Employee motivation is the key to unlocking their true potential. Motivated employees are likelier to go above and beyond, take on challenges head-on, and consistently deliver quality work.
Conversely, unmotivated employees tend to do just enough to get by, negatively impacting your business’s growth and success.
That’s why it’s so important to show your employees that you appreciate their work. Not only will it improve their morale, but it will also increase productivity across the board. And this isn’t the only reason you should appreciate and motivate your employees; regular appreciation and motivation will also improve employee retention.
When your team feels valued, they’ll be much more likely to stick around. In return, your business will benefit from a stronger, more experienced team of workers.
With that said, let’s review a few major ways you can start appreciating and motivating your employees.
Set Weekly Achievable Goals
There’s nothing more motivating than watching progress unfold right before your eyes. That’s why setting weekly or monthly achievable goals for your employees can boost their drive.
Have a quick chat at the start of each month/week to get everyone on the same page about what needs to be done over the next five or twenty working days. Keep the goals realistic yet challenging.
When employees can physically check things off their to-do list, it instills an incredibly motivating sense of accomplishment. And who knows, these same employees could leverage their newfound motivation to triple your organization’s productivity levels. It’s a win-win!
Make Them Part of Important Decisions
Employees want to feel like valued members of a team, not just mindless drones carrying out orders. One of the best ways to achieve this is by involving them in critical decision-making processes that will impact their work.
Before implementing a new policy, drafting a social media strategy, or changing a process, ask your employees for their thoughts and input. Let them know you’re counting on their experience and expertise to make the right decisions. After all, they’re the ones who will be most affected by these decisions daily.
When they contribute ideas, you don’t have to implement everything, but they’ll think you did, making your team feel more invested in their work (and less combative with any new policy you’re enacting).
Respect Work-Life Balance
Pushing your employees to take on too much will only lead to burnout, decreased productivity, and resentment toward their jobs. No manager wants that!
Discuss each employee’s ideal workload and respect their boundaries. If an employee has mentioned struggles balancing work and personal life, tweak their schedule or responsibilities to alleviate some of that pressure. A happy, well-rested team will always outperform an overworked, frazzled one.
When your employees can enjoy hobbies, spend quality time with their pets and loved ones, and engage in self-care, they’ll return to the office feeling recharged and motivated. It’s a simple step that pays dividends in the long run!
Make Communication Easy
Clear, open communication is vital for keeping your team motivated and on-task. So, set up an open line of communication where employees feel comfortable providing feedback, voicing concerns, and asking questions. Ensure managers have an “open door” policy that allows employees to schedule check-ins easily.
You can also implement a digital suggestion box where anyone can submit ideas or improvements anonymously.
Provide Incentives and Rewards
Who doesn’t love being rewarded for a job well done? Incentivize your employees by providing tangible rewards for achieving specific metrics and goals or exemplifying company values. Even small, inexpensive rewards like gift cards or an extra day off go a long way toward making your team feel appreciated.
For more significant achievements, feel free to get more creative with the rewards. For example, employees who drove record-breaking sales numbers could be given customized awards honoring their accomplishments. Or you could throw a team lunch for a department that collectively crushed its quarterly numbers.
Incentives and rewards are a simple yet powerful way to boost motivation and show employees that you genuinely care about and appreciate their hard work. So, please don’t joke with it!
Encourage Creativity
Even if you don’t work in a traditionally “creative” field like design or writing, it’s still important to encourage creativity among your employees. Why? Because creativity is what breeds innovation, which is how companies remain competitive in their industry.
So, foster an environment where new ideas are celebrated rather than shot down. Never respond with “We’ve always done it this way” when an employee suggests something novel.
Instead, be open-minded and hear them out. You never know when a weird idea could completely change the game and set you apart from the competition.
To motivate employees to continue flexing their creative muscles, you could also host monthly brainstorming sessions, start an employee suggestion box program, or even just set aside time for “creative breaks” where people can reset their minds.
Give Them Room to Grow
Ambitious employees crave the opportunity to grow, develop new skills, and climb the ladder. If you aren’t providing that path, you can be sure they’ll look for it elsewhere and take their talents with them when they go.
Invest in your employees by providing clear paths for growth within the company. This can mean covering continuing education opportunities, implementing job shadowing programs, or even just ensuring managers frequently check in on individual goals. Hold quarterly review sessions and work with employees to map out their ideal trajectory.
When people feel supported in their growth and can visualize a fruitful career journey at your company, that’s highly motivating. But unfortunately, many managers fail to take this part of motivating their employees seriously, and that’s why they keep losing talent.
Wrapping Up
Leveraging these strategies will prove fruitful for you as a manager. Eventually, your organization’s productivity levels and revenue will shoot through the roof. So, good luck with your implementation process!
