Motivated Employees Equal Productive Employees
Companies that want to continually grow and boost their operational efficiency may, at some point, hit something of a wall. In the continual pursuit of growth, there can sometimes be hiccups — including those that come because people may not always be as motivated as they could be. But it stands to reason that when employees are motivated to show up and do the best possible job every day, they're going to help both themselves and their companies succeed as time goes on. That level of productivity isn't always easy to achieve, but it's something companies will want to bottle, so to speak. As such, the question for many business owners, executives and other decision-makers should often be, "How do I keep my employees motivated on a regular basis?"
There are many schools of thought on how companies can keep employees engaged in the long term, but there may be two foundational ideas that will help to ensure the kind of motivation and buy-in companies so often seek is just a part of a corporate culture. The more important of these two pillars is ensuring workers have equity in any success a company has. When incentives — whatever they may be — are put in place for meeting sales goals, getting projects completed on-time or on-budget and so on, people are generally going to find a real value from putting in the work necessary to continually meet company needs.
However, while companies can move to institute these plans now, they must keep in mind the second pillar: the need to make sure any hire they make understands the culture around the office and can be honest about finding a good fit. Any hire that doesn't work out can not only set companies back in meeting their goals, but also negatively affect productivity for entire teams. Overall, though, it may simply be wise for companies to get a little more proactive about listening to and acting upon employee feedback so that any issues that arise — especially as companies focus on growth — can be dealt with expediently instead of being left to linger.
What makes for strong employee moral at work?
With that in mind, perhaps the most important aspect of maintaining a motivated workforce is communication. When employers and employees are able to maintain open lines of communication and feel as though they're all on the same page, they are far more likely to also feel as though they're pulling in the same direction. When everyone knows what's at stake, what's expected of them and what resources might be available to help them meet or exceed their goals, there's always likely to be more motivation for employees to continually show up and do the best job possible while still maintaining a strong work life balance. Ensuring workers don't burn themselves out when chasing deadlines and trying to meet internal goals is likewise very important to making sure employees are content in their jobs.
When to Start Engaging Employees in Motivation?
It may also be vital for companies to become a little more conscious of the need to provide significant incentives and recognition when people do exemplary work. For instance, instituting rewards for employees who do certain tasks — "most referrals gets a trophy," for example — could be a great way to start, but it's also important for companies to go above and beyond sometimes. Recognition like employee of the month awards — and those that might be a little more creative and perhaps less focused on work performance specifically — can go a long way toward making people feel like they have something to achieve in addition to the satisfaction of a job well done. Indeed, introducing awards and incentives that reward employees for pursuing both shortand long-term goals could help keep everyone deeply invested in the pursuit of the organizational goals as they are laid out.
In addition, other events are certainly worth celebrating over the course of the year, and we note that more can be done to keep those in mind as well. For instance, there's no reason companies shouldn't have a system that automatically reminds higher-ups about every employee's birthday, or an employee's years of service with the company. That provides actionable information that companies can use to provide gifts that likewise help employees feel as though they're valuable; in fact, because most people aren't going to remember their start dates on a long-term basis, those kinds of employee anniversary presents could be a delightful surprise that makes them more motivated to help push their companies forward.
Similarly, a quick public recognition of good work an employee has done will help them feel more engaged, according to Business.com. This can be as simple as acknowledging an exemplary job a team or individual did on a specific project during a team meeting, or sending a weekly email that highlights some of the great work being done around the company. These may seem like little touches, but they're the kind of thing that might be initially unexpected, and really appreciated. And once they're built into the fabric of a company's culture, workers will know implicitly that everything they do to succeed within the business is valuable. That, in turn, may make them far more likely to keep up their motivation as time goes on.
Keeping the Focus on Motivation and Engagement
Of course, employee gifts and kind words are great motivators, but there's often no substitute for rewarding work, and companies need to make sure they're meeting employee needs and expectations on an ongoing basis in this regard as well, Inc. noted. That means using those open lines of communication to ensure everyone has everything they need to complete the tasks at hand and keep everyone involved in the loop, while also ensuring people are empowered to work as independently as they need or want without feeling as though they're being micro-managed. This kind of balance requires a certain level of trust from employers, certainly, but when there's a good existing relationship — built on the understanding that workers will always be given what they need to complete the task at hand — there's little need for companies to be concerned that workers won't pull their weight. Moreover, when everyone is working on that same level of trust, there's likely to be more continual visibility within the company of what's going on.
Finally, it might be wise for businesses to start thinking "outside the box" to further boost motivation. One area where this might be possible is by changing how companies operate on Fridays — typically considered the least productive day of the week, probably for obvious reasons. Here, too, the carrot might be better than the stick to keep employees engaged; if businesses start offering "summer hours" where their employees get out a few hours earlier than normal, or buy breakfast or lunch for those who are able to meet weekly goals early. Some companies have even let employees start taking unlimited days off as long as they can still meet all their goals. So if someone can get their work for the week done in three days and wants to take a four-day weekend, it doesn't really make a difference to their employers as long as they're reachable via phone or email.
When companies are able to continually put their employees' efforts front and center for celebration and recognition — in whatever form that may take — they're likely to have a far more motivated and engaged workforce. That, in turn, will probably help everyone involved succeed professionally while also keeping them happy in their positions.