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Your manager doesn’t motivate you?

 

I am always amazed at some of the things that come at me from out of left field.

 

This morning I received an email from a person that has been on one of our training programs. It read:

 

"Dear Mark. Yesterday I had my performance appraisal with my manager. It did not go well. Although I had rated myself well on all my KPI’s he disagreed with me and gave me low ratings. He then gave me a speech accusing me of underperforming and telling me that he is putting me in a coaching program.

 

My problem is this – how can I be expected to perform while my manager is not motivating me?

 

Your advice will be appreciated

Alice" (Note real name)

 

So this was my reply:

 

"Dear Alice.

 

Thank you for your email and taking the trouble to write to me. I sympathise with you in that it is never nice to be told that you are underperforming. But you seem to put the blame for that on your manager not motivating you. Well here’s the thing. As long as your manager is not going out of his way to demotivate you, he does not have to motivate you. Your manager is paid to do three things – 1) respect you, 2) give you work that fits your skill set, and 3) ensure that you meet the requirements of your KPI’s. You on the other hand are paid to do only two things – 1) respect your manager and 2) meet the requirements of your KPI’s.

 

Now nowhere does “your manager having to motivate you” come into the picture. It is not in his job description. It's nice to have him motivate you, but it is not a requirement in his job description. Therefore it is not an excuse for underperformance.

 

I’m sorry to disappoint you as I am sure my answer is not what you wanted to hear, but that is the reality.

 

So I suggest that you have a real good look at the requirements of your KPI’s and then start to meet them. Remember that a KPI is the minimum standard of performance that the company will accept from you. It is not a performance goal to be reached, it is a minimum standard.

 

Warm Regards

Mark."

 

And that is the reality. It is not in a manager's job description to motivate his or her staff. As long as the environment created by the manager is neutral (not demotivating or motivating), they are handing out work that fits the skills sets of the staff, and they are ensuring that KPI’s are met, that manager is performing according to the manager job description.

 

COPYRIGHT:

This article is protected by copyright and may not be duplicated or republished in full or in part, without the express written permission of Mark Deavall.  Mark is contactable on markd@markdeavall.com or +27 82 465 5481.