After “HORSING” around, MOTIVATION is the name of the game

Ipositioned myself near the entrance to the dining lounge and watched as the escalator in front of me deposited a steady stream of well-dressed couples to the upper level. I had arrived at the suburban racetrack early, to be on hand to greet our guests for dinner and an evening of horse racing.

As my company’s senior marketing representative, it was my job to coordinate this annual fun event. We extended an invitation to our lead brokers to come to the popular racetrack on the outskirts of the city. With the approval of my boss, Fred Wilson, who managed our downtown branch office, the invitation also encouraged our broker guests to bring along a member of their staff. This was a new wrinkle I had introduced in recent years.

A familiar group of faces swam into view at the head of the escalator and I moved forward to greet them. I shook hands with Bob Davies, co-owner of a prosperous midtown brokerage, and was introduced to Brenda, his head customer service representative: a dark and vivacious woman who still retained her distinctive English accent some twenty years after coming to Canada. Next, I greeted Al, a fiftyish broker who ran a very successful brokerage in a town of 75,000 some 160 kilometers outside the city.

“Bob and I drove in together, Dave,” Al said as he shook my hand. Then he introduced me to Harley, his office manager: a serious and very conscientious ex-company man who I knew well, and liked.

We moved toward the dining lounge just as the tall figure of my boss, Fred Wilson, emerged from the crowd and neatly intercepted us. “Greetings, horse-lovers!” he said cheerfully, and we took our places around a table with a panoramic view of the racetrack through the huge glass window of the dining room. Seated around us at other tables nearby were several other brokers who represented our company and who had also been invited for the evening.

“Well, now,” Fred said once we were seated and had drinks in front of us. “I hope we’re all properly motivated tonight. Some of the odds look pretty attractive.”

“Now, Fred,” Bob Davies replied, “me and my staff are always motivated, you know that! Mind you, it can be tough to stay motivated in this crazy insurance market.” In the murmur of assent which followed, I slipped in a question to keep this interesting topic going. “Tell me, how do you keep you and your staff motivated these days?”

It was Al who spoke first. “That’s a very good question, Dave,” he said evenly. “Let me take a crack at answering it.” He scratched his nose thoughtfully for a second.. “As an owner, you should be motivated to do well. After all, it’s your business, it’s your line of credit at the bank, your reputation on the line. But most employees don’t have that personal kind of motivation. They work for a pay-cheque.” He held up one hand in front of him. “Now, don’t get me wrong. They also get personal satisfaction from doing things well, and good employees are highly motivated people. But at the end of the day, they work for somebody, and that somebody has the ultimate responsibility for the success of the operation” He smiled briefly. “That’s why owners need to introduce some elements which help motivate their staff.”

“You know, I think you have to look at staff motivation from two angles.” It was Al’s office manager, Harley, speaking in his quiet, deliberate way. “On the one hand there’s short-term motivation where you offer incentives for good effort, or just to promote good office vibes. And there’s long-term motivation where you’re hoping to create an environment that will encourage good staff to stay, and to be productive.”

He took a quick sip of his drink and continued. “Short-term motivation is relatively easy to install and maintain. Recognizing staff birthdays by giving them the day off work. Having them join you, in rotation, when company representatives ask you out for lunch. Bringing staff to the ‘Hospitality Night’ at the annual broker convention. Staging a once-a-year staff barbecue or picnic, where they can bring their husbands, wives and kids along. All these things work as motivators because they tell staff that they’re more than just a name on the payroll sheet.”

He looked around the table and smiled. “But let’s not overlook the obvious: money is also a great motivator when it’s properly applied. For instance, the first broker I worked for when I left company ranks handed out twenty-five dollars to staffers when a lead they generated resulted in a sale. Some of that broker’s staff used to take prospect lists from the office and work from home in the evening when they had a better chance of reaching people.”

“I’ve heard that good broker staff people often have much better success at cold-calling than high-powered telemarketers,” Fred interjected, and god a nod of agreement from Harley. “Well, since we seem to be into a good discussion on motivation,” Bob Davies said with a laugh, “Can I claim a small motivational success here? I used the invitation to this evening as a motivator in our office. We had a little new business contest among our CSRs. The winner got to come. Brenda here came out on top.”

At this point our food arrived, and there was a short pause in the conversation as knives and forks went to work. Then Brenda spoke up. “To be honest, Bob, what I really liked was the fact that you threw the invitation open to all the CSRs in our office.” She glanced over at the nearby tables in the dining room. “Some of the other brokers here just came by themselves, as usual, or they brought along their partner. It never even occurred to them to bring along one of their staff, even although…” and here she glanced at me, “…your nice invitation made it quite clear, Dave. Now…” and she placing heavy emphasis on the phrase, “that sort of attitude is a real demotivator!”

