How Can I Motivate Demoralized BDMs Who Are Spreading Negativity in My Company?

Hi Seniors, I need your help! I'm working as an HR Executive in a Real Estate Company, and I am the only person taking care of HR & Admin. My problem is that all the Business Development Managers (BDM) of this company are very demoralized and dissatisfied. They are not realizing their duties and responsibilities themselves. The company provides all necessary things—leads, information, good incentives, monetary and non-monetary benefits—yet instead of working, they are misguiding new joiners and spreading negative messages against the company.

Seeking Guidance on Addressing Employee Demoralization

What should I do? Please guide me. I am waiting for your valuable suggestions!

Dear Mangal Singh Arora, I find a failure of leadership here. Your Head of Sales and Marketing is unable to lead his team. I really don't understand why they are not ready to understand their duties and responsibilities. Have you not given them job descriptions? If you have given them, what support does their Head of Department (HOD) provide to help them execute their duties? Perhaps the HOD could also be just a puppet at the hands of management and may have no authority.

I would have recommended training as one of the solutions, but it would only work if the HOD is supportive; otherwise, training efforts will also go to waste.

You have asked for a solution, but at this stage, providing a solution is not possible because the information you have given is inadequate. Whatever happens is a result of the organization's culture. However, structure influences culture. This is also true.

Thanks,
Dinesh V Divekar

Mr. Dinesh,

Greetings of the day. Thank you so much for your reply. However, sir, I am still in a dilemma about what to do. I want to know what I can contribute to it. I had taken their training session and tried to motivate them step by step, but they seem insolent; they don't seem to care.

Thanks again for your suggestion.

Take care.

Dear Mangal, If you have done all you could have done, then let me remind you of two good old proverbs. The first one is "bottlenecks are always at the top" (look at those green-colored soda water bottles, and you will understand the proverb), and the second one is "fish always starts sticking from the head."

Again, let me reiterate to check the behavior of their HOD. Is he/she insolent? What efforts does he/she make to motivate them? And so on...

Thanks, Dinesh V Divekar

Mr. Dinesh Greetings of the day, Thank you so much for your reply, but sir, I am still in a dilemma about what to do. I want to know what I can contribute to it. I have conducted training sessions with them, tried to motivate them step by step, but they seem insolent, meaning they don't care...

Thanks again for your suggestion....

Take care....

Dear Mangal, As per the information provided by you, I would like to ask some questions: When you have taken their training and motivation sessions, do you know the reason why they are all dissatisfied with the company? What trainings have you taken so far, and what is the contribution of their seniors in the training need identification?

See, there are always two sides to a coin. What you are saying may be true, but there must be some reason for the BDMs to behave like that. If the salaries and benefits are good, then there may be another reason for their dissatisfaction that you need to find out first.

We can provide you with many solutions here. However, without knowing the exact nature of the problem, it would be a waste of time and resources for you.

Therefore, conduct an employee satisfaction survey to find out the reasons for their behavior, and then we can work on solutions.

All the best...

Regards, Archna

Please do let us know the outcome of your discussion or employee survey so that we can use this real-life incident as a case study and further discuss its solutions.

Regards,
Archna

After reading your posts, I understand that you are looking for specific answers that will give you direction. One, you could talk to them on a one-to-one basis or as a group to understand their root cause for being demotivated. Two, get an external trainer who also has process understanding. Do let me know if these suggestions help develop your staff.

Best wishes,
Shyleswari
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Understanding Motivators for Business Development Managers

I guess it's of utmost importance to find out what the motivators are for these individuals. Before questioning leadership, we need to gauge:

- Are these good recruits in the first place? What if the leader is good but the team is not competent? This demotivates the leaders and thus has consequences.

- What are the motivators of these BDMs - their personal values, etc.? Are they in sync with the company's values, mission, etc.?

- If they are not happy, they will not spread happiness. This is human nature. So, let's find what makes them happy. You could just informally have a chat with them under the pretext of taking the team out for lunch or for a cocktail dinner. This interaction should happen in a light atmosphere. I am sure you will get good insights through this.

Lastly, check out your exit interview forms, gather the data of the BDMs who have left or if any new joiner has left suddenly. You will get valuable data there too. Using this data analysis, you could plan for a structured approach to tackle this problem. Just training will not suffice until you eradicate the root cause.

If you wish to understand what motivates each individual, including the leader, try out the SOSIE tool, which gives out values and motivators of individuals along with their personality traits.

Regards,
Ajay Venkatesh
Pearson Talent Assessments
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Suggestions to Overcome the Problem

Following are my suggestions to overcome the problem:

1. Please inform your Chief Executive, who is heading, to call for an everyday meeting of all BDMs.
2. You should also be present at the meeting.
3. Open the meeting with your business objectives and ensure that everyone is aware of them.
4. Inform all BDMs that they are partners in the business and must take ownership.
5. As an HR person, address the necessity of team building and the importance of having a strong, progressive team.
6. Review business performance either once a week or once a month and develop action plans accordingly.
7. Hold people responsible and accountable.
8. Set targets and provide deadlines.
9. Request your Chief Executive to aggressively pursue the set targets and review individual performances on a month-to-month basis.
10. Begin counseling sessions with poor, average, and normal performers and encourage them to improve in the presence of the Chief Executive.
11. Establish deadlines for improvement and provide motivation.
12. Make them understand how the company is investing in them through salary, benefits, etc., using facts and figures.
13. If anyone continues to perform poorly, despite counseling, have the Chief Executive issue a final written warning.
14. If there is no improvement despite all efforts, consider letting those individuals go.
15. While implementing steps 1 to 12, arrange for training both on-site and off-site, organize gatherings, informal meetings, tea parties for managers and staff, and take every opportunity to emphasize the importance of the business and gather feedback.
16. Establish a clear organizational chart, reporting structure, and job responsibilities to enhance accountability.

I am confident that implementing the above steps will lead to a significant change in the behavior and attitude of the individuals involved, enabling the company to progress.

Wishing you all the best,

Regards,
K. Ramachandra
Bangalore