A news report in a leading daily says – corporates pay big bucks for motivational speeches from real life achievers. The real life achievers in this case has been stated to be – sports person, movie directors, authors, and some business guys.
Well, for one I am sure, that the corporates who hire these achievers for “motivational speeches” are smart, and of course they are smarter than the ones who believe that employees can be motivated through a one off speech, a couple of times a year.
The thought when you hire the so called achievers, is not just about motivating employees with a talk, its more about bring in some change in their normal work routine.
For one, motivation is not some thing that can be created or built by a one hour or even a one day session by any super achiever. Within a week, the impact will wear off, and we are back to square one. These talks are normally the starting point of some conference or meet to ensure that the employees have a good feeling during those 2 days of conference.
Most of these talks don’t serve the purpose of motivating employees, they are there for the purpose of putting up a good show. Of course, there is a feel good factor about the show, and it helps employees get into a receptive mood during the event. Now, that’s when you make key announcements.
Motivating employees – is different for different people, its not about a “one talk and get pumped up” episode – for some its about job content, brand and opportunity to deliver and grow, for others its about the option to have a relaxed and convenient way of working, for yet others it could be all about challenging assignments.
For remaining it could be some thing totally different from what’s listed above – may be a live item number from the latest Bollywood release. 🙂
Praveen is the Founder & Principal Consultant of KHEdge, a boutique HR & Business Process Advisory firm. Over last 15 years he has advised & worked with promoters, founders, business leaders, HR leaders in areas of - Business Strategy, HR Strategy, Organisation Design etc.