10 Simple Motivation
Techniques for Employees
Is employee motivation taking a hit around the office lately? Motivated employees get work done faster, produce quality work, and may help create better ideas for your business.
Using motivation techniques for employees can help increase those behaviors. As a manager or business owner, you have the power to create an encouraging environment for your staff. Simple techniques keep your employees engaged and push them to perform at their best.
Create a Positive Work Culture
Work culture impacts your employees’ job satisfaction. In fact, 38% of workers say that a negative culture would make them quit.
Corporate culture includes the values and behaviors that create the overall environment at the office. Look at your current corporate culture to see if it needs improvement.
Coming to work in a positive place where everyone feels accepted helps motivate employees to work hard. Create an environment where your employees feel welcome, safe, and like a valuable part of the team.
Give Employees Control
You can’t let all employees do whatever they want, but you can give your staff ownership over their duties to keep them motivated. That ownership shows a certain amount of trust and respect for each person’s contributions and skills. It’s demoralizing to constantly have someone look over your shoulder or tell you you’re doing something incorrectly.
Encourage creativity and ingenuity in how you do things around the office. Your employees have different experiences and perspectives that may inspire new ways of completing work tasks. That fresh view may increase efficiency or improve the quality of your products or services.
Create an atmosphere that values employee suggestions. Employees are 4.6 times more likely to perform at their best when they feel they’re being heard at work. Listen to the ideas your employees propose without passing them off as bad ideas, even if you ultimately don’t use them.
Provide Advancement Opportunities
If your employees have nowhere to go, they won’t likely feel motivated to give extra effort. Not everyone can advance to a managerial position, and career steps may take more time for some employees than for others. But the possibility of new opportunities keeps employees moving forward.
Work with your team members to create a career plan or find out how they see their careers progressing. It could be as simple as adding a new responsibility to an employee’s current position or considering them first for new positions you add to the team.
Training and continuing education opportunities can also motivate employees even if a promotion isn’t in the near future. It shows you’re investing in their growth, and it positions them to advance when your company has those opportunities available.
Acknowledge Achievements
Employees don’t need a pat on the back for every little thing, but acknowledging hard work and achievements can motivate employees to keep trying. Without that recognition, they may feel like you don’t care and don’t see what they’re doing to help your business.
Consider each employee’s preferences when handing out praise. Some people enjoy getting recognition in front of the entire team while others prefer one-on-one recognition through a personal email or in person.
Provide Incentives
Along with acknowledging hard work, consider giving incentives as a reward. These can be simple things that don’t cost you much money. Some ideas include extra time off of work, a casual dress day, or special parking spots.
Gamify Work
The idea of gamification at work plays on friendly competition that happens in video games. You can customize the competition to reward employees for achieving certain milestones, such as reaching a certain sales goal, completing a set number of outbound calls, or answering a record number of help desk tickets.
Corporate coins based on military challenge coins fit into the gamification idea well because they’re similar to coins you might collect in a game. Award coins for achieving different levels within your gamification plan. Check out more info about challenge coins to see if it fits into your company challenge.
Offer Flexibility
Flexible scheduling and work locations help employees achieve work-life balance. Being able to come in early or start a shift late lets employees work when it best fits their schedule or preferences. Some jobs require set shifts, but more flexible positions may align with flexible scheduling within reason.
If your workload allows, consider letting employees choose a four-day shift working 10 hours per day instead of the traditional five eight-hour shifts. The shorter workweek may encourage your employees to get more done in four days so they can enjoy the long weekend.
Likewise, some work requires employees to be on-site. Others may be compatible with telecommuting or working from a local coffee shop. The change of scenery can support creativity, and it allows employees to find a workspace that makes them most productive.
Lead by Example
Your actions set the tone for all employees in your company. If you’re constantly passing the blame, handing off work to other people, or skipping out of work early to hit the golf course, you’re not doing anything to encourage your employees to work hard.
Decide what you want from your employees, whether that’s hard work, creativity, problem-solving, honesty, or efficiency. Make sure you’re demonstrating those same characteristics to set the example.
Promote Team Bonding
Do things together beyond company meetings to grow your bond as a team. You can go with traditional options, such as a rec league sports team, weekly happy hour, or a night at the bowling alley. Or, get creative with activities such as a chili cookoff at your monthly potluck or an Olympics-style event.
Let Them Blow Off Steam
Focusing only on work increases the chances of employee burnout. Add entertaining or comfortable elements to the workplace to give your staff an escape during breaks. Ideas include beanbag chairs, over-the-door basketball hoops, ping pong tables, or a gaming console.
Using motivation techniques will keep your employees engaged and improve efficiency.
Simple strategies will encourage employees to use time efficiently, get creative, and come up with new solutions for your business.
