Employee Motivation Day

21st January 2015

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Motivation is a mixture of internal and external factors which stimulate the desire within the employee to perform well and stay interested in their role and the organisation. These factors will be personal to each employee and therefore applying just one form of reward may actually act as a demotivater.

Studies have shown that financial reward isn’t a primary motivator to a lot of employees despite 94% of organisations offering an annual financial incentive to UK staff. So if money doesn’t always work what else does?

Enjoying their job – seems very simple but it’s true. Employees who enjoy their job and want to come to work will be more motivated to turn up and be engaged when at work. As an employer, simply asking an employee if there is anything you can do to make their job less stressful or comfortable will go a long way towards them feeling you care.
Good working relationships – Building teams and trust is crucial and can be facilitated by the employer easily by encouraging a cohesive working group. Raising money for charity or dress down Fridays allow people to talk about something other than work.
Control over their role – the person who does the job every day will know ways to do it quicker and easier – its human nature to find the easiest way! Therefore ask what can be done and make them feel empowered over their position. Be careful to complete the exercise otherwise the employee can become demotivated if they feel they are then ignored – if their ideas are unfeasible tell them why but still praise them.
Praise and recognition – we all like to be acknowledged for what we do and this can be a simple thank you or a more formal recognition system. Whichever you choose be consistent and sincere.
Coaching – proactively ask your employees if they feel they need coaching or training in any way. Some employees may not be able to ask for help for fear of looking like they can’t do their job properly – asking them could unlock more talent and productivity.
Flexible working – this can be a minefield for employers but allowing your staff an element of flexibility shows that they are trusted and being treated as an individual rather than a number. Communicating what is expected of them with regards to time keeping etc. may prevent abuse but overall trust is a generous motivator.
Career path – employees will feel more inclined to put effort in if they can see where they are going. Not all employees are going to be the General Manager but they want to feel that they could be if they are given direction and options. If only family members, for example, make management, then employees will question their future and become disengaged.
Clean and safe working environment – are the toilets maintained well? Is there always a supply of tea and coffee and a clean place to make a drink? These factors will flag up to the employee that you don’t really care about them and their welfare. If you don’t care about their basic needs, then they won’t care about performing well for you.
Know your staff – making the effort to get your employees hobbies and interests shows them they are a valued member of them team and worth investing your time and effort in.
Tools – do your staff have the right tools to do their job? If their computer is always slow or the printer is always broken, this can affect not only productivity but the desire to perform well.

We have made suggestions with minimum cost and effort
but which may bring large rewards.
You could ask your staff what would motivate them – they may surprise you!!

If you would like to talk us about ways in which you could motivate and engage your staff, please email Denise here.

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