Why Do People Give Their All?

by Ken Vincent, Featured Contributor

WE HAVE ALL known managers and supervisors that seemed to have that magic wand causing their people to give their all to the cause. What is that magic formula that brings out top effort?

We have all been taught that it is some combination of these things:

Acknowledging when someone does well;
Treating your reports as if they are important to you and a major cog in the company;
Allowing people enough elbow room to do their jobs;
Making continuing training available for job growth;
Giving people a feeling of achievement;

The list of course can go on and on. But, while those things are all important aspects, is that really what motivates your people to give their all every day? How do you know? It’s not like you can just ask them. Well, of course you could, but the odds are that you will get a variety of answers, probably none of them really being 100% truth.

I accept that those items commonly known to create good moral and committed employees are important and necessary. But, I think there is another element that is seldom mentioned.

Most people want to do well and most of your employees want to please you. Most of you employees don’t come to work every day saying, “Boy, I think I’ll stick it to the boss today.” Okay, you can do things to cause that attitude, but hopefully you are too smart for that.

So, my theory is that your employees will give their all, absent negatives, because they want to please you. They want to make you look good and to be proud of them. They want to be proud of you and the company they represent. Why wouldn’t they.

It doesn’t take much. Just a smile, a nod, a kind word, or a wave across the parking lot. It isn’t about money, promotions, titles, or public acclaim. It is about being human and earning the respect that comes with good ethics and fairness to all. They will give their all if they respect you and see that you too give your all and respect them.