suite. Wisdom that works in the real world.

This is powerful stuff, so I suggest you get in there and learn from these experts in the field;-)

PS: If you are interested in one of our white papers entitled... 

What Every Business Needs
to Know About Generation Y:
Understanding How Technology Transforms Culture and Behavior,
and Impacts Management, Interaction
and Expectations 

 

email us with your name, title and email address.
Your information is confidential.

Ask me how I can help your company evolve into the 21st Century of Management.

Brad Szollose is a much sought-after generational expert, management consultant and keynote speaker who helps smart companies understand just how much technology has transformed corporate culture and behavior… and how that impacts management interaction, expectations and sales in The Digital Age.



But this is not based on management theory: With a 30 year career as an entrepreneur he knows firsthand what it’s like to grow a company from a simple idea in a coffee shop to an internationally recognized brand.


Brad is a former C-Level Internet Executive who went from entrepreneur to IPO in 3 yrs—co-founding K2 Design, the very first Dot Com Agency to go public on NASDAQ. His company experienced 425% hyper-growth for 5 straight years, expanded from 2 business partners to 4 with 60+ employees and offices worldwide. At its height, K2 was valuated at over $26 million. 

His results only management model (ROWE) was applied to the first wave of young Generation Y workers producing great results—winning K2 the Arthur Andersen NY Enterprise Award for Best Practices in Fostering Innovation.

Brad Szollose is also the *award-winning author of Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia which explores the subject of new leadership styles – mainly how to get the tech-savvy Generation Y and analogue driven Baby Boomers working together. ISBN-13: 978-1608320554

Known for his humorous and thought-provoking presentations, Szollose received the highest testimonial of his career from a C-Level audience member: "I just had my mind blown." Brad’s keynotes and workshops are highly interactive, heart-warming, humorous, and filled with high-content information that challenge assumptions and help leaders and managers create a better work environment for innovation to thrive.


Liquid Leadership has been called "THE guidebook for the 21st Century" and has won the 2011 Axiom Business Book Award silver medal for leadership, The Indie Business Book runner up silver medal as well as becoming a #1 Best-Selling Business Book on Amazon for Organizational Learning. Published in the United States by Greenleaf Book Group, in India by Prolibris and in South Korea by UI Books/Iljinsa Publishing.

Mr. Szollose also writes a monthly column on business and marketing techniques that reach Generation Y for A Captured Mind newsletter and is part of The Mind Capture Group faculty.

Today, Brad helps businesses close the Digital Divide by understanding it as a Cultural Divide – created by the new tech-savvy worker...and customer. 



* 2011 Axiom Business Book silver medal winner in the leadership

* #1 Amazon Best-Selling Author

"I just had my mind blown..." - A.S., Vistage, New York

Liquid Leadership by Brad Szollose is available at all major bookstores and for Kindle, Nook, iPad and Sony ereaders. Internationally published in India and S. Korea.

How Do You Motivate People? Try Gamification.

Lately I've noticed a pattern in my work; whether it's a CEO, a small business owner, teacher or parent—the same question keeps popping up: HOW do I motivate today's young person?

Now they are NOT asking me how to motivate a 15 year old. They are talking about anyone who is 40 years of age and younger! This may be confusing to many a Baby Boomer...why is this generation so resistant to growing up? I explain it in detail in my award-winning book Liquid Leadership, but for now, let me give you a simple breakdown:

Remember Bruce Dern and Ann-Margret in the 1980 comedy Middle Age Crazy? Bruce Dern is a 39 year old man about to turn 40. This was considered Middle Age when I was a kid. I was 17 when I saw it and thought he was so old. 40 was light years away for me and I kept asking "why did I have to wind up like him?"

Although it has some pretty harsh language, Bruce Dern's Graduation Speech from the movie is worth watching. And it says it all about this next generation.

Anyone born after 1977 was not raised like Baby Boomers or Traditionalists. They were raised to follow their passion. Live life doing what they want. Question everything. And NEVER give yourself over 100% to a company that doesn't value your contribution. They've been encouraged to speak up and tell their personal truth. Working at one company for 25 years is a waste of time. Where Boomers worked hard and sacrificed to have the good life, Millennials believe that life and work should be in balance. And now we wonder WHY 71% of employees are disengaged.

If you want ENGAGEMENT...and I mean real engagement,
I recommend Gamification.

So, what is Gamification? Here's my definition:

"Gamification is the use of game-like strategies and tactics to give end-users the incentive to solve problems and preform tasks in order to obtain specific rewards and goals. Many of these action/reward tasks are done without the realization of the person preforming the tasks."

