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give feedback to various stakeholders. I think there are two very specific things that are important, so number 1 is buy-in to the change and to understand the reason behind the change, employees need to be fully on board with the change. If you don’t get the buy-in at all levels, obviously you will get resistance and that will make it difficult.
Respondent F:
Like I said in terms of communication, leadership has to engage you know, leaders have to provide motivation to change and get people involved, that’s what I believe. I also believe that leaders have to communicate the urgency and importance of change and what is the change about change, they also have to show commitment and they have to show passion about how things are going to be done. So, you have to get the staff to participate and make sure that everyone realises the change.
Respondent G:
If there is change there is growth, and if you can explain to people and say, ok while we are going through these difficult times and we are going to start doing things may be a little bit different we are all going to grow in the process as individuals. And all the people that I speak to eventually say they want to better themselves. They want to grow as human beings. And if you explain it that way to them, they will start buying-in to it.
The respondent A,B,C, E, and G correlate and agree on the importance of buy-in and on what leadership should do to get the buy-in. However, although respondent D and F do not disagree with the rest of other respondents, they expressed their views differently of how buy-in can be achieved.
4.4.9 Sub-theme 1.4 Employee motivation during change
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So, when it comes to rewarding my own employees, my attitude is always what is the kind of thing that drives them, is it somebody who feels having a better title or more impressive title you know, will that inspire them. Others will say, you can call me the dishwasher for all I am concerned I just want more money. And then the others still will say will do the same job will earn the same salary, we will just like to have more responsibilities…
But incentives to me when it comes to the financial side of things, it's really not the only way to incentives people. Getting them to actually feel like they were architects of the change and giving recognition. So once again I am sure it sounds as if everything I am saying to you is that, I treat everybody differently. But in a big way it is because what seems to be motivation for one person, for the other person that means absolutely nothing and what they want and what drives them to the bigger contribution would be something completely different.
Respondent B:
Part of motivating employees was to increase their salaries and so forth, but the most source of motivation is being in the exciting environment of change idea and becoming part of the that idea and being part of the solution and they do it because want to do it and because of excitement, that’s how you engage them, that’s how you get them to fully buy-in.
Financial reward is a very short-term pacifier, it’s a bad idea to get the buy-in for change management through financial rewards, because the commitment might not be an inherent believe but the financial believe that you derive from it. A better approach is, if there are any rewards, whether the incentive is a promotion or financial or anything should be based on reaching certain benchmarks but rewarding incentives should be very well thought through. Otherwise the wrong motivation drives the process.
Respondent C:
We bring employees in our exco meeting and by doing so they are given the opportunity to give their opinion and to be part of the discussion. The motivating factor is that if they have the better understanding of why they need to do things, it’s easier for them to be
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part of the execution. If they only receive the instructions from management, they don’t have context and they do not understand why they will not be motivated. But if you understand the context and you have participated in getting the solution, then it should be easier for you as an employee to execute and implement change. I think that’s the big difference that’s the motivator. It’s not financial motivation or the remuneration, it’s the benefit to be part of the bigger picture to understand that you can make a contribution towards the future of the business.
There are two aspect, the one is, if one has employees, they (employer) should create an environment where people really enjoy when they work. So, when they woke up in the morning they want to go to work. That I think is the most important incentivise, so I think work environment must be stimulating and rewarding from an experience point of view.
The other of course is monetary rewards, so at the end of the day if it’s all about value creation in the business, if employees take the initiatives to come forward with a proposal and that leads to the value creation in the business, then they must be some kind of a reward.
Respondent D:
I just try and show them the benefits of the change for everybody, and then I make use of incentives for instance if you need sales you say well, if you reach 1000 sort of mark, then you get an incentive, say you can spend a weekend away or something like that. So, there is a lot of incentives to motivate people.
Respondent E:
We do not really have to do anything to motivate, I think they are all keen to follow a new strategy, to understand the new strategy and to be part of something really innovative and fresh to Africa, so I think it is the exciting direction. So, I think the motivation comes from the fact that its innovative and exciting and we do not really have to do anything to motivate.
Respondent F:
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Like I said, as a leader you have to be positive and energetic to motivate an individual to be on the same platform where you are. You don’t force it on anybody, but you have to be in a place where you are leading and show people where you are moving towards and getting the best result in terms of change.
Respondent G:
Motivation is a short-term thing….You can’t motivate people, you have to inspire people it’s something that has to come from the inside. And the way that you inspire people is to give them the opportunity to work out what I call ‘their strength and their natural capabilities’. The moment you allow that, and you set an environment where people can have that them you do not have to motivate them, they are inspired…
The respondent A,B,C and D largely agree and shared a similar view about how employees can be motivated, but respondent E,F,G shared a different viewpoint on the motivation of employees.