Figuring out how to motivate your staff and
adapt your style for their particular “career
anchors” can turn all employees into higher performers.
By Anne Field
Harvard Business School Working
Knowledge
Motivated employees are crucial to a company's
success—this has never been truer than today,
when margins are thin (or nonexistent) and economic
recovery remains elusive. These hard bottom-line realities
may also mean that managers can't rely as much as they
might have in the past on using financial incentives
to drive employee engagement.
So how do you keep people motivated and
productive?
One answer lies in the concept of the
career anchor, first developed some thirty years ago
by Edgar Schein, a Sloan Fellows Professor of Management
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Schein
says that people are primarily motivated by one of eight
anchors—priorities that define how they see themselves
and how they see their work.
In today's uncertain and turbulent business
climate, pinpointing employees' career anchors is an
especially useful tool because it allows you to do two
crucial things: Tailor your communication style to fit
employees' individual needs and drive improved performance
by choosing the most effective way to recognize and
reward accomplishments.
The upshot: In a demanding environment
where financial resources may be limited, you'll be
able to make employees feel valued and motivated.
Once you understand what each anchor is, you can determine
the career anchor for each employee in your department.
"If you use career anchors effectively,
you'll turn your employees into high performers,"
says Linda Conklin, manager of alumni career services
at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and
a former executive coach.
• Technical/functional competence.
The key for a person with this career anchor is a desire
to excel in a chosen line of work. Money and promotions
don't matter as much as the opportunity to consistently
hone his craft. While such professions as engineering
and software design attract a lot of people with this
particular bent, you can also find them just about anywhere,
from the financial analyst excited by the chance to
solve complicated investment problems to the teacher
happy to continually fine-tune classroom performance.
• General managerial competence.
Someone with this anchor is most closely allied with
the traditional career path of the corporation. She
is the polar opposite of the person for whom technical/functional
competence is preeminent. She wants to learn how to
do many functions, synthesize information from multiple
sources, supervise increasingly larger groups of employees,
and use her considerable interpersonal skills. What
she craves is to climb the ladder, getting ever-bigger
promotions and salary increases.
• Autonomy/independence.
Like Greta Garbo, individuals with this career anchor
just want to be alone. They're most satisfied operating
according to their own rules and procedures; they don't
want to be told what to do. Freedom rather than prestige
is their goal.
• Security/stability.
Employees with this career anchor value above all a
predictable environment, one in which tasks and policies
are clearly codified and defined. They identify strongly
with their organization, whatever their level of responsibility.
• Entrepreneurial creativity.
The folks in this category want to create something
of their own and run it. They are, in fact, obsessed
with the need to create and will become easily bored
if they feel thwarted. As you'd expect, someone with
this career anchor tends to start her own business,
or at the least run something on the side while still
keeping her day job.
• Sense of service.
The need to focus work around a specific set of values
is the major issue for employees with this career anchor.
But that doesn't just mean social workers, say, or nurses.
It can also include anyone from a human resources specialist
interested in affirmative action programs to a researcher
working on developing a new drug. Money isn't the main
event; it's the chance to focus on a particular cause.
• Pure challenge.
People with this career anchor seek ever-tougher challenges
to conquer.
• Lifestyle. These
folks organize themselves around their private lives.
Their most pressing concern is for their jobs to give
them the freedom to balance those other concerns with
their work.
Once you understand what each anchor is, you can determine
the career anchor for each employee in your department.
If you can't pinpoint the right area on your own, you
can easily ask your staff to take a brief assessment,
developed by Schein. Then you can take the next step
and shape both how you communicate and how you recognize
good performance in a way that fits each person's particular
career anchor.
Here are some guidelines:
How to communicate. "They want
to be honored for what they know," says Jan Gamache,
an executive coach in Alexandria, VA, who specializes
in the development of senior executives and their teams.
So you need to appeal to them as experts and try to
see that others do the same. Gamache points to a highly
respected engineer whose new CEO had failed to publicly
acknowledge an appreciation for his preeminence in his
field. The man had become very demoralized as a result
and was considering quitting.
Also, in conversation with someone with
a technical/functional competence anchor, if you know
something about the field in question, display your
knowledge. But if you don't, don't try to fake it. "They'll
see through you immediately and will lose respect for
you," says Bobbie Little, leader of the CEO Executive
Coaching Division of DBM, a Stamford, CT-based outplacement
firm.
Best type of recognition.
These employees probably won't care that much if they
can't get a raise. But they will become demoralized
if they feel they can't keep refining their expertise
or if they fear they won't be able to keep on being
the best. "The worst possible thought for these
people would be 'I've lost my edge,'" says Gamache.
So make sure they can go to conferences, meetings, and
other places where they're able to hone their craft
and keep up with the latest developments.
How to communicate. The people in this
group may be the easiest to talk to, thanks to their
finely tuned interpersonal skills. They know how to
lobby, they're good at politics, and they can read verbal
and nonverbal cues. But in an atmosphere of limited
resources, they also may be the hardest to please.
Because they're likely interested in how their performance
fits into the organization as a whole, not just in the
pure exercise of their expertise, make sure to discuss
their work in terms of performance-based, bottom-line
results. And ask their input on supervisory matters,
so they feel they're stretching their managerial muscles.
Best type of recognition.
These people really want more money and a promotion.
Since you might not be able to provide those things,
you need to look for other ways to enrich their jobs.
For example, find big projects for them to supervise
or invite them to attend important meetings. Send them
to seminars and workshops where they'll learn to advance
their skills. And see about giving them a more prestigious
title.
