Awards can be rewarding

I have never watched the ESPYs, the sports awards programs that ESPN created, but I love the concept and especially the name, since it is a great reinforcement of their brand.

So, inspired, my company has created the ELBEE awards. ELBEE, pronounced LB, support LaBov & Beyond's culture and brand. Every month, we choose the top performer in our company based on the recommendations of his or her fellow "Labovians." That recognition program (we call it Recognition Roadhouse) is the ONLY way a person can achieve an ELBEE, so it inspires our employees to contribute and to acknowledge great performances. On an average month, there are dozens of recommendations received.

So what? Well, I think it's a big deal. The winner each month receives a check for $100, plus they get the ELBEE trophy to adorn their workspace for the month. And it is no typical trophy. Standing almost three feet tall, ELBEE (the trophy), is a LaBov & Beyond branded mascot made by our own Marcus McMillen and our creative team. You simply cannot miss ELBEE when you walk past it.

The ELBEE has become a fun, positive program that feeds off employees recognizing each other and has become quite a morale lifter. Awards can be rewarding for all.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
http://www.labov.com/

Why motivate?

Why spend the time to explain why you need something to get done? Or how it will play a big role in the future. Or make a huge difference for all?

Why not just tell the person only what you want and expect them to do it?

Because, if you want an extraordinary performance, you won't get it with a "text" or "telegraph" communication. It will take more than "do it" or "get 'er done" or "you know as much about this as I do, so get moving" to receive anything other than a mediocre result.

We, all people, need to understand as much as possible when tackling a challenge so that our brains engage, and just maybe we come up with a great idea or a tremendous performance.

Minimalist communication gets you minimal results. Now get 'er done.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com

Comply or Inspire? It's in the Order...

There are two approaches to solve the following:

The best way to make sure a dealer treats customers right.
The smartest approach to ensure customers migrate from your old software platform to your new one.
The most effective way to get employees to do a typically unexciting task.


You can use compliance or you can inspire.

Want the dealer to care about the customer? Show the dealer what the customer goes through and demonstrate the dollar value of a customer. Or you can enforce a process and only reward the dealer when they conform.

Want to have your customers migrate to your new platform? Make your new platform so exciting they're beating down the doors to get it or stop supporting the old one and make their lives unbearable.

Want employees to do an important, but unthrilling task? Show them the value of that task and celebrate it or punish those who don't perform the task by eliminating their positions.

Ideally, it's best to inspire. It's fun, it leads to things beyond what you expect, and it's a nice thing to do. But, if inspiration doesn't work, compliance is another option and while it's not warm and fuzzy, it can be effective.

The key to this: inspire first, then if necessary, force compliance. Doing the opposite, demanding compliance and then trying to inspire, doesn't work.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

Desperation and Motivation

Ever know someone who didn't do much in a particular job he or she had and then after being laid-off or let go, emerges at another company and is a ball of fire? I've seen it a few times.

Sometimes the person may have had a wake-up call, or maybe he or she had a healthier environment at the new company.

Sometimes it's desperation. The person is keenly aware that if things don'thappen immediately, he or she will not have their new job for very long. He or she is desperate, willing to push and push to get results. Willing to cheat, to break non-compete agreements, to stoop to almost anything.

In the short term, this may work. In the long run, though, it may not. The clients that are being pushed and prodded will sense the desperation and will turn away. Plus, if a company breeds that environment, the culture will eventually turn on itself.

If you need desperation to have motivation, the results, if any, will be short-lived.


Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com

Different Ways to Motivate, Different Languages to Speak

My dad was a colorful guy. He was an introverted engineer. He was brilliant (and would tell you so). He was not, however, a natural communicator. He overcame that by joining Toastmasters and becoming an excellent orator. As I sat and timed his speeches throughout the years, he imparted one message that has stuck with me:

The best communicators speak in a language or style that is comfortable, suitable to that audience.

His point was if you're addressing an audience of professors, speak formally; if you're talking to a team of 12-year-old little leaguers, speak in words that they'll understand.

We have to do the same in motivating people. Some managers motivate by being the "nice guy" others always play "hard ball" and others avoid the discomfort and say little. None of these approaches is always right because they don't address the audience or situation.

Sometimes the audience--the employee--requires a tough talk, other times you need to help them see the good they're doing so they can build on it. Sometimes you don't say anything because the fewer the words the better.

Want to be a good motivator? Forget about what you're comfortable with. It's the language, the situation and the desired outcome that should dictate your approach to communication and motivation.


Barry LaBov
LaBov and Beyond
http://www.labov.com/