2020 New Year’s Resolutions + Motivation in the Workplace

We are now approaching week 3 of the new year. How is your 2020 resolution or big change going? 

Is this the year you finally get fit? Did you buy a gym membership but haven’t got around to going yet? If so, you are not alone. Sadly, 80% of new year plans end up failing by February. 

Why? Why is it that only 20% of people are motivated enough to hit their goals? 

Also bringing it back to a work context, what motivates us and how can we get team members to be more passionate about work?

Answer = Values

Values provide the fuel for motivation. They are your “Why”. They drive you forward and are your purpose. Core values can be very different from one person to the next and can also change over time.

Back to the gym, if you personally don’t value health and fitness then when it starts to get cold and a few of your friends are on holiday, chances are it will be hard for you to find that extra bit of motivation to go.

Once leaders begin to understand their own values, those of the company and those of their team then values alignment and congruence can occur. The end product of this is a reduction in misunderstandings, more effective communication and an ability to motivate and persuade others.

Let’s look at two real work examples;

Example 1

Geoff likes to exercise. Or he did. A very long time ago he used to play football, regularly go on walks and hit the gym at least twice a week. With the pressures of a two year company restructure, he has had to work over-time and put in extra hours.

Geoff can often be heard talking about the good old times when he felt fitter and younger. Problem for Geoff is that there is no gym near the company. Furthermore, his daily commute time doesn’t allow him the flexibility to exercise after or before work hours.

What could a leader do?

Leader approaches Geoff, recognizes that he values fitness and health. The company organizes an instructor to come in to the office twice a week to conduct in-house fitness sessions.

Geoff (plus other staff attendees) are hugely appreciative of the boss and the new initiative. He is now able to find time at lunch to exercise. Geoff feels the company cares about him. Geoff now see actual proof that the company values “take care of your staff and they will take care of you customers” are actually being honored.

Example 2

Jane must attend 3 weekly work conference calls. All of these take place in the morning around 9:00am.

Jane is a mum, her daughter is 3 years old and has just started kindergarten. Jane’s problem is that she wants to see her daughter grow up but these weekly conference calls are not helping. 

In fact, her motivation to actively participate in these calls is dwindling as she worries about her daughter’s first days at kindergarten.

So what could a manager do?

The manager understands that family is a very important value to Jane. The manager speaks to both Jane and the other conference call members to try to arrange a better time for the calls.

Result: Jane feels that her manager cares. She becomes much more engaged in the meetings. The individual (Jane), boss and company all benefit as a result.

Motivation and values are a cornerstone of Personal Effectiveness. Personal Effectiveness is all about doing more with the resources you have readily available. You will notice that in the above two examples no extra cost is incurred. The first example the change was made using a resource (office space). In the second, the change was with the timing of the call.

For more information on how our Personal Effectiveness program can help support you and your team then call/reach out to us and request a new 2020 program outline.