Over the past few years, buzzwords like “employee experience” and “employee engagement” have become mainstream. Often written into corporate core values and mission statements, organizations are even hiring for positions with titles like “Director of Employee Experience.” Therefore, before we address the topic of motivating employees to encourage them to do their best work consistently, we must consider employee experience as the foundation so they feel connected to the company and have a passion for their work.
Why does employee motivation matter? Simply put, it goes hand-in-hand with productivity and the success of your business. As a business owner or manager, learning how to motivate staff should be a consistent part of your job. And because employees are motivated by different things, it’s critical to have a clear understanding of what motivation tactic will drive each person on your team.
Let’s take a look at five simple ways to motivate employees—for the overall success of your business, and to encourage your staff in their careers.
Ask Your Employees What Motivates Them
If you want to learn the best ways to motivate your employees, the simplest thing you can do is talk with them, learn about them, and see what inspires them to do well in their jobs. From there, keep the conversations going, check in with them consistently to ensure they remain satisfied in their position, productive with their work, and happy to be on your team.
Keeping an open communication with your employees about how they’re feeling and how their jobs are going is one of the most important things you can do to ensure your staff feels appreciated.
Offer Flexibility in Employees’ Work Schedules
One of the biggest things to come out of the Coronavirus pandemic was a monumental shift to working from home, gig work, flexible schedules, work from home days, ability to bring pets to work, supporting work-life balances, different start and end times, etc. Turns out, this shift was overwhelmingly popular with the work crowd, and proved to be very productive, successful, and cost-cutting for many an organization.
With that in mind, a great way to motivate employees is to give them options for flexible work (if this is a possibility within your company). When implementing these policies, track the successes and failures so you can adjust them along the way.
Promote Employee Training and Development
The motivational aspect about employee training and development is that it fuels career growth for your employees. And who doesn’t love that? Encouraging your staff to pursue learning opportunities that will increase their skills and further their career advancement is a smart way to motivate your employees as it will also prove to be successful for your company. Now that’s a win-win!
If you have several team members who want to do the same training and development, consider hosting lunch and learn educational sessions with guest speakers, webinars, etc.
Reward Employee Creativity
Encourage your employees to put their innovation caps on and come up with new ideas for the team and/or company. Letting your staff know you value their work and also their opinions is an excellent way to motivate your employees. Take it a step further by inspiring them to take on new responsibilities and projects - both on the team and across the company (if this works within your organization).
By showing your staff members you trust them and want them to try new things that will build their skills and experience, you’ll motivate them to perform at a higher level.
Say No with Grace
Motivating your employees is not always going to be a win-win situation. There are going to be many times when you have to say no to someone on your staff. Whether they’re asking for a raise, a day off, or for your approval on a project that isn’t a good fit for your team, it’s critical that you don’t embarrass or alienate your employee when you tell them, “no.” Kindness and an explanation go a long way.
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