Engagement and Sustainable Productivity

While they are intrinsically connected, at this point in time it's apparent that industrial companies are thinking about how to address this, with a number of challenging factors creating apparent blocks, such as these;

1) The majority of shop-floor workers are on minimum wage, or close to it. How do you motivate people in this situation?

2) Skilled workers are hard to come by, and the sector has a shortage of people coming in to the talent pool with knowledge behind them, so most operators are semi-skilled at best - how do you get them to optimise output?

3) What do you prioritise - mechanical upgrades or motivated staff?

Let's bear in mind first of all that money is not a primary motivating factor in the pursuit of happiness. People content to earn a modest wage are nevertheless continually in search of fulfilment - sense of purpose being a fundamental need according to Maslow's Hierarchy. A company leader is always in a position to raise self-esteem, morale and engagement by nurturing a positive environment, but many choose not to because:

1) They are nervous about empowering people when they fear, as a consequence, losing empowered staff since the culture doesn't live up to their subsequently higher expectations.

2) They are not confident of their own ability to carry out a sustainable policy of cultural transformation.

3) They do not believe they can change things from 'the way they are'.

The first of these is readily diffused by the fact that positively motivated people automatically create better working conditions for themselves, via discretionary effort (the kind you don't have to ask for). When the working conditions are better, and they have taken part in making them so, brand loyalty has an anchor and people are more likely to stay.

Change is inevitable, whatever we do. Either we make change work for us, or we allow it to dictate results of its own accord. Often there is a crossover, for we can't control everything, and nor should we seek to - that's not a healthy mentality. When it comes to corporate culture, the only sustainable route to success is one that's agreed upon, by everyone, and the only way that can happen is if the company presents its workforce with a win-win situation they can buy into.

A win-win situation is one that provides the following:

1) Trust, proactive communication, shared motivation and confident self-management across the company matrix.

2) A positive environment to walk into every day.

3) Learning and development that extends beyond the workplace into people's daily lives (=more positive change for which the company is credited!).

I could go on. But instead of reading another ream of writing, the very best thing is to have a conversation. I'll sign off with three primary effects of motivational culture change, not to mention a raft of other benefits we could talk about:

1) Increased productivity as operators become more confident and energised.

2) Reliable quality of output as people take more pride in their work.

3) Alignment with mission as staff find themselves engaging with the company as a living entity and committing to their role in its future health and welfare.

 UPDATE - breakthrough speaker presentations at MACH and SUBCON this year - sign up for the Newsletter on LinkedIn