7 Quick Tips About Building Work Motivation Among Your Employees
You have worked really hard to get where you are, and you should be congratulated for it. Dedication and a stalwart desire to achieve results have brought you the level of success you may be currently enjoying.
That being said, amidst the celebration, let’s not forget the people that have helped you along your journey – your employees. Employees work hard for you, so by looking into ways of motivating them to be even more successful, you’ll get better results for both yourself and themselves.
There are two types of business owners and managers in the world: those who really take the time to appreciate the people that work for them, and those who believe they got to the top by themselves. Don’t be that person. If you want to continue your upwards trend, you have to give credit where credit is due.
Recognize a Job Well Done
While a lot of people have made the argument that only Millennials crave attention, that is not the case. Giving credit to those who have done a good job creates a connection between employer and employee, which makes your employees feel appreciated and important, whilst confirming that they are doing their job effectively. Research demonstrates that employees who are appreciated work harder than employees who are not given appreciation.
Research has also shown that recognition can be as simple as a handwritten thank you note, or an email shout-out. Other employers do a monthly recognition, such as allowing employees to vote for team members who displayed a great work ethic or attitude during a particular month.
Another way is to have celebrations each month, or when your employees score a big sale or open new, big-ticket account. Your monthly award winners could get a small gift card, or a day off — anything you think might be a motivator.
Avoid stacking meetings
There is nothing that kills motivation more than stacking meetings that don’t have to happen, over and over. We now know that an average professional spends nearly four hours a week in meetings that aren’t productive.
Instead of sapping time & motivation, keep meetings short and on point. Moreover, don’t invite everyone in the company in a meeting that’s designed to tackle topics that concern only two or three people. Only invite those whose presence is necessary.
In addition to this, make sure to start and end meetings on time. If you’re going to start at 09:00 and end at 09:30, then keep to the schedule, don’t go overboard.
Set Clear Goals and Targets
Employees work more effectively when they understand how goal-setting works. This is where you come in, because you can work with your employees to help them set personal goals, as well as professional goals, for both themselves and their team. Goal setting should be a priority if you want to ensure that everyone is on the same page and know towards what they are working.
These goals can even be public, hung on a wall or somewhere in plain sight, so that everyone can celebrate when they’re reached.
However, once you’ve established those goals and targets, you need to give your employees a bit of room, and trust in their capacity to get the job done, efficiently and professionally. No one likes a hawkish manager, who is always there, watching every move they make. Help your employees set goals and allow them to figure out the best ways to reach them.
Lead with Vision
Not only do you have to make sure your employees have goals, but you also have to inspire a vision for them. Without it, you and your employees have no direction. Your company will be like a ship sailing without a purpose.
Leading with a vision gives you a starting point. If everyone understands it and is on board, then it is much easier to achieve the goals you’ve set.
Encourage Happiness
While this sounds like a no-brainer, not all company managers are on board with it, which is quite intriguing. If you think about it, happy employees keep a positive attitude at work, and encourage other employees to be happy as well. It’s a domino effect, so why wouldn’t managers pay attention to something that can potentially increase their performance tenfold?
Pay attention to your employees, to see whether or not they are happy. Sometimes, there may be very little you can do about that unhappiness, as it may not relate to their work, but about something going on at home. In that case, all you can do is offer your employees a sympathetic ear, or if you believe it might help, point them towards people that may provide support.
However, if they are disgruntled by something at work, you have the ability to fix that. Talk to that person and see what can be done to help them with their issues at work, so they don’t become everyone else’s unhappiness as well.
Provide Motivational Seminars
There are times in every manager or company owner’s life that they realize everyone needs to get out for a while, even if it is just out of the routine. People may have a good attitude about their job in general, but they might get burnt out due to a recent streak of repetitive tasks.
One thing you can do is have your company or your team take the day off, and hire motivational speakers to create energy and excitement. This gives your employees an opportunity to learn new ideas and strategies in a different setting. In addition, your employees may revel in the opportunity to get to know their co-workers on a more personal level.
You can try spurring motivation in other ways as well. Research has shown that when employees are able to escape their workspace for a little while, they are more creative, and their work passion intensifies.
If your company is based in the city, think about finding a rural retreat. If you are in the suburbs, you could choose to take your team to the city or the country. The point is, company days together or company retreats help everyone recharge their batteries and prepare for work.
Be sure that your retreat is not simply a relocation, where you still do or talk about work, but instead of the office, it’s a cabin. Plan some fun activities or hikes, something that will allow people to unwind.
Create an Awe-Inspiring Work Environment
Believe it or not, your work environment has a great deal to do with your creative process during the day. If you want your employees to be motivated and successful, you need to invest in making your work environment more motivational.
Research has shown that cubicles in office buildings, with artificial light and low ceilings, with dingy walls serve only to demotivate people. However, office spaces that are colourful and enjoy a collaborative atmosphere, with high ceilings and the option of letting in natural light make for an environment where people actually want to come to work, in high spirits and with lots of motivation.
Final thoughts
Every organization goes a certain way during their business life. Yours can either continue to climb higher, reaching its zenith or experience hitting the nadir, as they chose to ignore the signs of their would-be downfall.
It all depends on whether you choose to pay attention to your employees, and understand when you’re needed to fix a situation and when to let things settle on their own.
About the author:
Mila Jones is a Senior Business Consultant, with rich experience in the fields of technology consulting and strategy. She works with both established technology brands and market entrants, to offer research inputs and insights on leveraging technology as a source of strategic competitive advantage. She is a prolific author and shares her expertise with tech enthusiasts on popular digital publishing platforms.
Twitter: miilajones
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Tags: business success, Employee Motivation, Employee Performance, target setting, Vision
