“It is our job as leaders to find the unique motivators for each person on the team and help them reach those,” says Art Snarzyk, a former paint contracting company owner who now heads InnerView Advisors, Inc. “It takes a moment longer and a little patience, but it’s truly a win-win outcome that will serve you for years.”
As an example, he shared how he motivated his employees to reach his painting company’s production goals.
1. Service-oriented employees
Some of the painters in my company were driven to serve. They were happiest and most productive when they felt like they were helping customers, the company, or me. For them, I showed them how meeting our production goals would allow them to serve more customers.
2. Ego-driven employees
Some of my painters were driven by ego. That’s not a bad thing. Many people are proud of what they do – and they should be. I made sure to congratulate them, award them and applaud them in front of others when they met our production goals.
3. Experience-driven employees
Some were driven by life experiences. They wanted to spend more time with their family or on vacation to take in new things. For meeting production goals, these folks were rewarded with their choice of hours, flexible schedules when possible, or me just being easy when they wanted to schedule time off.
4. Knowledge-driven employees
A couple painters were driven by knowledge or understanding. They wanted to know everything they could about painting – the reasons we use certain products, how sprayers work, the costs behind the business, etc. Meeting our production goals would often have them invited to training, seminars and even the yearly PDCA Expo.
The bottom line
If you want buy-in from your employees, you must understand what they want to buy into. When you know that, you can show them how meeting your goals will meet their own. When you share goals this way, I guarantee they will immediately and passionately embrace yours.
Art Snarzyk, former co-owner of SNL Painting in St. Louis, now owns InnerView Advisors, Inc. He is known as “The Turnover Terminator” for his ability to help companies attract, hire and manage only high-performing, ideal employees.
