Here’s an age-old question: How to get someone who’s working for you to take the extra mile on your behalf?
There are so many answers to it: Offer privileges. Offer more money. Offer rewards. Any ‘carrots’ will do.
But there’s one more thing that you, as the business owner, should consider doing; something that’s not many would do for their employees, but very, very effective. So, are you ready to find out about it? Read on.
You must do this
The days of the bosshole is over. Today, people respect those who walk the talk. In leadership, people watch what the leaders are doing, and respond/mimic to it. If the CEO is awesome, the employees will be awesome, too. On the other hand, if the CEO sucks, the employees will do similar things, too, which include stealing, slacking, and whatnot.
The same logic also follows when you are trying to get your business team to work beyond their best: You over-deliver to your employees, and guilt them into doing their best for you. Let Gary Vaynerchuk explains.
Gary Vaynerchuk, the prolific entrepreneur, investor and social media guru, says that one effective way to push your team beyond their best is by guilt them into it.
How?
Here’s how: You need to build a relationship with your employees and find out what makes them tick: Is it money? Future opportunities? Legacy? The bottom line, you need to listen to your employees well, so that you can understand them better.
Your next step would be focusing your effort in building the relationship, over-deliver in the relationship, and guilt them into paying back by doing their best as gratitude.
But what to do when it’s not happening? E.g. You’ve given your support, opportunities, help, etc. to your employees – and they just don’t show their gratitude by showing it in their business performance?
Well, if it’s not happening, Gary Vaynerchuk says that you should move on. Things happen.
Let my man Gary explains this better:
Takeaway
Going deeper in response to Gary’s advice, here are some points that I think should be effective in having your employees to work beyond their best:
- Some people are motivated by money, but it’s usually not an effective way to persuade employees to work harder for you – so use raises, bonuses, etc. as the last resort.
- Support your employees’ side hustles by promoting them to your business network, social media, etc.
- Take your employees to go with you in a meeting, and speak good words about them to other people.
- Sometimes what you need to do is just ask: Remind what you’ve done to them and ask them to do their part. It’s not that noble, but sometimes people just need a nudge to take action.
- Listen and observe. A lot. Tap the pulse of your business to know what actions that you should take.
- Remember, not all people show gratitude; some are just selfish and don’t care – don’t bother, just move on.
I’ve shared my takeaway. What’s yours?
