Use These Tips to Motivate Your Employees

Do your employees drag themselves into work? Is office laughter something of the past? This is a clear sign that your employees’ morale is in need of a boost. After all, low morale can lead to poor cooperation, low productivity and increased turnover, ultimately hindering a business from reaching its goals.

It is a reality that morale can quickly build or break a company’s success, effective leaders often keep a close eye on it and enlist simple and creative approaches to strengthen it. The following ae some of the ways that can motivate your employees:

Make your Employees Feel that their Work is more than just a Job

Everyone wants to feel that his or her work has a higher purpose. Sometimes, though, that purpose gets lost in the day-to-day grind. One of the key ways that as an employer, show them the value of their work. When an employee feels that whatever he or she does is just a job, they may not give their best as they will be working just for the sake of getting their salaries, but when they feel like they also own what they do, they will be able to expound on everything that they engage on.

Such are the things that will help both the company and the employee to grow.

Take time to Creatively Celebrate Accomplishments

It’s natural to focus on what’s ahead rather than reflect on how much has been achieved. Taking time to reflect, though, helps employees appreciate how much they have done. It is natural that human beings feel good when they are celebrated whenever they achieve anything.

It may not sound as something big but in itself, it motivates one and makes them feel recognized. This can be achieved through taking them for dinner, acknowledge their success during a board meeting or just tell them thank you.

Provide Continuous Feedback

Immediate, continuous feedback lets an employee know that their actions affect the company. It’s hard for you, and the employee, to remember specific incidents when employee performance review time rolls around. Goal-setting theory predicts (quite obviously) that employees are motivated by setting goals and by receiving continuous feedback on where they stand relative to those goals. More recent research shows just how motivating it can be when employees know they are making progress.

Always be specific in your feedback. For example, instead of telling an employee he, “did a great job,” compliment him on the way he organized his presentation, the citations he used, or his public speaking style. He’ll be more likely to apply these strengths to his next project if you point them out specifically.

Read: Employers Share What Makes an Ideal Employee: Unspoken Mantra of Employment

Believe in Your Employees

Whether you tell him so during an employee performance review, or in the breakroom, an employee whose boss constantly calls him worthless, or a screw-up will feel a lot of emotions. He will not, however, feel particularly motivated to improve his performance.

Present weakness or errors in the context of, “I know you can do better. You’re smart and capable…and that’s why I expect more from you.” The perception of leaders’ trust is a key component of transformational leadership.

Make Rewards Achievable

Everyone is familiar with the annual bonus trip awarded to the top-performing employee. The problem is, such rewards usually go to one or two employees. This leaves the rest of your staff feeling like there’s not much point in working hard because the same few people always reap the rewards. Remember the other end of Vroom’s expectancy equation, which offers that individuals must also see the desired performance and linked reward as possible.

Set up a series of smaller rewards throughout the year to motivate ongoing performance excellence. For example, instead of an annual trip, award several three-day getaways for each quarter. Vary the basis for the awards. Top sales might be one category, but so can top research or most diligent. Recognize that several types of excellence motivate your employees to focus on additional areas of their performance.

Encourage your team to take this same approach when you’re trying to motivate your employees for a major event.

Set Small Measurable Goals

It can be incredibly demoralizing to work on a project that seems like it will never end. Visible progress not only feels good, it’s also a clear indicator that our work is making a difference. Setting clear, achievable goals provides a real boost of motivation each time one is conquered. You can magnify that effect by taking the next step, and celebrating those achievements.

Stay Positive

Nobody likes having a conversation about how poorly they’ve done. It’s true that expecting nothing but rainbows and sunshine all day every day is a bit unrealistic, but even those of us with ‘thick skin’ have a tolerance threshold for negativity.

The good news is that it’s just as easy, perhaps even easier to provide direction via positive reinforcement. Instead of telling a teammate where they went wrong, focus on the things they did right. It turns out that happiness and positivity play a greater role in the success of your business than you’d ever imagine.

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