Getting the best from your employees: Sanjeev shows the way
By Kaveesha Fernando
While discussing your monthly performance with your supervisor, imagine if he says, “Hmm... Not bad, let’s see if you can do this next month also, ah?” in a challenging tone that implies that you can’t. Sounds demotivating, doesn’t it?
It is scenarios like this which motivational coach Sanjeev Jayaratnam’s upcoming programme ‘Power to the People’ hopes to avoid. The programme is designed for middle and senior management professionals keen on improving their performance. Sanjeev explains that managers need to learn how to improve themselves to get the best results from their employees. “There is a rather famous saying that people don’t leave companies, they leave bosses,” he says, something which he feels managers can easily avoid by learning how to handle the different situations which arise at the workplace.
Sanjeev, CEO of Revelations Professional Education, has been running programmes aimed at personality building and skills development since 2008, drawing on his experience of working in the corporate sector in man- agerial roles at companies such as Unilever and MAS for well over a decade. He is also a visiting lecturer at the Post Graduate Institute of Management and conductor of the award winning ‘Revelations’ choir.
While no-one would want to work for a manager who is constantly angry, gives tasks which are vague, useless or impossible to achieve and who is never satisfied, they would be more than happy to work for someone who quietly guides them and sets out clear, achievable tasks, with feedback given in a positive way. Sanjeev feels he can help anyone transform into just that.
He explains the concept of emotional contagion - your emotions are contagious! This means that you can influence your employees either positively or negatively just through your demeanour, and says that this phenomenon also can be used to positively motivate them.
To do this, you must first learn how to be positive and productive yourself. Sanjeev believes you must tap into your own inner energy to do this. He explains that the regular employee who comes into office by 8.30 will be drained by the time it’s 3.30, which means that the work that they do after that might be less than ideal. By taking the time to re-energize every time you feel less than your best, you can be productive throughout, we learn.
Apart from teaching people exercises on how to do this, the programme also focuses on how to motivate employees to perform at their best by understanding their motives for working. “You can’t make anyone do what they do not want to do,” says Sanjeev, adding that although people cannot be forced to do something, through understanding an employee’s motives, a good manager can convince them to do what is required by convincing them that the end goal is something they want, rather than a task the manager is forcing on them.
Highlighting the example of how he trained choirs for the recently held AsianChoir Games, Sanjeev says that he was able to positively motivate even young choristers to train for three to four hours almost continuously without feeling tired or annoyed by finding out what their goal was and motivating them by explaining how what he asked them to do helped them reach their own targets. “If someone is motivated, no-one can stop that person,” explains Sanjeev.
‘Power to the people’ will be held on November 15 from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. at the Hotel Galadari. Tickets are priced at Rs. 9990, inclusive of lunch. To register, please contact Sanjeev on 0777 346806 or Anusha on 0777 418150.
For further details, see the Revelations Professional Education website http://www.revpe.com/