As a manager you are responsible for motivation of yourself and your employees.
In previous blog posts we have looked at the general topic of motivation what it is, how to get it plus motivation and enjoyment. This post looks at how a manager or senior person can motivate employees.
There is no doubt that a motivated workforce is productive. Whether you are a company that is customer facing, high tech manufacturing or service sector, the value of a motivated workforce is not in doubt.
A survey, The 7 Key Trends Impacting Today’s Workplace, was conducted by the employee engagement firm TINYpulse, and involved over 200,000 employees in more than 500 organizations.
The survey asked “What motivates you to excel and go the extra mile at your organization?”
Employees could choose from 10 answers and picked the following:
- Camaraderie, peer motivation (20%)
- Intrinsic desire to a good job (17%)
- Feeling encouraged and recognized (13%)
- Having a real impact (10%)
- Growing professionally (8%)
- Meeting client/customer needs (8%)
- Money and benefits (7%)
- Positive supervisor/senior management (4%)
- Believe in the company/product (4%)
- Other (9%)
Interestingly, money is well down the list. As long as people are reasonably well paid to begin with (so they can pay for their lifestyle), money is well down the list of priorities.
Here are 10 suggestions that can help to motivate your staff to go the extra mile.
1. Make your business a pleasant place to be.
Having an aesthetically pleasing, well-lit, functional and fun space makes work a lot more pleasant. The first step is to make sure things are well-kept and that you have updated, working equipment. This extends to computer systems, software and website.
2. Be a respectful and supportive manager
Things like respect, honesty, support and clear communication are the foundations here. Your staff are critical to the success of your organization and they must receive the support and respect of your manager. Bad management is one of the top reasons employees do not perform or leave.
3. Offer employee rewards
if you want to keep your good people and keep them motivated, then a reward scheme can work well. Examples include profit-sharing, bonus schemes based on performance or prizes for good ideas.
4. Give them room to grow
Giving your employees room to grow within the company is a huge motivator. More money can work, but there’s also the important factor of feeling like they’re trusted and respected for their work. This can involve proper delegation and trust in new tasks, extra responsibility and development opportunities.
5. Share positive feedback
Satisfaction in your work can come from a variety of places but doing a good job and having senior management notice is always a major motivator. If your customers express appreciation for these things, be sure to share that feedback with your employees.
6. Be transparent
Knowing how business is going makes your employees more invested. So make a point to share this data with them on a regular basis. This treats everyone like adults and makes them aware of the real state of the business.
7. Offer flexible scheduling
Sometimes employees need to deal with family or domestic emergencies. Offering work-from-home opportunities or flexi time, makes the work life balance more tolerable and motivates employees. Technology make this possible.
8. Offer free drinks or food
A survey by Seamless found that 57% of employees say food-based perks would make them feel more valued and appreciated. This can include free tea and coffee plus fresh fruit and even cake!
9. Recognise their achievements.
Employees want recognition for a job well done. If an employee has been putting in a lot of time working on a project, or they went out of their way to help out a colleague, do not hesitate to praise them.
If people feel that their efforts are appreciated, they will feel compelled to continue working hard.
10. Ask them what they want.
Instead of trying to guess, sitting down with staff and finding out what they want and where they want improvements is motivating.
Consulting staff in areas where they have expertise is useful both for business planning and motivation.
Keyturn provides training in the areas of personal development and motivation. See Keyturn’s Personal Development programme for more information and Leadership and management training programmes.