As an employer, keeping your employees consistently motivated to work might seem like an impossible task. As a business owner, one of the key skills you should be able to execute is engaging with the people that work for you, and to offer challenges to keep them motivated to actually do the jobs that you’re hiring them for. With motivation comes better efficiency and productivity, so what have you got to lose? To help you start, we’ve pulled together a few ways to keep your employees motivated at even the most tedious of times.
Recognise And Reward
It can’t be stressed enough just how important it is to recognise what your employees do for you and reward them for their efforts. While it may not be feasible to give every employee a reward for every day of work that they do (they are getting paid, after all!) it’s worth making an effort to thank them for when they go above and beyond their basic duties. Whether you choose to provide a financial reward, or you’d rather organise vouchers for a skin peel facial, your employees will likely appreciate any show of your appreciation regardless! When people know that they are doing well and it is recognised by their employer, not only does motivation increase, but so does work ethic and general mood!
Give Consistent Feedback
Keeping your employees up to date with feedback is a key aspect of keeping them motivated. If they’re starting to flag on quality or quantity, then give them constructive feedback on how they can improve to give them the leg up they may need – after all, if they don’t know it’s not right, they won’t know that they need to be doing better! Of course, it’s important to be careful with the tone you take with your feedback, as too much negativity could have the complete opposite effect.
Communicate
Communication among your office or business is another vital aspect of work motivation. You may not realise, but when things aren’t going well in the business, the atmosphere changes, and for employees who may not know what the issue is, this can be disconcerting and uncomfortable. By communicating with your employees, you could not only motivate them to do better to improve the atmosphere, but you could also find that one or more of them have an idea to fix the issue that you’ve never thought of before! On the opposite end of the spectrum, send around emails or notes about any positive feedback from clients or anything good that happens to your business. It’ll help your employees feel like they are making a difference and are actually part of the company!
Don’t Take Advantage Of Them
Whatever you do, do not take advantage of the people you hire. You may feel like you have a right to demand service from the people that you employee, and to an extent you do, but you have to remember that they are also human. If you consistently challenge your employees and take advantage of their willingness to work without giving them any rewards or even a simple ‘thank you’, then you may find that they don’t keep it up for long! Flexi-time, discounts and recognition programs, such as employee of the month, could work as motivators, and show that you appreciate everything your employees do.
Try To Eliminate Boredom
Boredom is a brain killer, and when your brain is bored, it’s not going to want to work. If you know for a fact that your business isn’t necessarily the most entertaining of ventures, especially if you have employees doing data entry and similar, it may be worth looking into ways to keep boredom at bay while they work. Whether that’s by allowing headphones, having a radio in the office, or even offering short but regular breaks to give your employees a chance to refresh and check in on their loved ones, having something in place will certainly keep your employees fresh and motivated for a whole lot longer!
Your job as the employer is to provide your employees with the right environment for them to work, and if you can do this successfully, you’ll have a motivated workforce in no time. Motivation can lead to higher productivity and better quality of the work being done, so can you really afford not to?
