Friday, August 13, 2010

How to Motivate Front Line Workers

I see respect for people (that I think requires striving for joy in work) is critical. Dr. Deming stressed the importance of letting people take joy in work. A big part of this are many sensible respect for people notions. But also he stressed the importance of allowing people to take pride in what they do. Critical to this is providing meaningful work and organizing the work so that people can see and feel the contribution they make.

The overly simplistic example is that tightening one screw all day on an assembly line is very easy to think of yourself as a cog in a machine. Work needs to be designed to let people take pride in their contributions. An understanding of the whole system and work cells often helps. Sharing information so everyone can think of the big picture helps. Companies that truly focus on a vision can do this very well. But it is not a simple - plug this idea in exercise. To build such a culture takes an understanding of psychology and a true commitment to respect for people. Posts on my blogs about motivation.

Response to: How to Motivate Front Line Workers - Trust Your Staff to Make Decisions - Douglas McGregor's classic, The Human Side of Enterprise - Respect for People – Understanding Psychology

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