Manage employees as accountable "volunteers" and watch their engagement soar!

Early in my career, I made a critical mistake that’s very common, even when you’re a leader who cares and wants to engage your team.

I discovered my mistake when Joanne handed me an envelope.Inside was a single page. I unfolded the paper with its neat creases and found a letter, typed in three succinct paragraphs.

“Peter, thank you for the opportunity to volunteer, however, I would like to reevaluate my service…”

Ouch!

I was only twenty-five years old and Joanne was one of many volunteers on the crisis line team I led. With words as clean and crisp as the onion skin she’d typed (Yes, typed. I hate to admit it but this was before we all had computers.) them on, Joanne told me that I was wasting her time.

But, she didn’t stop there. In those sparse paragraphs, she gave me a blueprint. A blueprint that would transform my leadership, a key to release team members’ energy and motivation, and a secret weapon to attract top performers.

The blueprint will work for you too. With it, you have the foundation to motivate your team.

The Truth

If you truly want to motivate your team, understand that everyone is a volunteer. 

Every employee you lead, every director you report to, every colleague you work with.
Regardless of their pay, you can’t force people to work beyond the minimum. You can’t compel creativity. You can’t push problem-solving.

Your employees choose (often unconsciously) how they'll show up each day, especially for the hard work. How much energy will they spend? Will they will find solutions and solve problems or ignore them? Wages and salary don’t directly motivate your team and affect these choices, but leadership, culture, clear goals, and their intrinsic motivation do.

The Trap

This is where many leaders fall into a trap.It’s the same trap I’d fallen into and that Joanne highlighted in her letter.

You see, I believed that since everyone on the team was a literal volunteer, I should not set my expectations too high or hassle them about their performance. After all, I needed people 24-7-365 to help callers who were in crisis, they weren’t being paid, and if I were hard on them, they’d leave, right?

As a manager, you might have found yourself reluctant to hold an employee accountable because you were worried that they’d leave. I've watched many leaders tolerate  employees with sub par productivity and attitudes fearing they’d lose the person—who was always “too valuable to lose.”

Nonsense. That’s a trap.

When you let expectations slide, when you tolerate poor performance, when you allow bad attitudes, you are telling everyone on your team that you don’t care.

Imagine a volunteer who contributes their time and energy, works diligently, and always strives to do their best, working alongside someone who carries the negativity virus or half-hearted in their efforts.

What will happen to your hard-working volunteer?

Answer: the same thing happens to a paid employee. They’ll lose heart, shut down, and possibly leave altogether.

And why not? You’ve told them you don’t care about them. Their work doesn’t matter. The purpose and values aren't important.

That’s the exact opposite of trying to motivate your team.

Joanne’s Blueprint to Motivate Your Team

In her simple, plain-spoken letter, Joanne shared some ideas I could use to set clear expectations for the volunteers and how those expectations would serve the people in crisis. In short, we needed accountability. If nothing changed, she explained, she would find better uses of her time.

Can your team find a better use of their time?

Or…are expectations clear, everyone holds each other accountable, and together you accomplish results beyond what any of you could do individually?

Your Turn

Joanne’s letter was a lesson in tough love. It didn’t feel good at the time.

But her message changed everything for me: She helped me understand that everyone’s a volunteer. That everyone has a choice. That people’s time is precious. That it’s up to me to make their time on my team worthwhile. When you don’t practice accountability, you devalue the mission, the values, the work, and disrespect your staff.

When you hold people accountable for their work and behavior, you communicate that what they're doing matters. You demonstrate respect and value for your purpose, for your values, for your work, and for your employees. That’s a blueprint to engage your team.

To your greater success,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Facilitator and Performance Consultant

SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step ..

Interested in learning how leadership coaching and training can benefit you and your organization? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please contact: 

Email: petercmclees@gmail.com or Mobile: 323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, branches, distribution centers, food production facilities, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth. 

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.