Chanakya’s Commandment on Employee Motivation

Being a sage Chanakya used to dig into the complexities of human nature. And from his understanding of uniqueness in human character, Chanakya suggested the following 04 Commandments regarding employee motivation: a) Sama, b) Dama, c) Danda, and d) Bheda. 

Sama (Consultation) 

• Listen to your team.
• Have a clear understanding of your team’s story. 
• Team leader will get a whole picture if h/s listens to the information straight from the person(s) involved. 
• If the problem is complex enough, seek guidance from the expert. 

Dana (Reward)

• Employees work for Wages / Salaries first. And next thing is Honour. 
• Without these two kinds of encouragement, employees will not continue working in an organisation. 
• The reward could be in the form of incentives, paid vacations, bonuses, or promotions. i.e, financial reward. 
• Another reward may be awarding employee for their performance—‘best employee award’ or ‘most productive person award’ etc. i.e., non-financial reward. 

Danda (Punishment)

• There are some lethargic players in the team who never response to any sort of stimulus. This is very crucial for a team because, a sense of complacency may spread through the whole team, if they are not corrected. 
• Therefore, a rap of corrective action is required based upon the situation, such as— warning, suspension, a cut in salary, or even demotion. 

Bheda (Split)

• This is the final phase and it is largely discouraged. 
• When other methods prove abortive, it is the best to part ways for the benefit of both. 
• If it is in a large organisation, h/s can be transferred to another department where his performance is less important. 
• If is a smaller organisation or employee-productivity-oriented organisation, h/s must be asked to leave.  

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Courtesy of Radhakrishnan Pillai