4 tips to keep your employees motivated

Employee motivation is key to seeing success in your business and key in making sure that tasks are being performed correctly.

That last point is often overlooked. If someone isn’t motivated to do the work, they aren’t going to give it their all are they?

Let’s imagine a cleaner for a second. They’ve been in the business for 5 years and they don’t feel like they’re getting anything out of it anymore, they’re bored, they aren’t motivated. When they head to their next job, are they going to give it their all? No! Course they’re not. They’re going to get the job done as quickly as possible and then leave.

But how can you help keep you employees motivated? Is there a big secret way to do it? Are there steps to take to help them maintain motivation?

Well, no and yes respectively. You can motivate your staff in a whole host of different ways and you don’t have to be Mr Motivator to know how to do it. It’s all dependent on the individual staff members, what makes them tick? What do they not enjoy about their job?

In this blog I’m going to look at 4 of the most popular ways to motivate your work force.

Incentives

This motivation tool is the oldest in the book and for good reason. It’s fact that people work harder when they know that they’re working towards something.

You don’t have to offer anything massive like a flat screen TV, just something that shows that you appreciate their hard work. Why not set targets and if a team or staff member meets those targets give them an extra day’s holiday, buy them lunch or a gift.

If they know they’re going to get something out of their job, they’ll work for it.

Lead by example

Your employees look to you for guidance, inspiration and motivation. If you aren’t motivated to work or are constantly complaining about the fact that you have to come in, it’ll soon rub off on your staff members.

Regardless of how rubbish you feel about coming into work, in front of your staff you should portray the attitude that you want to see from them.

Why should they be motivated to work if you aren’t?

Recognition

This tip isn’t too dissimilar from incentives, but there is a slight difference. If someone has worked hard one week, done a great job of something, really helped you out, then thank them. Recognise the fact that they’re a valuable member of the team. You don’t have to shower with them with gifts, just let them know, whether that’s in an e-mail or face to face.

If they know they’re being recognised for their hard work, they’ll keep it up.

Get everyone involved

One of the biggest killers of motivation is feeling undervalued and it’s common in large corporations. To keep this at bay ensure that all of your staff members in the loop. Invite them to important meetings, listen to their opinions, take action on their opinions.

If they feel that they’re adding to the company and helping improve it they’re going to feel valued as a person.

Motivating your workforce doesn’t have to be an impossible task. Just let them know that they’re worth something, and the job they’re doing can be rewarding.