Motivating employees is the key to a successful business. When your team members feel like they matter, are involved, and are inspired, they do their best work, come up with new ideas, and help your business grow. However, leaders need to put in the work and think strategically to keep motivation levels high.
It’s not about quick fixes or solutions that work for everyone to make your employees more motivated. It’s about knowing what makes people tick and making a place where those things can thrive. These seven tips will help you create a culture of motivation that is good for both your employees and your business.
1. Acknowledge and Celebrate Successes
Recognition is one of the best ways to get people to work harder, but it’s not used enough. People naturally want to feel valued for what they do, and when this need is met, it leads to a cycle of engagement and performance that is good for everyone.
Recognition that works goes beyond the yearly performance review. It should be timely, clear, and important. When an employee finishes a hard project, thank them right away for their work. When someone goes above and beyond to help a coworker, make sure to praise them in public. Think about using both formal and informal ways to show appreciation. This could mean giving out employee of the month awards, throwing team parties, writing personalized thank-you notes, or just taking time during meetings to talk about recent successes.
The most important things are being real and consistent. Recognition that seems forced or generic won’t have much of an effect. Instead, pay attention to specific actions and results that are in line with your company’s values and goals.
2. Make it clear how to move up in your career
People are more likely to put their time and effort into your company if they see a future for themselves there. Promotions aren’t the only part of career development. It’s also about helping people learn new things, improve their skills, and take on new challenges that are in line with their interests and goals.
Talk to your team members about their career goals and interests on a regular basis. Some people may want to become managers, while others may want to learn more about their field. Make personalized development plans that spell out the exact steps, tools, and deadlines needed to reach these goals.
Give people access to online learning platforms, training programs, workshops, and conferences. Encourage people from different departments to work together and offer job shadowing opportunities. Think about starting mentorship programs that match experienced workers with people who want to learn more. When you can, give employees stretch assignments that let them take on new tasks and learn new skills.
3. Encourage clear and open communication
Communication that is honest and consistent builds trust, which is the basis of motivation. Employees are more likely to feel connected to the company’s mission and want it to succeed when they know about decisions, changes, and plans for the future.
Make it possible for communication to flow in all directions by giving people more than one way to do so. Regular team meetings, one-on-one sessions, updates for the whole company, and open office hours with leaders are all very important. Be open about the organization’s successes and problems. When workers know how their work fits into the bigger picture, they can better see how important their work is.
Giving employees a chance to share their thoughts, concerns, and ideas is just as important. Set up suggestion boxes, do surveys on a regular basis, and ask for feedback during meetings. When employees give you feedback, respond right away and, if you can, act on it. Even if you can’t follow every suggestion, explaining why you can’t shows that you value their opinion and keeps trust.
4. Give employees the option to work from home
Flexibility is becoming more and more important to today’s workers, and companies that embrace this trend often see big gains in employee motivation and retention. Flexibility shows that you trust your employees and that good work can happen at any time and in any place.
Flexible arrangements could mean working from home, having different start and end times, working fewer days in a week, or a mix of all three. The most important thing is to find arrangements that work for both the employee and the business. Some jobs may require you to be there in person more often than others, but you can do others just as well from anywhere with an internet connection.
When putting flexible policies into place, look at the results instead of the hours worked. Make it clear what you expect from your employees in terms of deliverables and deadlines. Then let them decide how to best use their time and space to be productive and healthy. Regular check-ins can help make sure that being flexible doesn’t hurt teamwork or performance.
5. Give people chances to be independent and take charge
Micromanagement takes away people’s motivation. People are less likely to take initiative, think outside the box, or care about the results of their work when they feel like they are being watched and told what to do all the time. Instead, work on giving people chances to be independent and take charge.
Set clear goals and expectations first, then step back and let your employees figure out how to reach them. Give each team member or small group responsibility for a certain project, initiative, or process. This ownership should include the power to make choices and the responsibility for the outcomes.
Instead of just doing their jobs, encourage employees to find problems and come up with solutions. When they bring you problems, ask them what they think should be done before you give them your own ideas. This method helps them improve their ability to solve problems while also showing that you trust their judgment.
Encourage people to take calculated risks and learn from their mistakes. Employees are more likely to come up with new ideas and push the limits when they know they won’t be punished for trying something new that doesn’t work.
6. Put money into a good place to work
The physical and cultural environment where people work has a big effect on their health and motivation. A good work environment includes everything from the physical space where people work to the way team members get along with each other.
Make sure the basics are in place: good lighting, comfortable temperatures, furniture that is easy to use, and the right technology. But that’s not all. Think about how the space can help people work together, be creative, and stay focused. This could mean making quiet areas for focused work, spaces for teamwork, and informal areas where people can relax and get to know each other.
The cultural environment is just as important. Encourage a culture of respect, inclusion, and psychological safety where people feel free to share their thoughts, ask questions, and own up to their mistakes. Deal with problems quickly and fairly. Team-building activities, lunch-and-learns, or volunteer opportunities are all great ways to get people to connect with each other.
The way leaders act sets the tone for the whole company. Show the attitudes and behaviors you want to see, like being enthusiastic, honest, curious, or strong.
7. Make sure that pay and benefits are fair
Money isn’t the only thing that drives people, but fair pay is still very important for keeping employees motivated. When people know their financial needs are being met and their pay reflects how valuable they are to the company, they can focus on higher-level motivators like growth, purpose, and success.
To stay competitive, check your pay against industry standards on a regular basis. Think about the whole compensation package, which includes things like health insurance, retirement contributions, paid time off, and other benefits that your employees care about. People value different benefits, so giving them options when you can can make them seem more valuable.
Be open about how decisions about pay are made. Employees can better understand what they need to do to make more money if there are clear rules for raises and bonuses. If you can’t give someone a raise right away because of budget constraints, think about giving them non-monetary benefits like more vacation days, chances to learn new skills, or flexible hours.
Creating motivation that lasts
Leadership needs to be committed and consistent in order to use these seven strategies. You can’t just deal with motivation once and forget about it. You need to keep an eye on it and make changes as your team and organization change.
First, take a look at where you are now. Ask your employees what drives them and where they think things could be better. Use this feedback to decide which strategies to use first. Keep in mind that what motivates one person may not motivate another, so a multi-faceted approach is usually best.
Use regular employee engagement surveys, retention rates, productivity metrics, and informal feedback to keep track of how things are going. Be ready to change how you do things based on what you learn. Things that work for one team or at one time may not work as well when things change.
Investing in motivating your employees will pay off in the form of higher productivity, lower turnover, more creative ideas, and happier customers. Most importantly, you’ll make a place where people really want to do their best work, which will lead to success that helps everyone.
