to uphold agreements. A manager has to find out why the service is not provided –
and analyze his or her own contribution to that failure.
“In light of the big picture it seems to me that a clear relationship of demands
between manager and employee is significantly more beneficial and consistent than
any punish/reward system” (Sprenger 2003, p. 187). In this scenario performance is
always relative and a matter of expectations that the leader has to define in advance
together with the employee. Viable agreements are achieved only through commu-
nication and negotiation processes. If employees approve the agreements which
meet their performance needs, efforts to motivate them may become unnecessary.
Thus Sprenger re-establishes the concept of “management by objectives.” He feels
that management is justified only if it is confined to a predetermined function and
clear agreements. Anything beyond these minimum leadership standards violates
human dignity and is therefore inadmissible. Sprenger rejects mechanistic and
motivation-oriented goal agreements.
The only factors that can truly motivate employees to long-term performance
and commitment are freedom, trust and esteem, which plant the seeds for real
commitment. “Only if we begin to see the meaning of our work again, will we feel
truly motivated” (Sprenger 2003a, p. 111). What companies need are success-
oriented and not failure-avoiding employees. To achieve this it is not enough to
make the business goals more attractive to them with a 14th monthly salary or a
larger company car; motivation calls for a deeper understanding and genuine
empathy.
The question is: what drives people to commit themselves enthusiastically to
their company? And this question quickly leads us to the demotivating factors,
which are actually more meaningful and important than motivators, such as:
unequal treatment of employees by the management, lack of fairness, lack of
tolerance, caprice and incompetence on the part of the management.
2.3.2.11 Avoiding Demoralization
Motivation cannot be boosted from the outside without long-term consequences
and costs for all parties. If an employee fails to provide the agreed-upon service, it is
caused by something that discouraged him or her. There is only one thing a manager
can do now: take the incident seriously and find the reason for the lack of motiva-
tion and, if possible, correct it. Sprenger has defined demotivation as blocked,
sluggish energy. Accordingly, leading is controlling the energy flow within the
company, which primarily means detecting where that energy is blocked. Although
this metaphor may sound a bit like feng shui, Sprenger’s use of it is fundamentally
correct.
But how can this be achieved? There are several ways to meet this objective: by
observing and asking what is going on within the company or the department;
by identifying patterns and structures; by sensing moods, conflicts and problems
rather than covering them up, and by having personal conversations with the staff.
Discouragement can be caused by relations or by work structures. The number one
88 2 Occupation or Calling: What Makes for Good Leadership?