Motivation to employees

[Matt Mercer]

Just curious on how others motivate employees. I'm from a small town drafting firm. The people are not high tech or speedy, but there must be a way to motivate so we can get projects done on time and budget.

Any suggestions will be helpful

[Brian Myers]

Just curious on how others motivate employees. I'm from a small town drafting firm. The people are not high tech or speedy, but there must be a way to motivate so we can get projects done on time and budget.

Any suggestions will be helpful

May I ask what position you hold in the company is? In other words, I'm looking for the level of Authority that you possess. A solution by an Owner may be very different from that of a CAD manager....

[Matt Mercer]

I'm a manager, We ( owners and managers) have meetings about this all the time. We once came up with an idea of - If we get a project done on time and on budget we would give everyone a free day off. I thought for sure that would be a motivation factor. It wasn't. It seems like they like the nine to five routine; Which is hard to do in a drafting firm.

[Homerloew]

Just curious on how others motivate employees. I'm from a small town drafting firm. The people are not high tech or speedy, but there must be a way to motivate so we can get projects done on time and budget.

Any suggestions will be helpful

Is it a good place to work? What makes it a good place to work? If you can't answer yes to question number one then that is where you (as a manager) need to start. If you answered yes, then you can look at many options to make it better.

It may be that you don't have good employees. There are a lot of people out there with a shi11y work ethic. Is that the problem?

It may help to tell us a little more about your work environment.

[H.Hunter]

Just curious on how others motivate employees. I'm from a small town drafting firm. The people are not high tech or speedy, but there must be a way to motivate so we can get projects done on time and budget.

Any suggestions will be helpful

I can give some input from the other side of the line as a "slave" to the system. In our office, most people just work to get it done to give the best they can and give the client the best product. Obviously, not everyone shares that self-motivational approach.

My personal motivation is that if I know I do it right and continue to try to make the output to our client better, the more $$$ I get and furthuer I go in the business world.

I suppose you have to find what makes people tick. If you're offering rewards for things well done, it's got to be something they will actually want. Another vacation day is only appealing to some people. Get your marketing department on it. They're creative aren't they?

[Augi Doggie]

I'm a manager, We ( owners and managers) have meetings about this all the time. We once came up with an idea of - If we get a project done on time and on budget we would give everyone a free day off. I thought for sure that would be a motivation factor. It wasn't. It seems like they like the nine to five routine; Which is hard to do in a drafting firm.

Different people have different motivations, ask them what they like. If they're not happy with pay then a bonus would be a good motivation. If they are salary and don't get overtime then they may want time off or compensation for the overtime they worked.

Even your approach makes a big difference. If you come at it with a "you need to do better" attitude they will most likely react defensively.

I suggest the "what can we do to make things run smoother around here" approach. Ask for input and suggestions, that in itself will improve things. It will not make you look indecisive, it will show you respect their opinions.

[Brian Myers]

Different people have different motivations, ask them what they like. If they're not happy with pay then a bonus would be a good motivation. If they are salary and don't get overtime then they may want time off or compensation for the overtime they worked.

Even your approach makes a big difference. If you come at it with a "you need to do better" attitude they will most likely react defensively.

I suggest the "what can we do to make things run smoother around here" approach. Ask for input and suggestions, that in itself will improve things. It will not make you look indecisive, it will show you respect their opinions.

I couldn't have said it any better. When you hire these employees it's their job to get things done correctly and on time. But it's important to evaluate WHY projects are getting done late with too many chargeable hours as well. Are the employees not holding up their end? Are the estimated hours for the project not realistic? It's their job to do the best they can within the required time. If they are doing the best they can then perhaps its an issue with the number of employees (or lack of), lack of training, not realistic dead-lines, etc.

I could go on for a while, but I think you get the idea. Step back and determine what the problem is exactly. If they are not doing their jobs then some tough decisions may need to be made, if they are doing their jobs then finding the motivation to get them working extra hours or perhaps being more realistic on the chargeable hours is the solution.

[robert.1.hall72202]

Just burry the cad operators with a project that will have them working weekends.
When they learn to get it done in 5 days, they can have all their weekends off.
Put them on salary and do not pay the OT.
Then you can reward them with a free lunch or an extra day off for their good efforts.

[H.Hunter]

Just burry the cad operators with a project that will have them working weekends.
When they learn to get it done in 5 days, they can have all their weekends off.
Put them on salary and do not pay the OT.
Then you can reward them with a free lunch or an extra day off for their good efforts.

Now that's my kind of motivation!!

[Wanderer]

Just curious on how others motivate employees. I'm from a small town drafting firm. The people are not high tech or speedy, but there must be a way to motivate so we can get projects done on time and budget.

Any suggestions will be helpful

like some have said, depends on how the projects are being done, are they up to snuff? are the people not wanting to work OT? are there measurable successes?

lame rewards will make people angrier. I am not a production drafter, but, I'll give myself as an example... I finished a two week project in two days and I heard I saved the company somewhere in the neighborhood of a quarter of a million... what did I get as a reward? a thank-you card and a $5 gift cert to Mickey D's... HA! anti-motivator there... I almost would have preferred it was ignored.

the day off thing seems like it should be a good motivator, I knew a guy who worked for the federal reserve bank and they did that there, he loved it.