Editor's note: The CEO Corner contains editors' compilations of business news from top publications, which they have tailored for the dairy industry. You wouldn’t think of walking past your milkers in the parlor and unplugging the milk hoses attached to your milk line, spilling the hard work of your entire farm on the parlor floor. That would not only be expensive and silly, but extremely demotivating.
Research shows, however, you could achieve nearly the same effect by ignoring your employees and not acknowledging their contributions regularly.
In his book Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations, Dan Ariely describes what humans crave even more than money is meaningful recognition. His own research at Duke University uncovered this principle.
Ariely and his research colleagues printed random letters on an entire sheet of paper and invited research participants to find given pairs of letters on the page. Participants would turn in their paper after locating all the pairs to a proctor and be paid 55 cents for the activity. They would then be offered to do a new page for 5 cents less. Each time they completed the activity, the payment incentive for the next page decreased by 5 cents.
Beyond the monetary incentive participants were offered, Ariely provided feedback to the participants in three different ways. The first group of participants were told to put their name on the paper at the start of the exercise and were “acknowledged” upon completing each exercise, with the proctor reviewing their paper and saying, “uh-huh.”
The second group were not instructed, nor permitted to put their name on the paper at the start of the exercise and were “ignored” upon competing each exercise, with the proctor not reviewing the participant’s work and placing it immediately face down in a pile. Those in the final group were also not permitted to use their names and their work was not reviewed, but their paper was shredded right in front of them immediately upon presentation to the proctor. Ariely called them the “shredded” group.
What Ariely says is most interesting about the findings is that there wasn’t much difference between the motivation and persistence of those in the “ignored” and those in the “shredded” groups. Those in the shredded group stopped working, on average, when the pay fell below 29 cents. Those in the ignored group stopped, on average, when pay fell below 27.5 cents. However, those that received acknowledgement kept working significantly longer and stopped, on average, when the pay was less than 15 cents per page (25 percent longer than the other groups).
One of Ariely’s points about the findings is that simple acknowledgement under the same pay scale does wonders for worker motivation.
In what ways can you acknowledge employees for their work on your farm? Consider these suggestions:
• Say hello to your staff
This could be as simple as saying “Good morning!” as you pass them in the feedyard. Or if you’ll be off-site for the day, consider printing in large type a short message and posting it in the break room. Slack, an instant messaging app, has built daily acknowledgement into its software’s initialization. Its users are greeted with statements like “You’re here; the day just got better” or “Thank you for using Slack. We appreciate it.” Keeping the form of your recognition unpredictable is just as important as it is to do something regularly.
• Consider providing name patches
For dairies that provide uniforms to their workers, the names on those uniforms represent more than just convenience in passing out apparel after its been laundered. It’s a form of recognition. As Ariely’s research shows, when workers are allowed to attach their name to the work they’ve done, they will be more motivated to keep working. If you don’t have uniforms, consider embroidering individual employees’ names on ball caps and presenting it to them as a gift. Acknowledging employees, especially new ones right off the bat during training and orientation, can boost motivation significantly.
• Personally hand out paychecks one month
I once heard Mel Kleiman, a human resource consultant, suggest you should personally hand a check to a new employee after their first pay period and thank them for their work. Why not try that approach randomly on your dairy? Call a staff meeting and simply state you’d like to personally acknowledge each employee’s contributions this month. A handshake along with that regular paycheck will likely mean so much more to most of your employees.
The above list is most certainly not exhaustive, and if you only do these things, they may become expectations, instead of motivation tools. The most challenging part of acknowledgment and motivation is that it cannot become commonplace but instead must remain genuine and spontaneous. If you’re struggling with motivating employees or team morale, consider asking your managers, office staff or even family members for ideas about how to acknowledge workers with nonmonetary or low-budget recognitions. These third-party advisers will most certainly not recommend anything that would “shred” motivation and will likely have some farm-specific ideas that will be helpful. 
-
Walt Cooley
- Editor-in-chief
- Progressive Dairyman
- Email Walt Cooley
PHOTO: Illustration by Sarah Johnston.
