Mentoring, Motivating, Coaching & Grooming II – Blog Post #438 by Asrar Qureshi

Mentoring, Motivating, Coaching & Grooming II – Blog Post #438 by Asrar Qureshi

Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #438. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here.

Continued from Previous……

Mentoring, as I wrote in the previous part, was largely abolished. There are some people here and there who still keep the tradition alive, but for all practical purposes, everyone is now on his own. If you wish to learn, it is your sweet will, and you may learn what you like to learn. The fallout of getting away from Mentoring is that the learning does not follow any standard anymore. A variety of views are held by people which hardly connect with others.

I am not writing this as an obituary of tradition; I am highlighting the changes that have taken place and their impact thereof. In the absence of mentoring, the competition is fierce and without remorse.

Another highlight of professional work such as in Pharma is Motivation. The importance of motivation has long been understood by managers and teams alike. Motivation has been a theme during all areas of work.

Motivation is urging to do something, creating drive, creating desire, and raising willingness to ‘go’ for achievement. Motivation brings energy and increases achievement. Motivated people can do things which otherwise they may not contemplate doing.

Motivation is a great tool which is used by competent managers to develop people, increase business and make ordinary people achieve extraordinary results. This is positive reinforcement with positive motivation.

Motivation is a dangerous tool in the hands of wrong people who may use it to exploit people, coerce them into doing forced labor, and keep them on a leash for long time. This is negative reinforcement with fear motivation. 

Motivation can be achieved with multiple tools. Financial rewards, status changes, appreciation and recognition are the common ones.

Money is a strong but short-lived motivator and understandably so. Money does not stay; it is either spent or saved. It goes as quickly as it comes. The motivation created through one-time money reward is also short-lived. Financial reward such as increase in salary or benefits or perks have a longer lasting effect. An increase in salary may cause some sort of upscaling in life. A benefit like medical insurance takes medical worries away, and a perk like a car changes the lifestyle and status. Of course, such rewards have quite a long life.

Appreciation may be used as a recurring theme for motivating people. However, appreciation without giving a specific reason does not have desired effect. It is easy to understand. Every honor/ medal/reward that is given always comes with a citation. Citation is there for Nobel Prize, for army medals and for civilian honors. However, many managers naively believe that a vague, non-specific appreciation will do wonders, but it does not. It is extremely important that appreciation is done for clear and specific reasons. 

Appreciation has immediate effect, but its longevity is also associated with the task appreciated. Whenever the person performs that task, the motivation is renewed. This is another reason for citing the specific act/task while appreciating.

The last element or tool in motivation is recognition. The difference between appreciation and recognition is that appreciation is done directly to the person; others may or may not be present. Recognition is always done in the presence of the others; the person so recognized may or may not even be there.

Recognition is more powerful than appreciation in some ways. The effect is stronger, and it is continuously reinforced by all those who listen to recognition. Their repetition keeps on multiplying the good feeling. 

Motivation is a powerful tool to ensure continuous improvement in people and their performance. It is important to understand its mechanics, dynamics and nuances to get the most out of it.

To be Continued......

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