Motivating people

[DodgyAgent]

Why are so few people so poorly self motivated. In order that I can get my recruitment people working I have to hold them to account on their activity levels. they will work slowly to make three or four placements then start all over again and it will then be another 3 months to get the next 3 or four placements.

They get comfortable on their pittance of basic salaries and unless I feed them clients they just simply fiddle around doing as little as possible. Once they get work to do they will work pretty well but they will not go the extra yards in order to ensure a regular stream of placements without me micro managing them.

I have been doing it for years now and to be honest I am fed up with it.

[Mich the Tester]

Why are so few people so poorly self motivated. In order that I can get my recruitment people working I have to hold them to account on their activity levels. they will work slowly to make three or four placements then start all over again and it will then be another 3 months to get the next 3 or four placements.

They get comfortable on their pittance of basic salaries and unless I feed them clients they just simply fiddle around doing as little as possible. Once they get work to do they will work pretty well but they will not go the extra yards in order to ensure a regular stream of placements without me micro managing them.

I have been doing it for years now and to be honest I am fed up with it.

Are you saying you're not very good at selecting and hiring the right people?

Not a great ad for an agent.

[stevejohnson]

Why are so few people so poorly self motivated. In order that I can get my recruitment people working I have to hold them to account on their activity levels. they will work slowly to make three or four placements then start all over again and it will then be another 3 months to get the next 3 or four placements.

They get comfortable on their pittance of basic salaries and unless I feed them clients they just simply fiddle around doing as little as possible. Once they get work to do they will work pretty well but they will not go the extra yards in order to ensure a regular stream of placements without me micro managing them.

I have been doing it for years now and to be honest I am fed up with it.

In corrupt system everything gets corrupted.

[DodgyAgent]

Of course the responsibility lies with me and yes I need to manage properly but I am just tired of employing people who lack drive and ambition.

[original PM]

Why are so few people so poorly self motivated. In order that I can get my recruitment people working I have to hold them to account on their activity levels. they will work slowly to make three or four placements then start all over again and it will then be another 3 months to get the next 3 or four placements.

They get comfortable on their pittance of basic salaries and unless I feed them clients they just simply fiddle around doing as little as possible. Once they get work to do they will work pretty well but they will not go the extra yards in order to ensure a regular stream of placements without me micro managing them.

I have been doing it for years now and to be honest I am fed up with it.

maybe they finally realised that although they get a bit of bonus for making a placement the person who does feck all (e..g you) gets a bit more....

So they think ferk you and live on their pittance..

where are you based anyway?

[Mich the Tester]

Of course the responsibility lies with me and yes I need to manage properly but I am just tired of employing people who lack drive and ambition.

On a possibly more helpful note, take a look at this;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

Now it might look like lefty academics socioligists and so on playing with ideas, but there's a useful message in this. One message is that you have to pay people enough to take the money discussion off the table, but not give them big financial incentives for better performance; cognitive tasks require cognitive rewards. Tangible tasks or manual tasks require tangible rewards like wads of cash. So maybe you need to raise the basic salaries and cut the bonusses. Just a thought; obviously, the right balance is very much company and job specific.

As for drive and ambition, find out what other things people do in their lives; if people put great effort into succeeding at something like a sport or a hobby, there's a sign of drive and ambition to be recognised as good at something. Some people have gained qualifications next to a full time job, like OU degrees; that requires real self motivation too. PM me if you like as despite being a bit liberal, I actually know something about this stuff.

[DodgyAgent]

maybe they finally realised that although they get a bit of bonus for making a placement the person who does feck all (e..g you) gets a bit more....

So they think ferk you and live on their pittance..

where are you based anyway?

Fair enough but another recruitment owner who is much more hard working than I am and who is considerably more sucessful has the same problem.

[RasputinDude]

How old are they?

It is my experience that many (not all - I know many very fine graduates who are total grafters) younger graduates are less motivated now than they were ten years ago or so.

It *may* be because they aren't really interested in their jobs or that they have done soft skills degrees and haven't had to develop any self discipline for hard working.

[mudskipper]

Fair enough but another recruitment owner who is much more hard working than I am and who is considerably more sucessful has the same problem.

The challenge is to make everyone feel they're working towards a common goal. And that you're part of the team, not the enemy.

These team building days can actually be pretty good for morale, as well as good fun. But you have to keep it going - people have to understand why working hard is good for them (as opposed to you).

"We're setting a goal to achieve £n in the next 3 months. This is why we want to achieve it (being better than competitiors etc, not just making sure you get more dosh). These are our challenges (make them feel like they're in competition with agency down the road - but you know they can win because your team are the best (aren't they??)) This is how we can achieve it (SMART individual goals that they'll be monitored against - and do the reviews regularly, not just lip service, + training etc). If we achieve it, we'll have <insert big treat>.

[AtW]

One word - decimation.

Worked for Rome.