Motivation is the cornerstone of employee productivity, satisfaction, and retention. Companies with better employee engagement and motivation have 21 percent higher profitability than their counterparts with a less engaged and unmotivated workforce. Employers must implement the right strategies for motivating employees or otherwise lose business to competitors. Read on to discover 5 simple ways to motivate employees and keep them engaged.
1. Set Attainable Goals and Celebrate Success
It’s human nature to feel powerful when we accomplish a goal or overcome a challenge. So, employees will perform well if they’re given a challenge. If they handle the same mundane tasks at work every day with no clear goal, they are likely to become unmotivated and less engaged. Setting attainable goals for your workers enables them to focus their energy and time towards something real and will also provide you as an employer with something to gauge their performance against.
If workers aren’t accomplishing goals, you’ll find ways to help them improve their performance and let go of those who aren’t ready to put in some work. Develop a habit of celebrating or recognizing your workers when they deliver great performance and achieve a goal. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to celebrate or recognize the achievements of your workers. Instead, simple acts like internal email acknowledging the accomplishment or a group lunch will help workers stay motivated and ready for the next goals.
2. Create a Culture that Inspires Employees Every Day
Building a culture that supports all workers and encourages them to do their best every day is a surefire way to always keep employees motivated and focused. Around 88 percent of job seekers put culture into consideration during the job hunt, and the culture of a company is an important aspect of employee satisfaction. Managers are aware that good culture results in better employee performance throughout the entire organization. In fact, 86 percent of managers have experience of how culture impacts productivity.
Take a few steps to develop a culture that inspires your workforce. To get started, identify characters and values that will define your culture and that your team members will uphold, and then get the support of your leadership in developing that culture. Get all the leaders to concentrate on the culture by not just implementing but also actively taking part in cultural initiatives. That way, your team members will find meaning in the values and vision of your business.
3. Gather and Act on Employee Feedback
Employees bring out their best at work when they feel heard and respected. In fact,90 percent of employees say they’ll keep working in a company that pays attention and responds to feedback. Gathering feedback regularly provides workers with an opportunity to express their viewpoints and feelings. Conduct employee pulse surveys to determine how your workers are feeling and find out how your motivational efforts are doing. Ensure there is always a high level of confidentiality when collecting feedback.
Don’t just stop at gathering employee feedback. Instead, go a step ahead and take visible steps to address it. At the end of your survey, take your time to evaluate and interpret the results thoroughly. Look at the response rate, analyze the data and comments, and present the findings to other leaders and managers. When team members realize that their feedback influences major business decisions, they’ll understand that their opinions are valued and they’ll keep on offering honest, useful feedback.
4. Focus on Your Employees’ Happiness
A 2015 study established that happier employees are more productive than their unhappy counterparts. Ensuring your workers are always happy will motivate them to deliver their peak performance. Take a few steps to improve the happiness of your workforce. You can start by easing their workload and offering them a flexible work schedule that allows them to have a sustainable work-life balance.
Build a positive relationship with each team member. Let your employees know that they can always approach you whenever they’ve issues that are bothering them. And that’ll be possible if you maintain open communication.
5. Foster Collaboration
Seamless collaboration results in more motivated and engaged workers and improved performance. In fact, companies that promote collaboration at work have five times higher odds of realizing better performance. When staff members cooperate and collaborate, they develop connections that act as the basis for a positive culture.
Their collective efforts help achieve business goals faster and deliver positive results consistently. One effective way to promote collaboration at work is by establishing a collaborative space. This collaborative space can be in the form of a conference room reserved for collaboration or an online platform where teams can meet to brainstorm, share ideas, and perform tasks that require a joint effort. Ensure team members have all the relevant tools they need to instantly unzip files and share them in the collaborative space.
Employee motivation plays an instrumental role in the productivity and success of any business. So, you need to implement the right strategies to keep your team members motivated. The above 5 strategies will help you get started.
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