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Staff Motivation - One Example
If you've lead an organization and have been faced with the task of motivating your staff, sooner or later you've probably organized an event that just didn't work ... a speaker that fell flat ... the kind of thing that made your staff groan just to think about it. The really hard part is
that at that point you should have the good humor to admit, "Man, that was really lame," and then try something totally different. Matt Guzik, CCM, general manager of The Stock Farm Club in Hamilton, MT, not only had the grace to admit that it was time to try something new, but also allowed his staff to have a lot of fun in the process.
Stock Farm is a five-year-old club with 275 total members in Montana's Bitterroot Valley. The club was founded by James R. Schueler, a builder of high-end custom log homes, and Charles Schwab, founder of the discount brokerage firm.
About 75 percent of Stock Farm's members live out of state. Every year, management is faced with the task of gearing up the staff of 100 for the arrival of members and the season. Part of that process has been the use of an employee kickoff meeting.
"In the past we brought in speakers from the CMAA Conference and had done role playing," Guzik recalled somewhat wryly. "Our staff learned a lot, but you can only pound people over the head so much as far as trying to kick off the season. Typically what we do is recognize and introduce the department heads, give recognition for years of service, then introduce the speaker."
Guzik listened when those close to him in the administrative staff suggested a change for the 2004 meeting: "We were trying to incorporate some kind of training program that would work for everyone. Controller Darla Coleman and Administrative Assistant Shelley Cole were the ones who were behind saying 'Let's do something different and have fun with this thing.'"
The "fun" was carefully orchestrated. Nobody was in on the gag other than Guzik and the two women who had planned it. As with all good practical jokes, this one entailed a long setup.
"We set it up a month or two in advance," Guzik said. He commissioned club member Andy Albrecht's firm, Option B, Inc., a company that develops marketing identities for major corporations, including custom logo clothing, to create shirts for the event. "They designed the shirts really quickly. Then we geared up the department heads. The last thing they wanted to do was attend another motivational speaker.
"We told them that we were going to use a motivational speaker that we had used in the past and gave them a new book from the speaker to read. Nobody had the nerve to say, 'It didn't work last time.'" Guzik chuckled.
On the day of the kickoff event, employees were herded into the meeting room. "They got a five minute speech from me and we handed out service pins. Then we told them that the speaker wasn't able to make it, and that we'd come up with an alternative."
The employees stepped outside where there were buses waiting. Each employee was handed a custom-designed bowling shirt. The buses were loaded and then headed down to the bowling alley. There, 10 teams of employees competed with one another in a bowling meet.
"From a team building basis it was the best thing we could have done," Guzik said. Department heads were all assigned to a team. Guzik bowled one frame with each team, which could use his score if they wanted to.
"It was an absolute riot. Some people had never bowled before--which was pretty evident."
The shirts became a huge hit and somewhat of a status symbol. "Members wanted the shirts. Employees would go into town and people would want them," Guzik said. Besides gaining an enthusiastic thumbs-up from employees, the kickoff meeting now has a waiting list of members who are trying to participate in next year's event.
Guzik realized that his administrative staff had hit on something: Out with the big speeches, in with the simple exercises and cool clothes. Wanting to impress the club's mission on the staff, Guzik hit on a followup idea. He recalled that speaker Gregg Patterson had made a big point at CMAA Conference about simplifying the club's mission statement. "We had a good mission statement when we got here, but I thought we could make a better point with the employees if we could simplify it."
Option B was once more called into action. In addition to getting money and food and merchandise coupons for knowing the mission when quizzed by managers, employees also received a special Stock Farm ball cap. Its design was clearly differentiated from those available to members and guests (which immediately made it an in-demand item among members). This year's employee cap will employ a '60s retro look with a bigger bill. "The John Deere look," Guzik said.
But it wasn't what was on the cap that was key to Guzik's goal of keeping the mission statement "top of mind." It was, rather, what was in the cap that counted. For--printed on the tapes that joined the hats' sections together--was the club's mission statement.
That mission? "Keep it professional. Keep it personal. Keep it fun."
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