Creating Exceptional Staff Motivation
If you are an employer you should appreciate that your staff are a valuable asset that you need to keep motivated, engaged and committed. Remember your staff are people with lives and aspirations beyond the workplace.
It is important to point out that offering higher wages as an incentive will only work in the short term.
To create a positive work ethic requires you to demonstrate to your staff that you genuinely care about them. You should not ignore financial reward but there are other more important behaviours you should adopt.
Recognition. Your staff are a principle asset, get to know them, their families, their pastimes, birthdays, etc. Say “thank you” recognising the effort they put in but importantly make it personal.
Avoid micromanaging. Unless there is a real training need show them you trust them to get on with the job and to perform it in a way that works for them as well as for you. Strict procedures, unless for genuine, essential reasons, for example health and safety, stifle creativity and ownership of performance of the job.
Share your vision for the business and make your staff part of the process. Being aspirational and inspirational will help them engage with what you are striving to achieve. Importantly show the “how” and “why” as well as the “what”.
Having shared your vision create the opportunity for your staff to make suggestions as to how they can contribute towards achieving it. Allowing them to be part of the process demonstrates you value them. Importantly do not disregard any inputs, if you think it won’t work take the time to discuss why. You never know what advantageous alternative could be uncovered.
Set targets. Most of us enjoy a bit of competition, setting reasonable goals for individuals or teams will distract them from the repetitiveness or mundane aspects of the daily routine. Setting targets works as an incentive.
Finally but by no means least have an understanding of each of your staff members’ ambitions and where reasonable enable them to achieve them. If it is not realistic explain why and work with them towards a more achievable but demanding aspiration.