Well motivated employees produce better results.
How to Motivate Employees to Give Their Best
Motivation of employees is very important for the success and growth of any business, be it small, medium or large scale business. A team of motivated staff will constitute hard working employees and hence, help boost your business.
When people lose their motivation, their job performance suffers, they become less productive, less creative and less of an asset to the company. The bottom line is that, you pay a heavy price when employees have motivation issues.
Staff motivation is as important as your reason for setting up a business. If you are not ready to motivate your staff, or you do not believe in that philosophy, then you have no reason to set up a business.
There is a power behind employee motivation which a lot of employers overlook but the truth they do not understand is, the happier and motivated your employees are, the happier your customers would be, which will no doubt have a positive impact on your business.
Another thing employers should understand is that there is nothing like a general motivation. Just as people are different from each other, so also are people motivated by different things. In other words, what motivates you as an employer may not necessarily motivates your employees. And what motivates employee A may not motivate B and what motivates B may not motivate C.
This is what we call Individuality of Motivation. And to achieve this, you need to know your employees, not necessarily by asking them what motivates them but from your relationship and interaction with them, you should be able to understand the kind of person each of your employees are and what interest them.
Ways to Motivate Your Staff
Appreciation: The word ‘thank you’ is so small and often taken for granted, yet it is one of the most powerful words on people. A simple ‘thank-you’ to an employee for doing a good job or taking up an extra duty and doing it well shouldn’t go without mention. It should even be put into writing and put in the employee’s file.
Employee Development: You should be able to provide training, workshops and empowerment programs for your employees. Aside them using their skills and knowledge to work for you, you should also be able to add value to their lives. You shouldn’t look at the money you are going to spend on the program, or think you don’t need to make such investment as they could leave your employment one day.
The truth is that while they are with you, they would appreciate your effort and they would do your work well. They would know you are investing in them, and this will translate into improved job performance.
Even if you don’t want to pay for the full training, you could pay part of the amount or give them a loan. And most importantly, give them time to attend the training. It would do you good.
Good Working Environment: Another important way to motivate your employees is to provide a good and comfortable working environment for them, including comfortable chairs and desks. The office environment must be convenient all times.
Job Security: Your staff should have at least 80% job security. Yes, we have unforeseen circumstances but if they are always threatened with their jobs, knowing they could be asked to leave any time without prior notice, they would keep searching for jobs and giving excuses so as to go and attend interviews.
Create Time for Get-together: All work and no play, they say makes Jack a dull boy. Once a while, you and your employees need to come together in an off-work atmosphere. Everyone dressed casually and feeling relaxed. Good periods for such are Christmas and Easter periods. The venue can be at the beach or any recreational center, and the bill taken up by the company.
Good Wages: In as much as I believe that there is really no amount of money that you can pay any employee that can really be enough to satisfy their needs, I also would say, no employer has the right to under pay any employee. You should only employ staff that you can conveniently pay salaries or wages that measure up to what they do. And very importantly, at the end of the year, please, pay bonuses.