How to motivate non exempt employees (on the clock)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At some point, just be grateful that they are satisfactorily doing their jobs. I used to be upset that a few of my employees weren't motivated to move up. Now I'm just happy that they like their jobs and are very good at them. If everyone was like that my job would be easy. Plus, when employees move up, it means you have to hire new ones, which is a drain.

OP just wants them to work harder for nothing. They said there isn't even room for advancement

Yeah it sounds like OP wants them to work for free. I don't get it, if there is more work than time to do it you need to either hire more people or get OT authorized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP there is no room for promotion as it is hard to break the “on the clock” mentality.

For instance we have a few corporate events on the weekend or after work each year.

I noticed the on the clock people don’t go. But it is only chance to interact with sr. Mgt. which would help their case for a promotion.

I have no clue how to make it a nicer place. They have tasks to do and a set time to do it. To be honest I would tell them to quit if I was giving career advice.

I have been working for long enough to understand the rules for promotion, going above and beyond is the bare minimal, there are other rules such as “cultural fit with upper management” that some of us just know we will never get there. So why bother to do that to get disappointed? At least using that time to do personal hobbies is good for my mental health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP there is no room for promotion as it is hard to break the “on the clock” mentality.

For instance we have a few corporate events on the weekend or after work each year.

I noticed the on the clock people don’t go. But it is only chance to interact with sr. Mgt. which would help their case for a promotion.

I have no clue how to make it a nicer place. They have tasks to do and a set time to do it. To be honest I would tell them to quit if I was giving career advice.

Start by creating opportunities for them to interact with senior management during the work week, when on the clock. Creating a better workplace involves creating better work/life balance, not finding ways to inspire people to devote their personal time to work. That only leads to more bitterness and animosity toward the job.

[Anonymous]

You want hourly employees to work for free after their shifts end? WTF? The title of your post shouldn’t be how to motivate hourly employees it should be how to screw over hourly employees so they work extra time for free.

Pay them overtime or accept that they punch out exactly when their shift ends.

[Anonymous]

You sound like a terrible boss. You clearly look down on these employees

[Anonymous]

You need to recognize that some people don’t want advancement. They are perfectly fine with punch in punch out and minimal expectation. You weed the good ones out by making it easy to get raise based on performance.

Don’t insult them by expecting a lot out of them for mediocre pay. And $200-1k bonus is insulting. Both sides just need to be honest.

Once you have pulled identified the ones that are willing to more productive for more pay start trimming the fat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP there is no room for promotion as it is hard to break the “on the clock” mentality.

For instance we have a few corporate events on the weekend or after work each year.

I noticed the on the clock people don’t go. But it is only chance to interact with sr. Mgt. which would help their case for a promotion.

I have no clue how to make it a nicer place. They have tasks to do and a set time to do it. To be honest I would tell them to quit if I was giving career advice.

They aren't stupid and they know what their jobs are. I did warehouse work for awhile after high school and would bust my butt if there was a bonus incentive to move faster, but those only happened near the end of the quarter. Otherwise, I'd work just fast enough to not get written up. That's the way hourly jobs without promotion potential work- you do the bare minimum not to get fired. Doing more work gets rewarded with more work and animosity from coworkers who look bad in comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to recognize that some people don’t want advancement. They are perfectly fine with punch in punch out and minimal expectation. You weed the good ones out by making it easy to get raise based on performance.

Don’t insult them by expecting a lot out of them for mediocre pay. And $200-1k bonus is insulting. Both sides just need to be honest.

Once you have pulled identified the ones that are willing to more productive for more pay start trimming the fat.

That only works if you are able to give meaningful performance incentives. For a myriad of reasons, not ever job is like that.

[Anonymous]

I am a non exempt employee. There is no way I’m staying late or coming in early unless I get OT but I make sure my job is done well when I’m at work.
Why can’t your employees not punch out and go out for lunch? You can also treat them all to coffee or breakfast if you wanted to right?
Can you let them go early on occasion without making up the hours?

[Anonymous]

I posted a few months ago about a 10 year bonus I got that got taxed. I got $62. ( $10 per year of service)
We don’t get bonuses yearly or anything but there’s no reason we couldn’t take an extended lunch break now and again. Or even leave early as long as it’s approved by a supervisor. You don’t have to physically clock in and out.

