“How do I motivate my employees?”
“What can I do to make their job more fulfilling?”
“How do we train our young employees, so that they stay engaged?”
These are some of the questions I have been asked by clients, who wanted to enhance their employee’s experience. I genuinely enjoyed answering such questions, because it showed me that the client company really cared about their people.
When companies invest in the learning, development and growth of their workers, the returns they get are manifold. The methods could vary – conducting workshops, inviting motivational speakers, creating team-building events, etc. But the end goal remains the same – increased employee engagement.
Motivational speakers have been placed on higher pedestals by numerous companies, due to the inarguable difference they make to the company’s output. They are generally called in when an organisation wishes to boost the overall morale of their employees, help resolve an internal team issue or when they feel their productivity is at a standstill. How companies use speakers can vary – they could be brought in only at special events, or at regular intervals to speak to smaller teams.
Such speakers are necessary for the organisation and employees, equally, because they help both get on the same page. They express their message through examples and stories, from which the audience imbibes the best characteristics. One difference between motivational speakers and consultants is that the former pushes you to achieve by showing you ways, while the latter comes into use when you need help achieving it. Speakers bring in a freshness of ideas (an outside perspective), which can help an organisation’s innovation, boost employee productivity, and change the way of thinking.
It’s like a phone’s battery. When it runs out of charge, it needs to be plugged into a charger and is ready to be used again.
Employees can get into a rut of monotony, doing the same task, over and over, every day. Bringing in a speaker, gives them an opportunity to see past their routine. They are introduced to the bigger picture – how they can contribute to the organisation. This is especially crucial to re-ignite the drive in them.
I was asked to address a small team of a department at a client company and while I waited outside the room, I happened to overhear the department manager ask the head why it was necessary to bring in a speaker. The reply from the department head was very simple, yet so meaningful. He said, “Sometimes it is good to have an outsider tell your people that they are doing a good job. They will be open to newer ideas and our messages will get through to them easily, from there on. They are too acquainted with our ways of praise.”
Companies invest in speakers, because their stories engage the employee audience, compelling them to adapt to improved methods and give their firm a little more. Bringing change into their work and personal lives could have a large impact on their growth – both, professional and personal. And it is no surprise that a happy employee leads to a happier team. Showing them that there is more to life than 9-5, will bring them back the next morning with a lot more excitement. Furthermore, even organisations learn of ways to help improve the work-life balance of their people and promote such special benefits to the future hires.
The use of motivational speakers was highly prevalent in the bigger corporates, but the past decade has seen a significant rise in their services being availed by start-ups and scale-ups. Among the other reasons, are also benefits for the higher management in companies. Speakers help define employee benefits, bonus schemes, profit-sharing techniques, titles and crafting employee career paths – all of which are methods higher management can use at their disposal when retaining the best talent. When leaders understand that not all incentives are financial-based, it can help transform their leadership.
Here are some reasons (among many others) why you may be inclined to invite someone to speak at your firm:
- Organisational well-being
- Development of business
- Promote innovation with newer ideas
- Enhance employee engagement
- Boost productivity
- Conflict resolution
- Manage internal competition
- Reduce stress and/or improve work-life balance
- Assess goals and re-align interests to meet them
There are some questions you need to ask yourselves before approaching a motivational speaker.
- What are your main concerns?
- Do you want them to speak with the whole staff or smaller teams?
- Is it just at an annual event? Or do you want them to speak a few times over a period?
- Is it only the employees you wish to engage, or higher management too?
Motivational speakers would like to understand your needs before they go ahead and address the intended audience. Giving them as much information as possible will only make the experience more impactful. Good speakers will always have questions to ask you about your company, its achievements, its goals and then craft a speech to deliver to best tackle your concerns.
Most organisations (big and small) will tell you that the results were noticed almost instantly. And not just in terms of numbers, but also the immeasurable little things like added initiatives towards projects, showing up on time, better understanding between teams and much more. The other results one can expect are:
- Higher employee engagement
- Re-instilling the organisation’s original culture
- Refined contribution from the staff
- Increase in productivity = increase in profits
- Lesser internal conflicts
- Alignment of organisational goals and employee interests
- Higher value of soft-skills
- Increase in commitment (crafting a career, rather than job-hopping)
- Efficient decision-making
- Reduced stress levels
- Increase in personal, emotional, and professional development
In conclusion, we can say that the way motivational speakers are used, is more important than the decision to use them itself. Whether you are a start-up, a growing firm or an established corporate, better productivity and happier employees are definitely on your wish list.
All you need to do now, is, to find out what your needs are and approach someone who can deliver a message to help solve them.