Your credit card company and bank have used Gamification in their rewards programs for YEARS. Airlines use it as well: "fly this many times, redeem your miles for stuff." It's Gamification in action. Simple. It gives people incentive to do more because they get rewarded for their actions. 

Now how does this apply to your business? Nicolette Beard says it best on her TopRank® Online Marketing Blog: Gamification as a Content Marketing Tactic — How Brands Are Engaging Consumers. Take a moment to read her work. She lays down the pros and cons of Gamification.

But for me, how can we apply Gamification as a management tool? In my own Cross-Generational work, I recommend micro-incentives to managers and executives. Let the team determine goals and rewards. Meet a deadline, the company pays for a weekend retreat.

What makes it different for us Boomers is we were expected to wait all year for an evaluation and a raise. If we didn't get it, we still stayed with the company. But today, research has found that most people want to be appreciated. If they do not feel so, they leave.

Time to GAMIFY Your Corporate Incentive Programs.

Gamification gives a shorter cycle of rewards and incentives. Unlike Boomers waiting all year for that raise, or Generation Y getting a trophy for showing up, the shorter Gamification life-cycle requires people to get the work done FIRST before getting a plaque to hang in their office.

Want to achieve what appears to be an impossible goal at your company? Lay out a map. Break it into simple achievable goals for each team. Let the team determine the strategies for getting there. And once achieved, determine the rewards. BEFORE you begin. And get a project manager to oversee it all.

Make it fun. Worth the effort. And EMOTIONALLY engaging!

Many Fortune 500 companies are using Gamification driven software over their intranets to keep project management transparent and on task.

In order to keep the Next Generation on task and engaged, try Gamification in your company. After all, they are used to it. They've played over 10,000 hours each on some form of video game: Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Mario Brothers, Final Fantasy, Halo, etc...

Gamification can be used for accelerated learning, ROI, tight deadlines or keeping people on task. 

Let me know how it goes...and don't forget, I can help you set up an incentive program for your company.

Thanks for stopping by...

Brad

Brad Szollose
Bridging Generational Chaos: Multigenerational management expert, award-winning author, business consultant and keynote speaker

Brad Szollose is a much sought-after generational expert, management consultant and keynote speaker who helps smart companies understand just how much technology has transformed corporate culture and behavior… and how that impacts management interaction, expectations and sales in The Digital Age.



But this is not based on management theory: With a 30 year career as an entrepreneur he knows firsthand what it’s like to grow a company from a simple idea in a coffee shop to an internationally recognized brand.


Brad is a former C-Level Internet Executive who went from entrepreneur to IPO in 3 yrs—co-founding K2 Design, the very first Dot Com Agency to go public on NASDAQ. His company experienced 425% hyper-growth for 5 straight years, expanded from 2 business partners to 4 with 60+ employees and offices worldwide. At its height, K2 was valuated at over $26 million. 

His results only management model (ROWE) was applied to the first wave of young Generation Y workers producing great results—winning K2 the Arthur Andersen NY Enterprise Award for Best Practices in Fostering Innovation.

Brad Szollose is also the *award-winning author of Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia which explores the subject of new leadership styles – mainly how to get the tech-savvy Generation Y and analogue driven Baby Boomers working together. ISBN-13: 978-1608320554

Known for his humorous and thought-provoking presentations, Szollose received the highest testimonial of his career from a C-Level audience member: "I just had my mind blown." Brad’s keynotes and workshops are highly interactive, heart-warming, humorous, and filled with high-content information that challenge assumptions and help leaders and managers create a better work environment for innovation to thrive.


Liquid Leadership has been called "THE guidebook for the 21st Century" and has won the 2011 Axiom Business Book Award silver medal for leadership, The Indie Business Book runner up silver medal as well as becoming a #1 Best-Selling Business Book on Amazon for Organizational Learning. Published in the United States by Greenleaf Book Group, in India by Prolibris and in South Korea by UI Books/Iljinsa Publishing.

Mr. Szollose also writes a monthly column on business and marketing techniques that reach Generation Y for A Captured Mind newsletter and is part of The Mind Capture Group faculty.

Today, Brad helps businesses close the Digital Divide by understanding it as a Cultural Divide – created by the new tech-savvy worker...and customer. 



* 2011 Axiom Business Book silver medal winner in the leadership

* #1 Amazon Best-Selling Author

"I just had my mind blown..." - A.S., Vistage, New York

Liquid Leadership by Brad Szollose is available at all major bookstores and for Kindle, Nook, iPad and Sony ereaders. Internationally published in India and S. Korea.