Motivating the Middle: Moving the Needle on Sales

SHOULDN’T WE FOCUS ON THE ‘A TEAM’?

Most businesses focus on driving and rewarding their A-players, roughly the top 20% of employees. They’re the top producers, so it’s logical to think that they can most successfully move the needle. In actuality, the middle performers that make up 60% of your workforce offer the opportunity to impact a greater number of people. Obviously, a 5% performance gain from the middle 60% will yield far more revenue than the same shift from the top 20%. A statistic that is hard, if not impossible, for any savvy business to ignore.

This middle 60% aren’t “coasting,” or just plain average. Many of the middle performers are often consistent and reliable employees who aspire for more, but maybe are unclear about job expectations, experiencing burnout, need more training, or management coaching and support. It’s certainly more cost effective to invest in your current employees than to jump directly into onboarding new hires.

An interesting article (1) shows that the vast majority of middle performers are discouraged from becoming part of the top 20% by two things: the perception that the “costs are too high” or “the benefits too low.” Managing those perceptions and showing the advantages of high performance are imperative in order to motivate the middle. The author cites the following five steps as a roadmap for success:

1. “set the stage”—let the employee know you see their untapped potential.

2. “assess their confidence”—does the employee believe they have potential?

3. “assess their clarity of expectations”—does the employee have a clear understanding of what success looks like?

4. “assess their perceived costs”—is there something holding the employee back? What might they be afraid of?

5. “assess their perceived benefits”—what will motivate the employee? What excites and inspires them?

Creating a company strategy to invest in the middle 60% is the first step—and that strategy demands management buy-in. The potential results (remember we’re talking about a potential for significant revenue gains) should be incredibly exciting as there is so much potential for positive growth. And that’s growth that spills over the additional revenue into increased morale, improved customer satisfaction, and a whole host of other positive developments.

CORE TIPS TO MOVE THE MIDDLE

• Understand that this large group of employees is diverse—probably in experience, age, gender, knowledge, etc. Managers will need to identify experience levels and knowledge gaps.

• Offer in-depth training and ensure that managers are equipped to successfully coach and mentor staff. Offer training that meets people where they are. For example, Millenials may learn best from gamification while Baby Boomers want a traditional training manual and test.

• Understand what motivates people. Create scalable rewards for various milestones. Overcome employee frustration that the “same people always win the rewards and get the praise.” Your middle performers might not earn a big bonus, but they could experience a great dinner at that hot new restaurant as a reward for finishing key knowledge training.

• Improve processes that impede employee success or garner a negative customer experience.

• And last, but definitely not least, engage them. Make employees feel appreciated. Listen. Show them they’re worth your time and investment.

The importance of motivating the middle is clear, as are the benefits. One last illustration hits this one home:

Engaged workers are 25% more productive than their average peers, and, disengaged workers have 37% more absenteeism and make 60% more errors. Voluntary employee turnover increases by up to 50% in work units with low engagement, which in turn then affects the morale of the remaining workers, even your best performers. (2)

The top 20% are self-motivated. When the middle performers move up, so will the top performers. They always want to be at the top.

1 “How to Bring out the Best in Your Middle Performers,” Mark Murphy, 2016 Forbes

2 “Proof That Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive,” Cameron, Kim & Emma Seppala, 2015 Harvard Business Review