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Fear oh no! Kindness and being relatable and approachable speaks volumes. If you tried to put fear on me I would simply leave
I go into great detail about policies, expectations, and consequences on Day 2 of employment. I also provide copies of the policies and corrective action plan at that time and have them sign a form that I have provided copies of each item review and that we reviewed them that day. They sign and I sign and this goes into their file. Following that I find that the clear expectations deter them from testing the limits and then when I have to discuss an issue with them the conversion is much smoother. I don't have to manage with fear at this time because when I discuss an issue or policy violation, I refer back to what we discussed and remind them that we talked about this before and they cannot act surprised or upset because the facts have been set before them with their signature stating they understood at the time of review.
No, the only motivation fear brings, is the motivation to leave your organization and find a new one. Value your people, treat them like they are important to the team and mean something. You will cultivate trust and loyalty. The loyalty will motivate them to get the job done.
Not a fan of fear-based motivation and the negative impact it has on your employee's mental health.
I agree. I can’t motivate my team. A paycheck isn’t enough these days.
Not everyone needs that kind of motivation, I have a few coworkers that need a wake up call.
I disagree with this tactic. I feel it leads to stress and can demoralize staff. As a manager, our job is to support and build up staff, not tear them down. The morale is tough enough in this economy, why add more worries to their lives?
I have laid out consequences for continued poor performance; ie, do your job or you won’t have one. However, it was done with a lot of empathy and a laid out plan for rehabilitation.
The person was certainly afraid; however, there was a lot of support so they weren’t alone in that difficult space. I was rooting for them to do better (and they did). The type of “instill a little fear” that I read into this post is the kind were the person is alone in it. That kind of experience is isolating and demoralizing. It reduces productivity, fuels gossip, and creates a horrible work culture. No thank you.
The plan was for several weeks, I had HRs blessing to terminate immediately and didn’t, and we made a plan together. Yeah, I had paperwork to complete that I didn’t feel they need to sit through while I filled in our notes. I’m sorry you experienced something that has made you read genuine empathy and teamwork as disingenuous.
You just validated my thoughts on executive level positions. They seem to have a fear driven approach. I don’t understand it. You will never build trust and loyalty. This creates a negative work environment and employees will either turn against each other or leave.
100 percent. It's fear mixed with power. Not a great combination.
I don’t think so. And often times, if you are bluffing they can see right through it. I think it is much better to be transparent. Set attainable goals and hold employees accountable.
I would say put yourself in their shoes. Would you like to live in an environment of fear? Constantly scared that you may lose your job If you don't perform accordingly? Lead by serving, guiding, training, and when necessary...discipline...with compassion.
Nice try officer. If you think fear is a good motivator, I'd hate to work for you.
I'm not sure "fear" is a useful motivator. It might get a few people hopping, but it will drive others into immobility. What happened to people doing a job for the satisfaction of seeing that job completed with a good outcome? What about jobs like farming? Farmers don't get paid every 2 weeks or even every month. They have to do the complete job in order to see any money coming in. It's not until after the harvest or until they've raised their livestock to the point where they're ready for sale. Real estate agents. There must be countless other jobs that don't get "rewarded" with money until after they're completed. Would "fear" do them any good?
I would not want to work for a company that instills fear. In fact, instilling fear contributes significantly to employee burnout. I would rather instill purpose and meaningful contributions than fear in my employees. Every single position should contribute to the success of the organization. It is executive leaderships responsibility to set the goals and define what success looks like. It is also their responsibility to help directors/managers understand how their teams contribute to the success of the organization. If you get people's buy in that they are key to the success of the organization you will see far better results than if you are fear mongering and people are afraid to make mistakes or not meet the mark. You may get compliance but not full engagement.
Empowering only goes so far for employees who don’t know how to be empowered. I believe in being firm and blunt if empowering fails. Instilling fear only demoralizes, and it can never be undone. (Management is fun, they said….)
I hold them accountable for sure. Not fear more so because the are "adults". I have a way where they know I mean business... but I can also Kiki with you. I feel as an AA woman I have to do a lot of over compensating because I can get labeled for some many things. Just try to have that balance. It does get tiring sometimes. But hey... this is the world we live in.
Thats a double-edge sword of motivating with fear. It can get the job done, but then the staff won't trust you and will end up leaving the organization. On the other hand, imo, the staff run all over you if you don't discipline and think they run the organization. There has to be a healthy balance. If they aren't getting the job done then disciplinary action is a must and that sometimes is enough to get them back on track. The expectations must be explained to the staff and if they aren't meeting them then it's disciplinary time.
Not fear. But nothing wrong with a little reverse psychology. Whatever it is that you want done, convince them that it benefits them in some way shape or form. If you can do that, they'll be self motivated.
No, and it’s not necessary when you do the hard things when it’s time to do them. I.e fire bad employees when it’s appropriate, hold people accountable when it’s appropriate. Say no when it’s appropriate. The standard and expectation set will drive the team. There should be respect/understanding of the expectations and standards to the degree that the employees know it’s just your job to uphold them. Failure to uphold standards universally will doom the leader.
I don't think that serves any useful purpose. If you want the best result, treat them like they are grown, intelligent adults. Instilling them with fear would make it hard for them to concentrate on work (at least, that's what it would do to me) and make me start questioning whether I'm doing the work correctly or not. I think I would find myself leaving that job pretty quickly.
If you don't mind my asking, how do you instill the fear? Genuinely curious, thanks in advance!
Sincerely,
Another tired healthcare professional