You want your company to become better or completely revive? It is very important to promote the employees’ morale besides the correct decisions and appropriate management. Everything would be realized with the morale. This article abstracts the encouragement secrets from some of the top CEOs in the world.
Determine different encouragement levels
Liu Chuan-zhi, the chairman of Lenovo China
The problem in front of us is how to promote the encouragement of three different groups which are the leadership on the top, the managers in the middle and the assembly workers at the bottom. We have different expectations to every group, and at the same time, they also need different encouragement methods.
Our leadership needs to have a sense of master. A special problem in front of many state-owned enterprises in China is that the advanced managers could not hold a share. So we took a very special method of reforming the ownership structure and making Lenovo become a joint venture, then we could offer all leaders a share. Besides this, we provide the speaking chances in front of the media for the advanced managers as we consider that they want to be approved. To this day, no job-hopping of any advanced manger has happened in our company.
Hoping to be promoted and become an advanced manager, the middle managers would deal with the challenges actively, and take the chances to show or improve their abilities. We set a very high standard for these middle managers and give them powers of making decisions and executing. They will get a wonderful payback for their excellent work. The assembly works need a sense of stability. If they work hard, they will obtain the corresponding reward. We established some connection between the achievement of a group and its department or the company, as well as the individual achievement and his group. For example, sometimes it’s up to the group to allocate the reward according to general rules of the company.
Overcome the difficulties faster
Hank McKinnell, the chairman and CEO of American Pfizer Inc
Moving toward a goal fast could promote the encouragement of people, especially when it’s filled with many difficulties. Letting the employees know that the company is engaged in a decisive action could encourage their creative ideas and cooperation.
We experienced this during the procedure of mergence between Pfizer and Warner in 2000. Though Warner was purchased successfully by us, it was depressed because of this mergence. When we had the first transition meeting, I stressed that we should establish a new company at once, especially before our biggest competitor solving their own mergence problems. That ambitious plan was that we should find a best way to integrate Warner with Pfizer and manage them as one company during 5 months after reaching mergence agreement.
The common programs don’t work in such a short time. So we asked the concerned people to act quickly, and allowed them make mistakes only if their actions conformed to our basic rules such as keeping the company’s integrity, respecting others and so on.
The importance of action speed made people pay no attention to the resentment and power struggle. Take the American sales department for an example. The salesmen from the two companies put forward more than 200 suggestions to improve the sales which were adopted at last. Finally, several hundred transition groups composed of the excellent employees from the two companies formed a new Pfizer whose operation became normal in several hours after the final documents were signed.
Encourage to undertake risk
Rose Bellary, the deputy general manager of BP PLC
It’s the most difficulty to help others to risk something. In the 90th, I was in charge of the American retail business of BP. Lord Brown-the CEO of BP-asked me to manage the BP research & engineering company to make it more commercial. He thought I was suitable for this job, but I didn’t think it was a good idea. I was a businessman, not a scientist. In my opinion, I had no such a leadership to manage a group of mathematicians and geologists. Why should I accept a job with little success and risk my own career?
Brown didn’t try to persuade me. He let me talk about the risk of this job to myself and the company. He said clearly that he wouldn’t let me undertake all risks. Finally, I accepted this new position and we changed this research institution into a more commercial company successfully. Personally, this is the most challenging job of my career.
Through this experience, I know it’s impossible to smooth away all risks, and we even don’t hope so. But we can help others get into a field where he doesn’t feel very easy and obtain great achievements. The best way is to have a talk about discussing the success possibility, determining the responsibilities, and letting the team or the company undertake all risks. No matter what the result is, we should trust him and support him.
Care about pipsqueak
Herb Baum, the chairman and CEO of American Dell Inc
The people acting as the top leaders and earning most in the company always forget the difficult lives of the civilians. If the bottom employees could feel the concern showed by the leaders, then all the people in the company will be encouraged.
It was in Kueke state-owned company whose headquarters is in oil city of Pennsylvania that I first acted as the CEO. In this small city, the lives of the employees in the company were very economical and each dollar was important for them. I remembered that they often considered the prices of daily necessities carefully, even a pair of shoes for the child. After hearing that, I returned the car assigned by the company.
Now, the bottom employees support their families with their incoming of 20000 to 45000 dollars a year. Last year, each of them should get about 500 dollars, while the advanced managers got much more. So I told the board that I would give part of my reward to 155 employees with lowest salaries who each could get 1000 dollars. For most CEO including myself, $1000 is very little. But for the people supporting the school fees of their children and the doctor’s bills of their parents, it’s very helpful.
If you control your money for money, your employees will be loyal to the company and work harder when they know it. At present, the natural rate of the staff shrinkage is the lowest in 11years. We will receive a good harvest since everyone is satisfied with his own work.