Give you a company, see how you manage

Chapter 67 The "trap" of "money incentives" (2)
If the "bottom line" income level of employees cannot be guaranteed at least, any incentives you have will not be effective.Since it is a "bonus", as the name suggests, it should be the "extra" part.Unless it is absolutely necessary (such as encountering an employee with extremely bad performance), otherwise the employee's "basic income" must not be moved.Fourth, although managers should "muddle" the water with employees, they must be very "clear" in their hearts.It must be carefully calculated and evaluated before it can be put into practice.We must master the overall sense of proportion and rhythm (of course, under the premise of preventing employees from feeling the rules).Otherwise, if some employees are lower than others several times in a row, it will make people panic and backfire.Fifth, since this practice gives managers considerable financial control, it is inevitable to ensure their "professional ethics" and prevent "corruption" from happening.The senior management of the company should effectively supervise the use of this part of the funds, and must promptly correct any problems found.Otherwise, not only will it fail to motivate, but it will bring down the company's atmosphere.

As long as our managers can use this "trick" properly and handily, there should be no need to worry that employees will not willingly jump into your "ditch".However, just solving this problem does not mean that "everything will be fine".In fact, there is another kind of employee that is more difficult to deal with.And it is especially unfortunate that these employees are often the "elite" in the company.For example, suppose an employee can only earn one yuan a month. If you send him more money a month, will he mind the extra yuan?I believe you will say: Of course, with this extra yuan, he can earn one yuan.For him, this is not a small amount, of course he would mind.

Then I ask you another question: Assuming that an employee can earn [-] yuan a month, if you send him more money a month, will he mind the extra [-] yuan?Now you may be a little hesitant: he has already earned [-] yuan a month, no matter how much it is, it is only [-] yuan, the gap seems not big, he may not mind that much.Congratulations, you got it.That's the nature of the problem.On the one hand, we human beings seem to be "greedy", as if "we don't make enough money";In fact, in the final analysis, it is still "inertia" that is at work.So, how to fight against this "inertia" of "small rich and full"?
Obviously, simply relying on playing tricks on "incentives" cannot fundamentally solve the problem.Because any incentive means, in the final analysis, is to stimulate people's "consciousness", and people's "consciousness" is always limited.No matter how high the "trick" you come up with, it can only work for a certain period of time.After everyone is familiar with and adapts to your "tricks", there will be no novelty, and the "inertia" will still recur.

Of course, because of this, we need to "change tactics" relatively frequently, constantly "innovate", and constantly produce new "moths", so we can't be lazy.However, even so, generally speaking, your "innovation" speed is still far behind the employee's "inertia" attack speed.Therefore, in addition to working hard on "incentives", we also need to think of some other methods.In my opinion, if "motivation means" is regarded as a method of "internal coercion" (employees themselves force themselves to improve), then "management means" can be regarded as "external coercion" (force employees to improve through external pressure) Methods.That is to say, "motivation" cannot rely solely on the "self-consciousness" of employees. When necessary, it should be supplemented with high-intensity "external stimulation": through the "sparse but not leaky" and highly penetrating efficient management methods, to maximize "Squeeze out" the space for employees to "lazy".For example, managers can check employees' customer information utilization efficiency from time to time, or selectively track the entire process of their customer negotiations, to judge whether employees are "doing their best" and whether they are suspected of being "lazy".

Once a problem is discovered, it must be "severely punished" in order to achieve the purpose of "making others like others".However, I would like to remind one more "unfounded worry" here.Seeing the methods I mentioned, many managers may dismiss them: What you are talking about are some of the most basic management methods, which everyone knows.In our company, the monitoring "system" is so well established and works so well that you don't need to teach it.However, based on my little experience, any monitoring method that has been "institutionalized" will have inherent "deficiencies".Because as long as it is something that is clearly "placed" there, as long as it is something that "everyone knows", with the ingenuity of the Chinese people, they will definitely think of a way to "decipher" it.What's more terrible is that even employees who are full of resistance to this strict "monitoring system" at the beginning will "change themselves" and become staunch "supporters" of these systems once they think of a "broken trick" method .Because the longer these systems are, the longer their "safety period" will be.

Therefore, we can see that many monitoring methods that are "perfect" in "theory" are often "merely a formality", and eventually become a tool that is only used to "defraud the boss".Therefore, for the matter of "monitoring", there must be something "institutionalized", but it must not be "hanged on a tree".Our managers must learn a set of methods that are "outside the system" and "appear and disappear".These methods must be "secret and undisclosed" and "untraceable": no one can "participate" except yourself.

So it has to be something very "personal".This requires each of our managers to really use their brains and work hard, and they must never be lazy.Do not pin all your hopes on a rigid "system". "Trap" [-]: As long as enough money is given, employees will definitely be grateful and increase their loyalty.If you think that as long as you are an exceptionally "generous" boss in terms of money, employees will be "grateful" to you, unconditionally "loyal" to you, and "work hard" for you unconditionally, then you are making a big mistake Very wrong.Because employees are always more greedy and complicated than you think: they not only pay attention to "money needs", but also pay more attention to "spiritual needs".Therefore, in a sense, for employees, the effect of "spiritual motivation" is far greater than that of "money motivation".On the basis of meeting the basic material needs, what employees need more is affirmation and praise, that is, spiritual encouragement.

As a social person, there is nothing more valuable and inspiring than receiving affirmative evaluation and heartfelt praise from others, especially leaders.In this sense, the idea that "people only love money" really underestimates people.If you don’t believe me, you can try it: you give a subordinate a bonus of [-] yuan every month, but call him “trash” every day, or give him a bonus of [-] yuan every month, but praise him as “capable” every day, which one is better? The "motivation effect" on him is greater.To put it bluntly, the former is the boss buying the "dignity" of the employees with money. The employees will not think well of you after taking the money. If they make trouble, they will hate you instead. In order to retaliate, they will passively sabotage their work every day." Goofing around", and sooner or later, you will betray you, making you shout "Unfathomable, ungrateful!" But you have no choice but to admit that you are unlucky; the latter is the boss who "saves money" for himself by fully giving employees "dignity".Not only will the employees not blame you, but they will regard you as a "confidant" and serve you like chicken blood.It costs less money, and the employees "buy it".Which one is the real "smart person" approach is self-evident.Of course, it is necessary to repeat here that "spiritual motivation" will only be effective if the basic "material needs" of employees (the lowest income level that employees can afford) are met.

Otherwise, no matter how good you are to your employees, if they don't even have the most basic material ability to maintain their lives, it is absolutely impossible to let them play "Platonic" "love games" with you.Therefore, only relying on "being kind to employees" and other incentives such as "wish plums to quench thirst" and "make a wish" will always have limited effects.In addition to the means of "spiritual motivation", giving employees the maximum "discretionary power" is also an efficient "motivation method".

Regarding the issue of "discretionary power", I have already fully discussed it in other articles in this book, so I won't repeat it here.All in all, "money is not everything".It must be remembered that no matter how "greedy" the desire for money is in human nature, "money" cannot be the only one among human desires.Therefore, the part of human nature other than "money" will always "have a lot to do".On the contrary, precisely because human beings' desire for money is too "strong" and "sensitive", "money" has become a "double-edged sword": it can hurt others as well as itself.Therefore, all management methods related to "money" need to be used with caution and should not be hasty.

(End of this chapter)