Inspirations for Demonstrating Genuine Leadership

Simple, inexpensive strategies to motivate and lead

By using the following simple, inexpensive ideas you are demonstrating genuine leadership within your organization. You can use the ideas as they are or use them to spur your creative juices to come up with better and more relevant ideas for your own situation.

The purpose for these inspirations is to increase employee motivation and develop a culture of commitment among employees. This means becoming a place they work not just because of the paycheck but because they enjoy it, and they enjoy each other.

1. Give all your managers and team leaders a roll of pennies. Challenge them to find 50 times each day when they can give an employee or peer a penny because they see them doing something RIGHT. Give a compliment or a word of thanks with each penny. If your organization hasn’t been in the habit of looking for what’s right, start it out manageably by assigning everyone to give out 20 pennies a day for the first two weeks; then increase it to 50.
   
2. Keep a list of prizes, from small to large (everything from company logo items to tickets to special events to gift card to contributions to a favorite charity) that employees can choose from when they are recognized by a peer or a manager for an organizational contribution. The value of the reward should be comparable to the value of the contribution.
   
3. Set up a Hero Jar and encourage employees to nominate each other for things done well on the job. The nomination forms need to allow space to describe what was done and should include the name of the nominator. Record all such nominations and read each name and deed monthly at a meeting which all relevant employees attend. Or call periodic special meetings just for your Hero Awards. The final name (or names) pulled out of the jar gets a gift card or similar prize.
   
4. What does your company provide or produce that could be given out to employees for free? For example, an HVAC company could provide yearly free service checks on employee heating or AC systems. Or a food manufacturer could give each employee so many pounds of free food per year.
   
5. Give high-performing employees a short-term promotion (two or three weeks) as special assistant to one of the company executives, including attending executive team meetings. They learn a great deal more about how the company really works and increase their commitment to the organization.
   
6. Give good performers an option about what work they perform for a period of time. Rather than assigning work, this will help the company to understand what these good performers actually like and can give insight for cross-training and internal promotion purposes.
   
7. Offer employees an increase in pay when they take on additional responsibilities that are challenging; for example, serving on a special task-force or project team, training and cross-training og employees, and assisting with budgeting.
   
8. If you have a sales force (or distributors) and rely on their knowledge of your products to sell those products, devise a knowledge test. Have your reps call a phone number to answer quiz questions or complete a quiz on a website. Those who score at a certain level (80%? 90%?) receive a prize. All those who pass receive an internal certification and their names are entered into a drawing for a nice prize.
   
9. Have an awards program with several levels and/or several categories of awards so more people can be winners. Employees and managers can nominate anyone for outstanding performance or anyone can self-nominate. A multifaceted screening committee representing all parts of the organization selects winners, and winners receive prizes or appropriate recognition.
   
10. For every month of perfect attendance (including no tardiness), employees receive two hours of pay, a $25 gift card, or two hours off the following month.
    
11. Reward low absenteeism and no tardiness with a reserved parking spot for a month or lunch with the CEO.
    
12. Turn the general mood from negative to positive by creating a Good Things Wall. Put up a large piece of butcher paper and attach a marker in a break room or someplace else that employees frequently access. Write down anything that has gone well in the organization, from small things to large ones, and encourage others to record the successes they see. Encourage participation by assigning someone to go to each employee weekly to find out from them “what was the best thing that happened to/for you at work this week?”
    
13. Extend the lunch hour, provide a simple lunch, and rent a DVD for your entire team or for those employees recognized for outstanding performance by their managers or peers.
    
14. Start clubs within the company. What kinds of activities do your employees like? Fishing, running, singing, and yoga are just a few examples of what could be initiated. Consider encouraging a small amount for dues ($10) and have the organization provide a small amount, such as $50 to each club or match the amount of dues collected. Encourage the groups to pursue their hobby together outside work hours and have monthly lunches where each club gathers.
    
15. When a project team or special task force has completed their work, send them on an outing together – a field trip to a special event, an amusement park or something similar.
    
16. Have your boss or an executive attend the meetings in which you thank or honor high contributors or a whole team for outstanding performance.
    
17. Recognize your entire team by having a catered lunch. This is particularly effective when the team manager contributes with something “personal,” such as fish he/she caught, game shot, or homemade desserts.
    
18. If you are in a retail, restaurant, or another high customer service business, get your employees to enter their name in a drawing every time they are able to call a customer by name.
    
19. Award a bonus of $10 for every customer compliment and deduct $10 for every customer complaint.
    
20. Give best-serving employees who have been recognized by the company a ribbon that they wear with their name badge that says Customer Service Superstar or some such title. Then all customers can see it, some will ask about it, and the recognition is extended.