If your employee motivation techniques haven’t changed in the past decade, your business is probably underperforming.
In one of the final scenes of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a small army of men march on the menacing Black Gate of Mordor. The imposing gate opens, slowly revealing an army of thousands upon thousands of orcs and trolls. As fear spreads, Aragorn, leader of the men, knows he has to motivate his army.
“A day may come when the courage of Men fails… but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight!”
As employee motivation techniques go, it’s unlikely you’ll find yourself facing a horde of orcs and attempting to lead your employees into a battle for the future of humanity. Even so, if you’re hanging onto motivational techniques like trust falls and outdated quotes to engage your employees, you’ll be lucky to get them to come to work on time, much less follow you into battle.
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