[Anonymous]

So essentially the company gives them absolutely no loyalty or devotion and yet you expect loyalty and devotion from the staff?

What can you do? You can work with the system to change the outstanding issues. Talk to the HR and management about taking some of the "bonus" pool of money that is typically awarded to exempt employees for work "over and above" their duties, and ask that it be made available to us as "bonus" or OT payments for non-exempt employees to do work that is over and above their duties and time. That's one of the fastest ways you can do something to change the situation.

Alternatively, talk to the company about converting some positions from non-exempt to exempt.

If you can't get the system to change, then don't expect the employee behavior to change. You are asking the to do more for the same amount, but you and the company are not willing to give them any reason to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So essentially the company gives them absolutely no loyalty or devotion and yet you expect loyalty and devotion from the staff?

What can you do? You can work with the system to change the outstanding issues. Talk to the HR and management about taking some of the "bonus" pool of money that is typically awarded to exempt employees for work "over and above" their duties, and ask that it be made available to us as "bonus" or OT payments for non-exempt employees to do work that is over and above their duties and time. That's one of the fastest ways you can do something to change the situation.

Alternatively, talk to the company about converting some positions from non-exempt to exempt.

If you can't get the system to change, then don't expect the employee behavior to change. You are asking the to do more for the same amount, but you and the company are not willing to give them any reason to do so.

But please make sure it is more than they would otherwise get from working OT. Otherwise they are just working extra for OT that is "discretionary" pay. That motivator is more money over and above what they would usually work.

Also, make these bonuses often (monthly?). I am sure as heck not working overtime all year to potentially be bonus that is probably less than I would receive in regular OT pay.

I also agree with others. You sound like a terrible boss, and your company is everything that is wrong with corporate America these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP there is no room for promotion as it is hard to break the “on the clock” mentality.

For instance we have a few corporate events on the weekend or after work each year.

I noticed the on the clock people don’t go. But it is only chance to interact with sr. Mgt. which would help their case for a promotion.

I have no clue how to make it a nicer place. They have tasks to do and a set time to do it. To be honest I would tell them to quit if I was giving career advice.

Well that's a pretty terrible work environment if the only way to interact with Sr Management is to go to an after-hours, not paid for event. Why in the universe would they do that?
You can make it a nicer place by getting all of their management - from you to the top - to treat them like valued employees, rather than being too high and mighty to even interact with them.
Do you not have (paid, on the clock) town halls? Skip level meetings? All hands? Departmental meetings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP there is no room for promotion as it is hard to break the “on the clock” mentality.

For instance we have a few corporate events on the weekend or after work each year.

I noticed the on the clock people don’t go. But it is only chance to interact with sr. Mgt. which would help their case for a promotion.

I have no clue how to make it a nicer place. They have tasks to do and a set time to do it. To be honest I would tell them to quit if I was giving career advice.

Well that's a pretty terrible work environment if the only way to interact with Sr Management is to go to an after-hours, not paid for event. Why in the universe would they do that?
You can make it a nicer place by getting all of their management - from you to the top - to treat them like valued employees, rather than being too high and mighty to even interact with them.
Do you not have (paid, on the clock) town halls? Skip level meetings? All hands? Departmental meetings?

OP said that the employees have set tasks and times to do them. Unless the company is willing to push less product out the door, your production employees are not attending skip level meetings and all hands in any meaningful way. Maybe OP should encourage them to unionize?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a non exempt employee. There is no way I’m staying late or coming in early unless I get OT but I make sure my job is done well when I’m at work.
Why can’t your employees not punch out and go out for lunch? You can also treat them all to coffee or breakfast if you wanted to right?
Can you let them go early on occasion without making up the hours?

OP on the clock has badge swipes tied to timesheets. They cant
Eat at desks on the clock. The whole building on camera so they go to lunch or coffee have to swipe. Once outside building clock stops ticking.

Interesting we have a coffee shop next door. I go there as have a great egg sandwich, I told my staff about it they did not know it existed. I then realized they have to punch out or go on a break to go there.

It is bizarre. So bizarre we have birthday cake the other day and on the clock people not invited.

We are doing breakfast next week “voluntarily” from 8-9am and we will pay then for hour. But not mandatory.

Interesting to see who goes. It is mandatory for me.