Hello everyone! Thank you for joining me for the fifth installment of my blog series on the top eight proven motivational strategies. I hope that you’re all having a fantastic day. In our previous post, we covered monetary reward. Today we’re going to discuss the fear of consequences.
This post will discuss how you can use fear of consequences to motivate your team members. This strategy will help you hone your leadership skills, while also giving your team an extra boost to do their very best. This, like the other strategies, works particularly well in small, family-owned businesses. With that said, let’s take a look at how this strategy can be put into action.
Implementing Fear of Consequences in a Family-Owned Business
Nobody likes negative consequences! But sometimes avoiding something unpleasant can be effective just as incentives. In a family-owned business, you may come across team members who don’t worry about negative consequences. They think that their family relationship with you or their personal closeness to you will make you go easy on them. On the other hand, you may find it difficult to impose negative consequences for those very reasons. It can be tough, but it is critical to be fair and consistent in enforcing negative consequences. You must also make sure that they are given regardless of your relationship with the members of your team. Disciplining a sibling or close friend can be difficult, but it is sometimes necessary for the health of your business.
When dealing with negative consequences, it’s essential to do things that will actually benefit your team member. Create reasonable consequences to address poor performance, such as extra training, work plans, or probationary measures. Extra training will improve their skills, while a work plan will allow you to track their progress and help them strengthen their weaknesses. Probationary measures are a bit harsher, but when all else fails, they can be a good incentive for someone to shape up.
When dispensing negative consequences, It’s fundamental to be fair and sensitive. Talk to the person respectfully and try to figure out what’s the cause of their poor performance. You might be able to help with the problem. Remind them that you’re doing this because you care about their performance and the success of the team as a whole. Negative consequences are inherently unpleasant, so it’s important to deliver them the right way. Although no one enjoys them, these consequences provide extra support and attention to someone whose performance needs to be improved.
Conclusion
I strongly advise you to try using fear of consequences to motivate those in your business. It can be more difficult to implement than the other strategies. However, keep in mind that when used correctly, it can work wonders. Just remember to make your motives clear when dispensing negative consequences. Knowing that you’re committed to getting the best out of your employees and your company will help them understand these consequences, even if they don’t like them.
The following post will be covering competition, the sixth of the eight strategies! So, please join me for that next time! I’d like to thank you again for taking the time out of your day to read this blog post. Any questions on your mind? Contact us, we’ll be happy to help!
Take care, and have a better than amazing day!
