Business Growth Strategies: Getting your employees to give 100%

Senior management teams are always dealing with the age old problem of getting their employees to give 100%. When attempting to execute business growth strategies, you don’t want your team giving a lackluster effort. How do you ensure you are fostering a culture of maximum effort amongst your leaders and employees? Mark Murphy’s Hundred Percenters details some great strategies to ensure you are able to do this.

Mark gives some very good recommendations on how to foster a culture of leaders and employees that are giving their all to the success of your organization. The below are some takeaways I found:

• Most employees do not give 100% at work. To get there, they need 100% leaders. These are individuals who are able to both challenge them with goals that stretch them, and at the same time know what motivates each team member. 100% leaders are not individuals that lead by appeasing, intimidating or browbeating. Ultimately, you will get the most out of your employees by truly connecting with them.

• Approach feedback constructively. Employees make mistakes, and you should have a discussion with them in a nonjudgmental and nonthreatening way. Be graceful in bringing up the problem, eliminate any blame on the employee (the employee probably already feels bad, so placing blame is not helpful).

• Know what motivates and demotivates your employees. These are called shoves and tugs. Find out what shoves your employees (what stresses them to the point of shoving them out the door) and what tugs your employees (what tugs at them to keep them striving). Do this by simply asking them. Knowing this will go a long way as you are attempting to get the most out of them.

• Know your “talented terrors” which are those people who are knowledgeable, bright and extremely capable, yet have terrible attitudes and are an infection to the culture. Approach these individuals directly about their attitude and the need for adjustment. If their attitude is not adjusted, consider termination as it could be a huge detriment to your organization.

• Elevate your hundred percenters by rewarding them and profiling them in your organization. If your employees see their behavior is rewarded and appreciated, people will look to emulate it.

These were just a few tidbits of knowledge in what I found to be a very good read. Helping manage a Boston Venture Capital fund I found the material to be very helpful. The best organizations will be built by teams that are giving 100%. Make sure you and your leaders are doing the right things to build these individuals.

-KKF