Employee motivation is a powerful drive that can spur a company to excellence by instilling harmony within the workplace. An organization is more likely to reap maximum benefits from its personnel if they are inspired enough.
In fact, according to a Gallup study, motivated workers are 87% less likely to quit. A happy workforce strives to achieve its goals and creates a healthy workplace environment, paving the way for better productivity.
Therefore, as an employer, you must motivate your workers if you wish to enjoy a loyal, happy, and hardworking workforce. The following eight tips will help you build an environment with industrious employees in high gear.
Celebrate Milestones
Every professional journey is unique and full of highs and lows. Taking pride in your personnel’s achievements motivates them to look forward to the future, hoping they can achieve even more. For instance, celebrating milestones such as promotions, onboarding, and anniversaries is a huge morale booster. This is because your workers feel valued and appreciated and will likely be pumped up to be part of your organization’s future.
Additionally, celebrating life experiences such as birthdays, parenthood, and marriages creates unforgettable moments that can generate a sense of belonging and loyalty. Before you know it, your workforce evolves into an industrious family.
If you want to wish someone a happy birthday or, let’s say, pay them a visit, you can use Nuwber, a people search website with plenty of information about other people. It provides access to people’s dates of birth, addresses, interests, and much more.
Clarify and Communicate
“Communication is your ticket to success if you pay attention and learn to do it effectively.” – Theo Gold.
Studies show that a lack of clear communication on roles and expectations contributes greatly to staff dissatisfaction and high turnover rates. Therefore, explain what is required of individuals straight from the onboarding process. This will serve as a guiding beacon, as they can align their targets to the organizational objectives, motivating them further.
Additionally, pay attention to your staff and provide feedback. It is always motivating for staff to know they have a leader who empathizes with and recognizes them. Generally, clarity in communication will strengthen your relationship with the team and provide a sense of direction.
Reward and Award
It is a longstanding work tradition to set goals to clarify expectations for each employee. Often, they are judged by how likely they are to achieve organizational goals. Therefore, it can only be fair to recognize individual and team efforts through performance incentives. For instance, here are some great reward and award ideas you could implement at your workplace:
- Bonuses
- Promotions
- Gift cards
- Lunches or dinners
- Best Department, Top Performer, etc. of the month/year awards
- Public recognition
Rewarding and awarding according to performance encourages teamwork and boosts productivity. Additionally, you are more likely to retain your top talent, which might achieve better performances.
Train and Educate
Growth in the organization is inevitable, and the same applies to your employee’s life. In fact, a company’s lack of assurance of expansion continues to scare away modern job seekers. Lack of progress would mean stagnation, demotivation, dissatisfaction, and risk of burnout. Consequently, you risk harboring an underperforming workforce lacking in-demand skills to handle modern-day challenges.
To keep your staff fired up, conduct upskilling programs and allow them to grow, then offer promotions or bonuses regularly. Hire training and development specialists to help with this process and even make room for those who want to pursue further studies part-time.
Allocate Resource Fairly
While your organization may be targeting profit and striving for efficiency, there is a need to ensure that your staff is not overworked or underpaid, which is a recipe for demotivation. Therefore, optimize your recruitment to ensure you have enough personnel to reduce unfair workloads and shifts. Moreover, strive to help your staff maintain a good work-life balance through favorable schedules.
Good resource management will help lift the unnecessary weight from your workforce, allowing them to concentrate on their roles and aim for high performance.
Stimulate Workplace Camaraderie
Working with individuals who respect each other and leave it at that is good, but nothing beats a balance of friendship and work relationships. This cohesion builds a positive workplace environment and culture that makes it easier for individuals to perform.
Furthermore, with genuine trust, honesty, and support, workplace camaraderie makes it fun to go to work. Imagine waking up every morning excited about meeting up with your friends at work.
Some strategies to encourage workplace coexistence include organizing social events and projects requiring teamwork. Also, it is important to hire wisely, considering a job seeker’s emotional intelligence and personality.
Showcase Exemplary Leadership
To attract motivated and hard-working employees, you must be ready to lead the way. For instance, the best way to encourage teamwork is to engage in chit-chats with your staff. Also, be more approachable and contribute towards team targets without using your power to intimidate your junior staff.
Additionally, among other important soft skills, learn the art of emotional intelligence to empathize with your team whenever necessary. Most importantly, demonstrate a genuine interest in what your employees do outside the office to supplement their income. Attend their workshops, support their side hassles, and show interest in their ideas.
Make Decisions Together
Making your team part of the decision-making process compels them to own the vision and ensure success since their reputation is also on the line. In this setup, employees are also well-informed about what is expected of them, including their specific organizational roles.
Listening to their insight and grievances makes it easy to develop favorable systems and a positive work environment.
Conclusion
Elite global businesses are known to have close to zero employee turnover rates but top productivity rates. This is in large measure due to the level of motivation of their staff.
To achieve such outcomes, you must develop strategies to secure your employees’ trust and loyalty. The above examples are perfect ways to build a positive work environment and culture that can lead to excellence.
