Motivation plays a prominent role in the overall functionality of your business. If you fail to keep employees inspired and engaged your operation could suffer. Going to extra mile to ensure your workers remain happy will do wonders for productivity, which will have a direct impact on your profit margins.
If you’re struggling to motivate your employees these five tips may help you out.
Set Realistic Goals
Setting unrealistic goals can be counter-productive. While goals should be challenging, they should also be attainable. When a target is too high your staff will doubt their abilities and start to feel stressed. In addition, when you’re setting goals stick to them until the end. Changing direction is not only confusing and frustrating for employees, but will make their work to-date seem undervalued. If you are going to set goals make sure you have an action plan in place. Asking a salesman to simply “sell more” without any direction won’t suffice.
Optimise Communication Among Disengaged Workers
Communication is one of the most overlooked elements of running a business and employees that work outside of the office often feel neglected. Opening up more communication opportunities could help them feel like a part of the team, rather than just a cog in the machine. Creative communications agency
Berghind Joseph
recommends starting a private social networking group to encourage cross-communication among in-house and disengaged workers. Over 80% of employees use smart phones and tablets for work-related activities, which will work in your favour and allow the majority of your out-of-office staff to remain constantly in the loop.
Compliment Hard Work
Money isn’t the only motivator in the workplace. In fact most employees will deliver the same quality of work regardless of their wage. Studies have proven that appreciation contributes more towards job satisfaction than financial gain, so don’t let hard work go unnoticed. Take a few minutes out of your daily schedule to let your workers know that they’re doing a good job. In addition, consider offering some kind of reward as an incentive. Even something small such as a gift voucher for the ‘worker of the month’ or buying your team lunch one afternoon could do wonders for motivation.
Be a Trustworthy Leader
As a leader you should be looking out for your team’s best interests. If you manage to win the trust of your employees they’ll be more motivated to reach your goals. Glen Llopis of
Forbes Magazine
recommends including workers in senior management meetings to show them what could lie ahead on the promotional ladder, and that you appreciate their thoughts and opinions. You should also always be blunt about your performance expectations and provide direct feedback. Fundamentally, even if there is a hierarchy chain in your workplace, never treat your staff like subordinates.
Trust Your Employees
There’s a reason why so many corporations – such as Microsoft and Virgin – encourage their employees to work remotely. Being a little more relaxed with your company’s working policies shows that you trust your staff. Workers often feel stressed about having a manager looking over their shoulder all day and will work harder when they’re judged by the quality of their output, rather than the quantity. If remote working isn’t a possibility, encourage your employees to take regular breaks to relax and recuperate.
Take these tips on board and start restructuring your operation with motivation at the forefront of your mind. Monitor the results and you’ll almost certainly see positive changes. It’s surprising how much further a little trust and appreciation could take your business.
