An age-old question among organizational leaders is: “How can I motivate my employees?” Importantly, there is no singular answer to this question – but luckily, I have more than a few suggestions. Let’s begin by breaking down the essential components of a healthy workplace:
Setting If your workplace is poorly lit, terribly cold, or dirty or deficient in any significant way, you should do all you can to correct those issues. Employees who are forced to spend their days in a workplace below reasonable standards are highly unlikely to go above and beyond for the organization.
Compensation Employees expect fair and competitive wages as a basic component of employment. Make sure you hit this one on the head; then, wherever you can, embrace incentive plans that reflect performance. When individual or team results exceed expectations and bonuses are paid out as a result, everyone wins.
Benefits Package Many companies provide comprehensive benefit programs covering time off, medical care, insurance, and the like. If benefits are already apart of your company’s offerings, a positive step in this area relates directly to communication — make sure everyone understands the benefit programs and how and where to ask questions and get answers.
Executive Communication Never forget that your everyday rapport with your employees directly impacts morale. Work hard to be positive and encouraging, and be sure that your discussions are clear, thorough, and open to further inquiry. Your employees should never feel confused.
Attention from Leadership When your people have questions, go out of your way to hear them out. There should be clear, mutual agreement about the work to be done and the path forward. Pay particular attention to ideas and suggestions for improvement. At Tractor Supply Company, the best ideas about improving the product selection came from listening to the salespeople in the stores.
Engagement Many of the surveys about employee satisfaction will tell you that encouraging team members at every level to get engaged in the inner workings of the business can play an important part in retention. When your people understand the details of the business, they will better understand the importance of their role. In my experience, this translates to better performance. Keep no secrets – share everything.
We have now covered a half-dozen basic points about creating an environment conducive to employee motivation. If you have all of these in your tool box, you are off to a good start. But if you learn nothing else from this article, drill these words into your brain: “Recognition is the number one motivator.” Spoken by a key mentor in my life, this sentiment proved true throughout my decades of leadership. The following are a few thoughts about how to use recognition in the workplace:
Simple Pat on the Back — Whenever a task has been completed successfully, bring attention to it and do so regularly. When I leave work with a little recognition, I feel better about myself and am likely to work even harder the next day. Plus, I might have a few constructive suggestions about the business.
Team Pat on the Back — Let’s say the team has achieved its goal ahead of time, or the big job was completed under budget. Now is the time for a team meeting in which you pat everyone on the back for a job well done. If the success is a particularly big one, you may even want to host a celebration of sorts.
Written Pat on the Back — Written recognition can be very powerful. Your employee might display your note in their office – or even at home. To ensure a particularly lasting impact, make sure a copy winds up in their personnel file at your organization.
Now, it is time to challenge yourself: how many pats on the back did I give this week?
Never underestimate the power of a motivated team, and don’t forget that “recognition is the number one motivator”!
published Nashville Business Journal
