by Alvos

Created on: August 24, 2009

A while ago I got into a discussion about the ways to motivate your workers. How is it that good managers keep their employees bringing the big bucks to the company happily?

A colleague came up with a story I found amusing and really interesting because it shows how applying the old "whip strategy" with your workers can backfire at you.

A company hired an engineer to be the manager of their production line. Processes were already efficient and working as expected but this guy wanted to set a precedent. He thought that the best way to keep his employees motivated was to show them the consequences of being a bad one.

He walked through the place and finally saw this guy just standing there, wasting the company's money in a salary that was not deserved - he thought.
As the engineer approached to the guy, he started calling all the other workers around to observe the scene. He asked him - "what's your salary?". The guy answered surprised - "well, I make $7.50 an hour.". The engineer got some money out of his wallet and gave it to the guy saying - "Here's a month's worth of salary. Now get the hell out of here!". The guy gratefully took the money and left the place. The engineer felt satisfied because he taught his workers a lesson but soon his plan started falling apart as the workers began to laugh at him. The shocked engineer asked one of the workers what was the role of the guy he just fired. The worker answered - "he was a pizza deliverer waiting for the tip".

I spend most of my work hours in the IT business and I have seen teammates crushing company servers after quitting their jobs because of a crappy boss.

I'm not saying I'm one of those Administration gurus that get to charge $5,000 for an hour of their speeches but based on my experience, my studies and what I've seen from some managers, here's a list of tips that can motivate your workers without having to give them a raise that often:

Delegate responsibilities: A good boss is not the guy that does it all by himself, is the one that knows how to delegate responsibilities to his subordinates. Responsibilities make your workers feel more important, hence they'll be more motivated. Letting your best worker lead a project can make him work harder and be happier, not necessarily meaning you will give him a raise for that. It even helps you to get to recognize which workers could become team leaders or fill your place while you are on vacation.

Recognize the effort: It might seem dumb, but you won't believe

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