Another Point-of-View

For many months now, I have been thinking about what motivates my staffs to get out from their houses and entertain the water users of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya? I often wonder what does it take for me to make my call centre agents feel excited and enthusiastic about picking up and answering calls from irate consumers? What is the secret formula to use in order for me to make them commit to a collective goal, a project, and to the organization's mission and vision?

Again I reflect upon myself and found that it is the challenge, recognition and reward that kept me going - day in, day out.

It is amazing that some of my staff are cheerful and motivated by means of without any grand gestures. A simple pat on the back will can put a smile to their faces; while a short 'thank you' or 'well done' email will make them perform a bit more extra than usual. These are the things that I've picked up about my subordinates and I truly believe that these small gestures can make a difference.

However, this method of inspiring motivation does not seem to cater to everybody. It is not a one-ruler-fit-all technique. Only a small portion are motivated and as for the rest, I reckon I would need to move a mountain before anything positive can be accomplished.

So what is motivation? By far, it is a very difficult term to define and the dictionary in my book shelf does not help a bit. It defines motivation as;

"the act or process of motivating; the condition of being motivated"

Further reading on the Internet gave me a closer meaning to the term from the operation standpoint:

"Giving of a reason to act: the act of giving somebody a reason or incentive to do something"

So I think, the question for me now is that, what do I mean when I say I want to motivate my staffs? Fundamentally I realize that I am saying I want to "give them a reason or incentive to answer calls effectively and adhere to the set KPIs".

How can I, as their leader, generate "a feeling of interest or enthusiasm that makes somebody want to do something"?