How Can We Inspire and Re-energize Our Team in a Growing Shared Services Company?

Hi all,

Our organization is 5 years old with over 200 employees averaging 3-5 years of experience. The type of work we do is similar to shared services/call center operations. We are committed to keeping our employees motivated, especially as many are at a stage in their lives where they are planning to get married and start families.

The leadership team has tasked me, as the HR head, to reinvigorate and re-energize the organization. We aim to effectively communicate "WHAT'S NEXT" to our employees in a way that will inspire them to remain engaged and deliver their best. Do you have any concrete ideas that we can implement to achieve this goal?

Thanks,
Octagon

Here are some useful hints.

Shared Service Setting Motivation

You must look at the total people systems under three headings.

1. Rewards System

This is an area requiring constant monitoring and as much imagination as you can apply in devising many types of rewards:
- Pay market rates.
- Link rewards to performance.
- Instant cash bonuses.
- Reward individual performance.
- Reward team performance.
- Make excellence awards.
- Ask the team to nominate the best performer on a monthly basis.
- Give people more autonomy.
- Enrich good performers' jobs.
- Send performers to external courses, etc.

2. People Maintenance

Offering people support to maintain good health:
- Support to join health clubs.
- Taking people/their families on picnics.
- Organizing festival parties.
- Offering training support.
- Providing child care support.
- Promoting from within as a policy.
- Shares for loyal staff, etc.

3. Communication

Set a system for management to communicate regularly:
- Provide suggestion box.
- Quality circles meetings.
- Problem-solving meetings.
- Cascade briefing groups downwards on a regular basis.
- Informal get-togethers.
- Regular staff/management meetings.
- Weekly happy hour meetings, etc.

Also, you can have programs like:
- After marriage, those who want to come back should be given priority.
- Bring old employees as casuals/part-timers to fill rosters, etc.

Regards,
Leo Lingham

Dear Anu,

Please find some macro ideas.

Shared Staff Setting Motivation

E-learning is the most important recent development in approaches to the delivery and support of learning. The impact of e-learning is strongly influenced by how well support is provided to learners. It is the effectiveness of this support rather than the sophistication of the technology that provides real added value. Motivation is the key to performance improvement. One person cannot motivate another person. But one person can create a mental frame or physical facilities for another person to self-stimulate to perform better.

What do the shared staff seek?
- Interesting work
- Opportunity to develop special abilities
- Good pay
- Enough information
- Enough authority
- Job security
- Responsibilities clearly defined
- Friendly/cooperative coworkers
- Opportunity to see the final outcome of their work
- Competent supervision
These will vary with the time and demand of the position.

What are the line managers/HRM motivation toolkit?
1. Recognition
- Service awards
- Praise
- Acknowledgement
- Approval of the achievement
- Pat on the back
2. Challenge
- Job enrichment
- Job rotation
- More responsibility
- More autonomy
3. Camaraderie
- Happy hours together
- Lunch together
- Informal meetings
- Club membership
4. Communication
- Management to staff
- Suggestion box/rewards
- Intranet newsletter
5. Vision/Mission
- Linking daily performance/achievement with Vision/Mission
6. Exercises
- Teambuilding
7. Training
- Job skills
- Coaching
- Multiskilling
- Development programs
- Job sharing
8. Community service
- Charity work
- Fundraising
9. Measurements
- Key performance areas (actual/standards)
- Individual performance achievements
- Customer satisfaction levels
- Revenue performance
- Gross profit performance
- Net profit performance
10. Fun
- Birthdays celebrations
- Group travels
- Picnics with families
11. Responsibility
- Responsibility for outcome (individual/group)
12. Involvement
- Decision making in restructure
- Decision making in workload allocation
- Decision making in operational matters
13. Rewards
- Market-related pay
- Pay for performance
- Bonus for productivity improvements
- Rewards for teams
- Rewards for excellence (individuals/teams)
14. Meetings
- Problem-solving group
- Quality circles
- Weekly reviews
- Management/staff, etc.

Other factors that need to be looked at to improve motivation levels of the staff:

Fitting the task to the person is ergonomics. Good ergonomics:
- Shortens learning times
- Makes the job quicker with less fatigue
- Improves care of machines
- Reduces absenteeism, labor turnover, and other signs of worker malcontent
- Meets the requirements of health and safety legislation.

Within management services various principles exist; for example:
- Workplace design
- Motion economy
- Rest allowances
- Job satisfaction
- Environmental control

To increase motivation level, one must remove organizational barriers that stand in the way of individual and group performance (smoothening business processes/systems/methods/resources).

If you need further micro factors on the barriers, etc., please let me know.

Regards,

Leo Lingham

YARD STICK TO NOMINATE EMPLOYEE FOR REWARDS

HERE are some methods for judging.........

*use the quarterly performance review .

*use the annual performance review .

*use the line managers' assessment for individual achievements.

*use the team evaluation for star performance.

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Reward Criteria

Following are the four award areas, along with suggested criteria:

INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY

· Articulates vision.

· Develops effective strategies.

· Exhibits resourcefulness in response to challenge.

· Uses time and resources economically.

· Facilitates others' use of time and resources.

· Enhances customer service and experience.

COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION

· Translates goals into action.

· Makes connections between individual/team work

· Fosters productive working relationships.

· Contributes to effective group purpose and progress.

· Supports peers in achievement of projects while sustaining seamless service.

· Enables and supports peers in realizing their full job potential.

· Demonstrates commitment and resilience in the face of change.

RESULTS, OUTCOME AND PRODUCTIVITY

· Provides outstanding services to internal and/or external customers.

· Translates strategic goals into action.

· Motivates others toward achievement through example and approach.

· Uses time and resources economically.

· Develops strategies for effective teamwork.

· Exhibits resourcefulness in response to change.

· Sustains high quality services.

COMPANYWIDE

(The COMPANYWIDE Award recognizes endeavors which may satisfy any of the above criteria when applied to certain contexts.)

· Provides behind-the-scenes support for public activities or change initiatives.

· Initiates or contributes to cross-functional or interdepartmental efforts.

· Effects system-wide impacts upon workplace issues or customer services.

· Reinforces or enhances the COMPANY relationship with the CUSTOMERS.

OTHER CRITERIA

Attendance [PR]

Training / Certification

Suggestions / Ideas

Participation

Compliance

Product or Service Quality

Productivity

Other Metrics Specific to Each Organization

Safety

Teamwork

Wellness

Referrals

Customer Service

New Sales,

Up-Sell,

Cross-Sell

REGARDS

LEO LINGHAM