“Good point,” Fred answered. “Staff usually know about special events like this that are open to non-principals, and if the owners simply go themselves automatically…well.” “It can be a real motivational turnoff,” I said, finishing the thought. I could see Al’s head nodding in agreement, and it was he who spoke next. “Now, I’m no expert, but in my experience the strongest motivators don’t need a lot of money behind them.” He held up one hand and ticked off the points on his fingers. “One, involve your staff in decision-making. Two, keep them fully informed on what’s going on. Three, say thank you for a job well done. No financial rewards there!”

Fred turned to Al’s office manager, Harley. “Would you agree with that idea: that many staff motivators don’t really need cash to back them up?” Harley glanced around and nodded. “Absolutely true,” he agreed. “And I think I can add to Al’s list of three good staff motivators.” He laid down his form, held up his hand, and ticked off points on his fingers. Motivator four, recognize peoples’ accomplishments regularly. It lets them know their efforts are noticed and appreciated. Motivator five, give staff responsibility plus the authority to carry it off. This lets them know you have confidence in them. Motivator six, ask their advice and act on it when it makes sense. This reinforces the belief that they are involved in running the business.”

I saw Fred’s head nodding slowly in agreement. “Those are six good rules for motivating staff,” he said, “and I think I can add a couple more.” He flicked up an index finger. “Seven, don’t ever criticize or belittle staff in front of others. And eight, let them know, often, how much you depend on them and how much you appreciate their help.”

“Good points!” Bob added. He gave a short smile opening his hands wide. “And none of these things costs a nickel!” I jumped into the debate. “But after all, money is still a pretty big motivator for all of us, isn’t it?” I asked. “My old Economics professor used to say: ‘Money is tangible recognition that you’re doing a good job’.” That brought a laugh around our table, and I couldn’t resist throwing in another point. “Speaking of money as a staff motivator: I visit a broker in a medium-sized city. He doesn’t write a huge volume of business. But what he writes is quality, and he invariably checks out the risks he writes himself — he’s that sort of guy. Now here’s his motivation for his staff, he shares his contingent profit commission cheque with his staff. In one good year recently, I know that it meant a nice bonus of around $3,500 for each of the women in his office. Classy move, eh?”

There was an appreciative whistle from Fred beside me. “I know the broker you’re talking about, Dave. And hasn’t he also set up a pension plan for his staff?” I nodded. “Yes, he has. A small percentage of the staff person’s salary is set aside and this broker adds a larger percentage to it every month. I’d say that’s a strong motivation for staff to stay with a boss like that!”

“Of course it is,” Bob Davies said emphatically. “And I can give you a good example of a program we have in place in my office. We have a motivational incentive plan for our people, on personal lines’ business. They get 30% of the first year commission on new business they bring in, and it has paid off handsomely for us over the past few years, hasn’t it, Brenda?” She nodded, and set down her wineglass. “I like it a lot!” she laughed. “It’s a nice bonus for selling up those orphan accounts we all get stuck with. And I’m often amazed at how little hard selling is required. The business is right there in your files, asking to be written, yet it’s often overlooked or ignored because in many offices there’s no motivation to go after it.”

“And let’s not forget another important point here,” Bob Davies added, “while extra sales commission can be a motivator for staff who like to make extra money, it also reinforces the idea that all our offices depend on growth to stay financially healthy and competitive!” “Can I just add another thought on long-term motivation?” It was Brenda speaking again, and she looked over at her boss, Bob Davies, as she did. “I like the fact that in our office, Bob has set up a registered savings plan for staff. It’s an improvement on our old deferred profit-sharing arrangement. It’s based on a percentage of salary, and we issue the cheque directly to the RSP provider. It’s a big plus in our office.” She smiled. “The staff sure appreciate it — and will even more a few years down the line.”

Bob nodded and set down his coffee cup. “I just felt that as an owner, I had an obligation to provide some form of pension benefit to my staff. But yes, I also saw it as a long-term staff motivator.” At that moment the chandeliers in the dining room were suddenly dimmed and the floodlights over the track came on, illuminating the horses parading to the starting gate. The announcer began to list the horses and the odds for the opening race. “Right!” Fred said, leaning back in his chair. “Now it’s time for some serious personal motivation, folks. Who do you like in the first?”