Primal Management: An "Instruction Manual" for Motivating People
If you buy a toaster, you get an instruction manual. Buy a refrigerator, you get an instruction manual. Hire an employee, NO instruction manual. Wouldn't it be great if human beings were born with a "user manual" as well? Then we would know the best way to lead, motivate and engage our employees.
Author, Paul Herr, has created the next best thing in his critically-acclaimed book, Primal Management: Unraveling the Secrets of Human Nature to Drive High Performance. Herr uses logic and the latest science to deduce what the missing "instruction manual" might look like. If you'd like to improve employee-engagement, attract top talent, and boost innovation and productivity, Primal Management should be on top of your reading list.
Horsepower Software™: A Human-Performance Technology with Three Components
Paul Herr turned the insights in his book into a powerful software tool for getting the best out of people. This software is called The Horsepower System™, and consists of 1) a framework for understanding employee motivation based on the Harvard 4-drive model, 2) a short pulse survey to track motivation, and 3) onboard leadership-development resources to improve the score. If you'd like to watch Paul describe the four-drive science behind the Horsepower System,™ check out this keynote presentation.
This online, motivation-management tool is being used by major corporations worldwide to monitor and improve employee engagement. Here's a short whitepaper that describes some remarkable Horsepower System™ success stories in the auto industry. You can demo this powerful tool by visiting the demo website.
The Employee-First Approach
Paul Herr has studied human motivation for 40 years. He knows what the motivational engine "looks like" and how companies can tap into it. His book explains how to tune the motivational engine and supercharge innovation, productivity and profitability in the process!
Herr's approach is remarkably simple: if you take care of your employees' needs, and they take care of the customer's needs, then you will make lots of money. The circle-of-value diagram above summarizes the employee-first approach. By the way, renowned management guru, Gary Hamel, also endorses this approach. Click here for Hamel's inspiring video about employee-first management.
Satisfying your employee's needs is not as hard as it sounds, because there are only four of them. If we design our workplaces around these four motivational drives, our employees might even come to work just for the fun of it!
This employee-first approach has other important benefits beyond making money: Employees get their "productive highs" naturally rather than artificially, they go home happier and treat their friends and families better, which leads to a mentally-healthier society with less drug abuse, crime and mental illness. If you want to be part of the solution, and help create a better world, this short, Animated Video will explain how to do it.
The Business Benefits of The Horsepower System™ in a Language You Can Understand
Everybody on the executive team speaks a different professional language and brings their own perspective to the C-Suite. For example, the CFO speaks a different language and has different priorities compared to the COO.
Here is our attempt to explain the benefits of The Horsepower System™ and Primal Management, in nine professional "languages," so everybody can understand the benefits and commit to the process. Just scan through this document and select the corporate language most relevant to your position on the org chart.
Three-Phase Solution for Hardwiring Performance and Engagement
As mentioned above, the ideas expressed in Primal Management have been turned into a powerful software tool called The Horsepower System™.
A Horsepower™ implementation generally consists of three phases:
- Discovery Phase to assess current motivation,
- Tune-Up Phase to tune the engine to peak performance using the Horsepower™ software PLUS ancillary services like advising, coaching, auditing, and training, and
- Maintenance Phase to make sure the motivational engine stays tuned over the long haul.
If you are intrigued and want to learn more about the three-phases, download this Horsepower™ Process Outline. Then give us a call to make the magic happen in your organization (608-576-7616). |
Is your motivational engine misfiring?
Do your employees seem lethargic and unmotivated?
71% of employees are trapped in unrewarding jobs that stifle productivity (Gallup).
Looking for some clear thinking on the murky subject of human motivation?
Looking for an alternative to old-school impersonal management?
Try working with human nature rather than against it.
Design a high-performance workplace where everybody wins!
