\ F A R MANAGEMENT MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES TRY SOMETHING BESIDES MONEY -- Russ Powell Extension Agent Business Management At one time or another, almost every employer asks “How can I do a better job of motivating my employees?” What they really mean is “How can I get my employees to work harder or be more productive?” We must realize that motivation is not something that you can do for (or to) a person; it must come horn within the individual. The most that you can do is to provide an environment in which employees want to work. In order to do this, you must: • Identify the causes of high or FARMERS Accredit pßr We Are Farmers «•’ Talking With Farmers About Farm Finances George Lewis Lancaster County includes working operations, along management. George is also President of Farmers AgCredit Corp. His field of expertise is agricultural lending, farm business counseling and management. Mixing farm skills and lending expertise together, George provides insight, foresight, and the farm know how you and your family need to continue in a positive financial direction. Whatever your financial needs may be, he will advise you in your family's best interest - always. The majority of George’? time is spent on the farm He comes to you to discuss vour needs. A farmer talking with farmers about family farm finances. low motivation, job satisfaction, and morale. • Identify employee needs and how they affect the types of moti vation that may be successful, and the level of job satisfaction, and morale. • Understand the principles and methods of creating a climate to promote improved motivation, job satisfaction, and morale. What is motivation? Motivation is something we feel within ourselves. It is putting an inner drive into action and involves the idea of directing ener gy to satisfy needs. Many employers immediately think of money to motivate, but motivators should not be confused with incentives. Incentives are methods of encouraging us to do or not to do something. Money is a major external has been working with farmers in for over 25 years. His experience with livestock and poultry with farm finances and farm FARMERS AgCREOTT 9 East Main Street, Lititz, PA 17543 □ 717/626-4721 A subsidiary of Farmers First Bank incentive. We cannot truly moti vate anyone but ourselves, although we can create a climate where motivation is encouraged by good working conditions, incen tives, and other job-related factors. Since most of us identify strong ly with our jobs, we look to our work for a major sense of accom plishment When work is dull and boring, we turn to activities out side of the job for satisfaction, or look for another job. The farm manager’s job in moti vating employees boils down to understanding individuals, and identifying management actions that will lead to the fulfillment of the employee’s needs. The ulti mate challenge for the manager is to find out how to “encourage” a particular employee in a particular situation. The motivation that causes the bored farm worker to excitedly leave work to participate as a vol unteer fireman is transferrable to the job if we find the key. Principles of motivation The forces that motivate us are intensely personalized and usually include many of the following: our own needs, interests, values, goals, and levels of aspiration; our back ground. lifestyle and how we view ourselves: individual job satisfac- Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, August 15. 1992-C5 tion, co-worker attitudes, morale, and organizational climate; perfor mance expectations of the employ er and the employee’s ability to produce the desired results; condi tion of personaMinances compared to needs and expectations; and available job options. It is important to note that there is no single approach to motivating a group of employees, since each individual may be motivated by different factors. To discover the individual needs of each employ ee, begin by asking them to iden tify their needs and wants in addi tion to observing their actions and reactions to various types of incentives. Common motivators • Self-esteem • Prestige and status • Feeling of acceptance and belonging • Recognition and appreciation by others • Security and hope for our future • Power and influence • Reasonable independence and freedom of action • Significant participation and involvement in activities affecting • Continuing growth and reali zation of potential through achievement and contributions. One way of motivating employ ees to excel is to involve them in the decision-making and planning. The more that they participate, the more that they will feci "owner ship” in the plan and personal pride in a job well done. Make sure that the discussion is IT'S FITNESS YOU CAN MONK. 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Non-monetary incentives Consider the following non monetary incentives or other simi lar ideas that may be appropriate for your employees: • Additional vacation and holidays • Compensation time instead of overtime • Flexible working hours • “Company” picnics • Tickets to sporting events • Use of company vehicles • Equipment or facilities for employee’s personal use A work climate that fosters self motivation has well-defined guidelines, allows the employee to make as many decisions as possi ble, and provides the employee with constant feedback about per formance with rewards when appropriate. Learn all you can about your employee’s personal goals and compare them to the goals of the business and then provide a work- ing environment that promotes good morale, accomplishment, and appropriate recognition and rewards for outstanding perfor mance to benefit both you and your employees. Call the Bucks County Exten sion Office at (215) 345-3283 to request a free publication on moti vating employees with and without financial incentives. Sllawrop TiU ■ stationary (ar3-paiot) RMltl fully camputarlzaC, Infra.rad aparallan from leading tractor. Oita man aparatlcn. The dominating petition of Silawrap m more than 20 leading agricultural nations in the world clearly confirms the Kvemeland philosophy - “always to be a trouble-shooter for demanding farmers''. For more details on how you too can benefit from Silawrap • and users references - please contact us today. Video tapes available. See Us At Ag Progress Day On W. 3rd St. Kvemeland
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