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Motivation and retention of employees are two of the biggest challenges facing Sales Managers today. The rapidly-changing workplace of today mandates that employees stay motivated. Sales forces that stay motivated help businesses survive due to increased overall productivity. Motivation is the basis for survival for an organization, yet it is usually ignored as a business topic. There is no clear-cut and well-defined approach to tackling the challenge of employee motivation. Most companies usually ignore it unless a problem crops up.

There are various factors that motivate employees and they keep changing and entering into new stages of fulfillment. As employees’ income increases, money becomes less of a motivator. Similarly as employees get older, interesting work becomes more of a motivator.

A psychologist from the USA, Abraham Maslow, first devised the term “trans-personal psychology” and was the first to use many humanistic methods of counseling. Maslow’s work led him to believe that many apparently obvious motivations for people’s behavior are less important than basic personal development.

Based upon his observations and research, Maslow concluded that within the psyche of all human beings, are five levels of increasingly-important chronological desires. He structured his findings into a model which has become known as “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” Sales professionals can utilize this information to identify how these basic building blocks of humanity are applicable to their work.

The first and most vital needs to motivate man are physiological needs which include survival, food, water, and shelter. People try to meet their needs in a certain order according to Maslow. A person must meet their physiological needs before attempted to meet the needs of safety, love, and more.

Maslow looks at his first four needs in his hierarchy as deficiency needs. Deficiency needs stop motivating once they are satisfied. However, the final need being self actualization is a need that drives our behavior throughout our entire life. If a business continually gives employees the opportunity to meet this high level need the company should expect its employees to be well motivated.

Because self-actualization is such an intangible concept, there are two theories surrounding it. One school of thought is that we never actually achieve self-actualization but are always striving to achieve our highest potential, while the second belief is that we can achieve self-actualization which lasts only a short while because we will soon find another pinnacle to surmount. Those who strive to realize their potential tend to look for positions which allow them autonomy so that they can make an impact by creating something special or putting their ideas across in an important way.

Many managerial guru’s claim that one of the main ways of getting staff enthusiastic is to simply align the goals of the company with their goals. If you aren’t sure of what the employees goals are then sit down and discuss them, find out their personal goals and help them achieve it; offer them further training or give them further responsibility, try and understand why they aren’t motivated.

Communication is key and by keeping employees in the loop and making them feel part of the entire process you will notice a difference in their overall behaviour.

Part of communicating with employees is also to recognise the effort that they are making, if they are not making a good effort stay positive and highlight where they have been good, but also say to them that they have the ability to do more, encourage them to improve. Constructive criticism can sometimes be difficult for employees to swallow but offer them training or offer them some form of incentive to doing well. Sit with each employee on a regular basis and discuss short term individual aims.

Team building is a brilliant way to enthuse employees, workshop days or even the occasional night out will encourage employees to become friendly with one another and will allow you to break down the ‘boss’ barrier that many people feel inhibited by. Not only will team building be an excellent way for employees to relax but can be a useful tool in training and re-illustrating your company views to them.

As already illustrated communication is the key, speak to your employees, break down any barriers and try to understand their own personal aims. If you don’t understand who your employees are then you will never motivate nor relate to them.

Modern psychology attempts to explain human behavior and its underlying motivations. Understanding human behavior is critical in order to effectively control or influence human behavior in a desired manner. An advanced understanding of modern psychology can help individuals improve their personal lives, as well as advance their careers.

Maslow was in innovator in the field of psychology. He authored an important paper in 1943, developed after his extensive experience with others, to explain the motivation for human behavior based on the needs of people. Before this paper, only animals and pure theory had been the main sources of psychological doctrines.

He was also revolutionary by focusing on what constituted positive mental health, instead of what was abnormal or deviant, thereby making his theory more applicable and relevant to the general human population. This theory is why Maslow is now considered the father of humanistic psychology and also of modern management.

Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs defines human motivation to satisfy those needs in the form of a ladder or pyramid. His theory is that people must start at the bottom, can only advance after completing the current step, and must complete each step in order. He lists physiological needs as the first step to attain, followed by safety, social, esteem and finally self-actualization.

Maslow’s theory has a lot of relevance today for the business manager. People require the basic necessities of life such as food, water, shelter and sleep. Without it the motivational development stage is essentially frozen. The inherent need to survive will be the driving force to ensure these needs are met. So in applying Maslow’s theory, the business manger still needs to ensure that the sales force has the essential ingredients for success. This means providing lunch breaks, a safe working environment and of course sufficient compensation so that sales staff can obtain the necessities of life.

After fulfilling the basic physiological needs, the employees can think about their future security and safety. It is necessary for them to feel that their workplace is safe. Their maximum efficiency and effectiveness cannot be met when they experience fear of threat in their surroundings. Job security and physical threats can be overcome by employing security guards, responsive management people and cameras.

Next is the step of social needs. People want to fit in with other people. Participating in a team building event can help employees gain a sense of belonging to a group. Working in a nice environment with specific goals and rewards based on group accomplishments can go a long way to promoting this community spirit.

The fourth stage is esteem. Everyone wants to feel appreciated and valued. They want recognition from their employers and co-workers. Without recognition, morale decreases and so does performance. Most people are defined by their worth which is determined by the recognition they receive. To fulfill that basic need, recognition can be in the form of plaques, certificates or even winning prizes. They way the business manager chooses to recognize the employee is not as important as the recognition itself and the feeling of esteem that is given.

The last step of the hierarchy is self-actualization. This fifth step focuses on people’s desire to reach their full potential. Self-awareness allows them to think abstractly and focus on intangible goals, and to make long-term plans. These areas typically include career development, creative hobbies and other aspects of personal growth. Managers can support this need by assisting with continuing education, sponsoring memberships in professional organizations, and offering a career path that allows for career growth.

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Is your team also up with you?
Do you really feel like you are growing your organization or department by yourself?

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These days in the corporate world there is so much of pressure in and around it is important to understand that the employers need to understand the fact that they need to motivate their employees at each and every step. So here arises the need for the motivational speakers wherein the employers seek the help of the motivational speaker so as to identify the problems of the employees and grant them job satisfaction. Basically there are two kinds of motivational speakers namely the self motivator and leadership motivators. The self motivators are referred as the people that have motivated themselves so as to achieve the desired results. The self motivators are the motivators that have a background in sports, adventure. Further they are referred as the true winners as they have emerged as winners after overcoming an obstacle or difficulty in their lives. They are the people who have emerged victorious after facing many obstacles.

The second category of the motivational speakers are referred as leadership motivator, they usually have a background in business, military or in a sports not just as mere players but they have also held posts of a coach or a manager rather than just a player.

While you are selecting the motivational speakers for the event it is important to understand the needs and the wants of the audience. It is also essential to understand the goals and aspirations of the audience you are going to address. While choosing the motivational speakers it is important to understand the message you are intending to impart to the audience targeted. Unless you are not clear about the message you are intending to impart the motivational speaker will not understand the aim of the speech and there will not be any use for the speech and the message which you were intending to deliver. Hence it is important that you understand the nature of the speech so that you are satisfied with the basic nature of the speech and let it be a fruitful event.

In case you are aiming at the need of getting the individuals to re-assess and re-examine the personal circumstances both for their personal and the professional lives, then in such instances the self motivator speaker will be the apt choice.

In case you are intending to target on the values of group dynamics, team work, trust, empathy, leadership, shared vision and values as the most important factors then it is important to remember the fact that you hire a leadership motivator. He is the person who can drive these feelings in the employees to a great extent.

Further when you are intending to hire the motivational speakers it is important to understand the fact that you need to beware of the speakers who have not achieved anything in particular but they have an in depth knowledge of text book matter. However they are very easy to identify as they tend to hide their lack of depth and experience behind the fact of high performance areas. The effect of their speeches rarely lasts outside the venue in which they have delivered the speech.