How do you effectively motivate managers?

power money benefits Motivating managers is an art as well as a science. There have been books written on this subject, and appears to have turned into a life time study. However in my humble opinion, the just of it boils down to this. Whatever methodology is viewed as being the best practice for the organization, it must have 100% commitment by senior leadership. This means from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or president and his senior executives on down. Without their commitment and full support, any practice chosen usually amounts to nothing more than a desperate grab for straws by a few well intentioned individuals. Motivating managers in an appropriate and meaningful way - once again - demands full senior level focus.

For the realization of successful outcomes, the CEO and the department of Human Resources (HR) need to be tightly coupled. This is a problem that needs to be rectified in most institutions where the executive director of HR reports to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) rather than the CEO. CFOs are number crunchers, and few are really focused on the human concerns of employees. They look at the brick and mortar rather then the flesh and blood of the company, its employees. I am not saying this can not work (it depends on the personalities), but it does not appear to be the best practice. The better practice is where the Executive Director of HR reports directly to the CEO or president, has a seat at the table, and is a peer of the CFO.

Now the Human Resources individual can get down through the levels and find out want the employees need to do their job more effectively, and to find out what course of action to take to promote and develop passion for what their managers do and the benefit it brings to the organization, its employees, customer base, as well as themselves.

Finding good systems of approach to motivating managers is easy, there are hundreds of good methods out there. The hard part is in convincing senior leadership of its necessity. You have to sell them on the idea that promoting and developing motivation in managers adds business value.