It is every employer’s dream to build a highly motivated workforce. There is a lot to benefit when employees stay motivated. For starters, motivated employees are totally engaged and committed to an organization. They hit the office every day enthusiastic and ready to charge through the day. This means that there is low absenteeism and employee retention is high. In addition, there is increased performance and productivity.
However, keeping employees motivated is easier said than done. As a manager, you need to think outside the box for ways to motivate your employees if you are to drive results.
If you are currently struggling with this, here is actionable advice that you can implement to improve your efforts in driving employees’ motivation.
- Respect them
Nothing lowers a person’s motivation faster than being met with disrespectful insults and intimidation after working so hard on a project. Just because an employee didn’t work on a project as you expected doesn’t permit you to treat them badly. If anything, you should provide honest feedback in a respectful manner, and offer to guide them through the project to get your desired results. Your employees will feel motivated to work harder if you treat them respectfully.
- Give them trust
If you are constantly looking down on your employees’ necks to see how they are doing on a project, you could be doing more harm than good. You might think that you are supervising every step of the project in order to record better results. However, micromanaging your employees only tells them that you don’t trust them to handle their tasks.
Allow your employees to breathe and work at their pace. You should actually give them the freedom to choose where to work. Showing them that you trust them to perform on their own will motivate them to work diligently so as not to fail your trust in them.
- Offer better packages
The number one motivator for employees is the compensation they get for their hard work. It can be so discouraging to the employees availing themselves to work every day, yet what you are paying isn’t enough to cater for their needs. Offer competitive checks and other personal benefits such as medical cover and retirement plans among others.
If you are extending to other parts of the globe, you might forget to include your employees in those areas. It can be overwhelming running things if you are not familiar with the laws in those places. In this case, you might need to consider working with a local expert. For instance, if you are setting a business in Thailand, you need an expert to help with things such as Thailand’s company formation and hiring employees. Such an expert will help you do this compliantly. Above everything else though, this expert should help you extend employees’ benefits to your employees in compliance with the country’s labor laws.
- Recognise them
When employees have done an outstanding job, the least they expect is a pat on the back to show your appreciation. If it doesn’t come, they won’t ask for it, but they won’t see the need to outdo themselves in the other projects.
Never underestimate the power of praising your employees for a job well done. Just as you are quick to point out failure, you should also be quick to praise good work. In addition, have a recognition policy where you award outstanding employees from time to time.
- Don’t overwork them
Sometimes work may demand people to work for long hours. However, if you were to pay closer attention, you would realize that employees become demotivated if they work this way for a long time. In fact, it might surprise you to know that having an employee in the office throughout the day doesn’t mean he or she is producing the whole time.
Be mindful of their work-life balance. Allow them flexible schedules for them to work when they feel most productive. In addition, give them off days and time offs when they need it.
- Give them a purpose
It can be very hard to stay motivated if you have no idea what you are working towards. Likewise, if your employees don’t understand their purpose in achieving the company goals and objectives, motivating them can be a daunting task.
Explain to your employees the company vision and how their roles align with this vision. They will be motivated to work towards realizing this vision when they know that they are part of the bigger picture.
Conclusion
Your employees are helping you execute and carry your vision. It can be very overwhelming for you without them. In addition, you wouldn’t realize your goals if you are working with people who have no motivation. Incorporate the above tips to ensure that you are keeping motivated employees who are geared towards producing results.
Author: Matt Kimberly
Photo Credits: Prateek Katyal on Unsplash