In addition, look for secondary career
anchors they might respond to. Conklin, for example,
points to a hard-driving sales rep for a major hospital
service provider whom she recently met. While he fell
clearly into the general managerial area, he also showed
signs of being in the lifestyle category, too. Unable
to give him more money, management instead awarded him
the opportunity to become a sales trainer. Result: He
was able to dramatically cut back on his travel and
spend more time with his family.
How to communicate. These employees
want to be on their own, so the less said, the better.
Agree on a timetable for checking in with each other—and
stick to it. And be prepared not to hear from them,
even at the appointed time.
Little, for example, who supervises many
autonomy-minded people, often finds it hard to schedule
group conference calls. "At least one or two people
usually don't make it," she says. "It's not
that they're irresponsible, it's just that they have
different priorities."
Don’t just talk about the work.
Focus on the aspect of the job that they most value.
Best type of recognition.
In the current tough climate, you may feel the need
to interfere more than you might otherwise. Resist the
temptation to do so. The most effective recognition
you can give these people is the chance to "take
the ball and run with it," says Barry Miller, instructor
in management at Pace University's Lubin School of Business
in New York City and an instructor in organizational
management.
How to communicate. These days, people
with this career anchor need to hear from you early
and often. That means checking in frequently, so they're
not left hanging. If there are rumors of cutbacks, keep
communicating, even if you don't know the real story.
Then come back again, even if nothing has changed.
Additionally, make a point of talking
to them about the importance of life-long learning and
keeping their skills up to date. If you don't urge them
to take action, they won't.
Best type of recognition.
You probably can't give them what they want: job security.
But you can make the most of their loyalty to the organization
and take steps to show appreciation for it, like taking
them out to lunch or organizing a departmental picnic.
How to communicate. Encourage them
to keep coming up with new ideas, no matter how wacky
they may sound at first. And consistently ask them about
projects they'd like to take on. Hold regular brainstorming
sessions. These people tend to be highly enthusiastic,
so try to match that upbeat quality, too. Challenge
them with goals, not specific assignments, and leave
them to get on with the job. The more you let them figure
out, the happier they'll be.
Best type of recognition.
They also tend to be fairly self-centered. And they
want money, not for its own sake, but as a visible sign
they've accomplished something big. If you can't give
them the money, you can provide public recognition as
well as the reward they crave most—the continued
opportunity to create their own projects. Entrepreneurs
can be extremely sensitive to slights and are not very
good at taking criticism, so give them plenty of public
praise when it's merited, and criticize them in private
when necessary.
How to communicate. Don't just talk
about the work. Focus on the aspect of the job that
they most value. And look for projects that match their
area of concern. Clarify the connection between the
work and some loftier ideal. Let them know how they'll
contribute to the greater good by doing the job at hand.
Best type of recognition.
What they want most is to be able to continue working
for their cause. By explicitly providing those opportunities,
you'll give them what they need. You might also find
that employees come up with unexpected ways to integrate
their values into their work.
University of North Carolina's Conklin
points to her assistant as one example. Conklin recently
gave her a project—developing a seminar for students
on how to dress for success. But because this assistant
places great value on issues related to minorities,
she made an effort to include a diverse group of models,
in terms of size, shape, and color. Conklin plans on
giving her assistant other projects that she can enrich
with her particular value system.
How to communicate. These people tend
to be confrontational, often exuding a sense of urgency
about the challenge of the moment and how to go about
meeting it. As a result, "be prepared to push back,"
says DBM's Little. Insist on more explanation, when
necessary, and on making sure the particular solution
is the right one.
Raise the bar for success as high as you
like; they'll thrive on it. Don't make anything too
easy for them.
Best type of recognition.
If you keep throwing challenges their way, they'll know
they've done good work. When you see they're about to
finish a project, try to find another for them to get
started on immediately. Allow them a certain amount
of time during the day to work on a particularly challenging
assignment in addition to their regular duties.
For these people, the challenge is the
reward, so don't go overboard with words of praise.
Just get them going on the next job.
How to communicate. You need to be
direct and to-the-point. Discuss what the employee needs
and how best to organize schedules to accommodate his
requests. Make sure the requirements of the job are
clearly spelled out, together with the rewards for doing
well and the penalties for doing poorly.
These people work to live, they don't live to work,
so don't expect them to go beyond the basic requirements
or job description. Make sure everything that you need
from them is on the table.
Best type of recognition.
Working out a flexible schedule is the most effective
reward. Just as they don't expect to do more than the
job's minimal requirements, they don't expect rewards
beyond the salary. So give them the chance to maximize
their nonwork hours when they do well and work efficiently.
Get them to focus on getting the job done, not putting
in a set number of hours, and reward them with time
away from work.
Ultimately, you need to enlist your employees in your
efforts. "Employees have to take the initiative
to communicate with their managers about what's most
important to them," says Conklin.
For example, she recently wrote out a wish list of thirty
things she'd most like in her job, then sat down with
her boss and hammered out a solution. (Her primary anchor
is the autonomy/independence one.) Now, instead of doing
the job she was hired for—conducting career workshops—she
engages primarily in one-on-one counseling.
The bottom line, says Pace University's
Miller: "People whose work is more meaningful are
going to be more productive, even in tough times."
By identifying employees' career anchors and communicating
with them in a way that speaks to what's most important
to them, you can help employees find that meaning in
their work—and boost your unit's productivity,
too.
Reprinted from "Speak to What Drives
Them," Harvard Management Communication Letter,
September 2003.
Anne Field, based in Pelham, NY, writes for a number
of major business publications.
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