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Editor’s Comment: This calls for some genuinely expensive fancy dress

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Grass skirts and ‘goody-two-shoes’ gongs are designed to kick-start workers’ days with some genial bonhomie; Editor’s Comment looks at the utter humiliation of a new suite of motivation tools.


M&S declined to comment on the successes or otherwise of their new motivation programme. Mary Gober, an American motivational guru was tasked this summer with delivering tailored training for 60,000 workers or so following the ‘Gober Method’ – a three-step instruction said to provide “the required mindset and motivation for superior service.”

Estimated to cost a whopping £10 million, which surely could have been used to introduce a new range of clothing and keep the aisles of the food halls stocked to Santa’s satisfaction; M&S certainly can’t be accused of failing to put its money where its mouth is or is that its money where its grass skirt is?

Reported in the press, the motivation programme was alleged to consist of ‘inspirational dancing’ and fancy dress.

Forgive me for my lack of understanding but since when did dressing up like Uncle Bulgaria help in delivering a ‘superior customer service’? I certainly haven’t seen any service bar the norm in my local M&S but I’m not sure I could cope with too much attention when stocking up on undies and wool-lined slippers anyhow.

Shy shoppers aside, what has it done for the profits? In the 2005 annual report, M&S admitted to an overall sales slip of 3.1% in clothing to £3.8bn while the share of the UK market fell by 0.5% to 10.5% across the year.

And it’s the clothing departments, the bedrock of the M&S offering where most of the 60,000 workers can be found. It might be too early to see any relation to profit but certainly the signs so far don’t show much bang for the £10 million buck.

But it’s not just M&S that have climbed aboard the ‘alternate’ motivation-bandwagon.

King of the budget airlines, easyJet has announced the launch of its new online programme designed to boost staff motivation and improve retention rates.

Utilising Archer Young’s new online recognition and reward programme RecogniseMe.com, individuals can nominate any employee or team throughout the organisation for a GEM Award – which stands for you, yes you guessed it: Going the Extra Mile. No pun intended or maybe Stelios overlooked that.

A judging panel reviews all entries and votes on line. Successful nominations receive GEM Award points which can be 'banked' or redeemed against the online reward catalogue which includes a variety of merchandise, travel and vouchers available throughout Europe.

And at least easyJet can be applauded for discarding the temptations to don an amusing moustache and a pair of leggings. With take home pay for the average probationary cabin crew worker being just £800-£900 a month after tax you can see that fiscal rewards lovingly bundled as tempting holidays and travel delights is perhaps a little more in line than making a £5.50 per hour M&S store worker find some motivation from the depths of a grass skirt.

And isn’t it all not just a little humiliating? For workers teetering on the edge of the minimum wage surely there is another way of aligning attitudes more closely with ‘superior’ customer service than resorting to expensive fancy dress parties and playground nomination rituals.

I’d be interested to hear your views. Has fancy-dress had its day in the motivation stakes? Simply post your comments in the box below.

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6 Responses

  1. Getting caught up in management fads
    To me one of the disappointing aspects of projects such as this is that some HR ‘professional’ would have signed off on the expenditure. The result is that the HR profession in general picks up most of the back-lash when critics appear. Then of course the line managers have to defend the ‘management’ decision when their team-members make derogatory comments. JS does have a point, however such reactions and perceptions as are mentioned in this article should be high on the list of matters to work through when considering such projects.

  2. Hear hear hear
    I’m with Philip on this.

    You don’t motivate people by instruction or training them.

    It’s a people thing.

    Stephen

    Motivation Matters

  3. Right to reply
    Thanks for your comments JS – M&S declined to comment on the contents of the motivation programme – which provides food for thought itself. Are you from M&S? I’m sure our members would be interested in hearing your side of the story.

    Best Wishes
    Annie Hayes, HR Zone Editor

  4. Get the facts
    Motivation tools can in some cases be highly valuable and in others in my experience come at the wrong time or with the wrong message. I agree that if a company hasn’t got it’s environment right or doesn’t set staff up with the tools to do the job properly then a motivational exercise will not be very useful. In this case however it would be helpful if the original article was based on some fact not hearsay. the exercise in question did include some dancing – as an energiser but not part of the seminar itself, and many people attended by choice in fancy dress in order to distinguish themeselves and their group in the large crowds. Nothing said in this article actually relates in any way to what was done at this motivational day.

  5. Hear Hear
    I do lament the rise of such things as trying to get me motivated or inspired or properly trained without asking me and giving me what I need to do.

  6. StopTrying To Motivate Me.
    If these organisations spent the same amount of money and effort finding out what it is that they do that causes the demotivation of their employess then they would not have to spend the time trying to remotivate them.

    People are already motivated.

    It is the environment that people find at work that demotivates.

    All we have to do is recognise what it is that is causing the demotivation, then stop doing it!!

    See the full article at http://www.breakingthemould.co.uk/?q=Stop%20Trying%20To%20Motivsate%20Me!

    Peter A Hunter
    Author – Breaking the Mould

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Annie Hayes

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