Here’s How Managers Are Missing the Mark on Team Motivation and Ways to Fix It

Fatigue. Burnout. The muddied lines between work and home life. Employees are struggling to feel motivated while managers use trial by fire in an attempt to engage their teams. To understand key motivational factors for marketers today, we fielded an anonymous survey to 250+ U.S. marketing professionals. Survey questions sought to understand what drives engagement by level and industry. We discovered what managers think their team needs is different from what employees actually want. Here, we share some of key findings and tips for managers to better understand and improve team motivation. Be sure to check out the other #MotivationMondays articles below. Full findings from the survey can be found here. Proactively Ask and Listen Managers are more likely to say their teams are highly motivated, compared to employees who self-report lower motivation levels. Managers without a proper finger on the pulse of what drives their team are leading with assumptions instead of listening to employees and adjusting their management style to best support. They are frequently surprised or blindsided when they discover that their team may not be as happy or engaged as they were expecting. Making the time to not only listen to team members but also proactively ask them how they’re feeling is vitally important in understanding current motivation levels and how to improve them. As Adrian Parker, Global VP of Marketing for Patrón Tequila at Bacardi, mentioned during an Adweek Challenger Brands Masterclass, “It's no longer sufficient just to be a problem solver. You have to, as a leader especially, be a problem finder.” Focus On the Real Motivators Managers cited their own leadership as the most important factor in motivating their teams, followed by empowerment, good growth opportunities and exciting work. Employees, on the other hand, cited independent decision-making, flexibility and the ability to work on things they are passionate about. While good leadership is important, the principal factors in motivating employees are instead the outcomes of leadership. This includes providing flexibility, empowering independent decisions, and aligning the work with employee passions wherever possible. Overall, this again points to the importance of managers making time to listen to employees’ needs and putting in the work to ensure those needs are met. Empower Independent Decision-Making The No. 1 most important motivator according to employees is being empowered to make independent decisions. That means being given the authority and responsibility to do the job, without feeling constrained by management. Taking pride in the work and owning it. Conversely, the No. 1 reason for feeling less motivated, according to employees, is poor leadership. One senior level respondent said: “I have a new boss who is a micro manager which undercuts my authority in my position as I am unable to make any decisions without her approval.” As a manager, it is critical to empower your employees and avoid pitfalls such as being overbearing or signaling lack of trust in your team. To do this, strike a fine balance between delegation and independence with support and guidance. Set clear direction so your team members can hit the ground running. Foster a trusting and supportive environment so employees can come to you for advice and problem-solving. Provide Flexibility Over the course of the pandemic, flexibility has become critical in the face of many additional personal challenges including working from home, child care, homeschooling and increased stress levels. Allowing employees the freedom to shift their schedules to accommodate these new challenges is one of the key factors in keeping employees motivated and ensuring their personal well-being. Being flexible in offering extra days off and giving employees space to focus via “no meeting” days helps prevent burnout and “Zoom fatigue.” Lean Into Employee Passion Points Employees with the opportunity to work on projects they find exciting fuels them even through the most challenging moments. “The work I’m doing feels meaningful,” said an Agency Director, “I’m building my skill set, contributing to my career growth.” In addition, employees who are passionate about the work exude excitement to their fellow teammates thereby, increasing the energy of the overall team. To state that employees should find work they are excited about would be, simply put, fairly unrealistic. Instead, for employees, the objective is to lean into aspects of the work that they enjoy, wherever possible. For managers, it’s about aligning the skill sets and passions of each individual employee with job responsibilities as much as is achievable based on the business needs. The outcome will be that employee motivation and efficiency will be maximized. This is why 1:1s are critical in discussing the particular skill sets and interests of each employee. Managers should lean into these key factors to increase employee motivation and engagement at work. In return, happy and motivated employees will be more loyal to the company, which should increase retention rates and reduce recruiting costs.

Leadership & Talent

Here’s How Managers Are Missing the Mark on Team Motivation and Ways to Fix It

Survey reveals disconnect between what managers think drives employees compared to what actually does

Ashley Buxton

Caroline Giegerich

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Ashley Buxton

Caroline Giegerich