5 Ways to Successfully Motivate Your Employees

Many industries today place great importance on recruiting individuals that show the highest potential in terms of talent and skill. However, not enough effort is concentrated on retaining and developing the people they already employ. When a business fails to dedicate its time and efforts towards motivating its staff, it leads to poor performance and disgruntled employees that will likely start to seek other career opportunities to pursue. However, the right motivation can transform your staff into a dedicated force that will do everything they can to help the company rise to higher levels.

This post will explain 5 ways you can effectively motivate your staff and transform your workforce today.

Provide Security

Some employers have attempted to motivate their employees with the fear of losing their jobs. This is done with the belief that fear will push them to work harder. However, studies have shown that this will have the opposite effect. When employees are forced to work under insecure conditions, they will perform poorly will less energy and drive in the workplace.

When employees are forced to work under insecure conditions, they will perform poorly.[/tweet_box]

Instead, make sure that all of your staff is presented with reasonable pay, enjoyable working conditions, and job security. Once they understand that they are not being threatened, they will be able to refocus their efforts on the tasks at hand.

Pay Fairly, Not Excessively

Many employers also make the mistake of thinking that monetary rewards will always do the trick. On the contrary, studies have found that higher financial rewards pave the way towards lower output. Giving them easy raises and financial rewards will encourage your employees to become complacent. However, this does not mean you should enforce lower wages either, as this will lead to discontented employees. Focus on giving them a reasonable and fair salary instead.

Giving easy raises and financial rewards will encourage your employees to become complacent.[/tweet_box]

Help Your Employees Improve

An ideal job is one that not only guarantees security in life through wages, but also one that changes a person for the better. If your employees feel like working for you is an experience that constantly helps them learn and grow, they will work much more motivated to put in their best efforts. But how can you help your employees move forward?

Staying Relevant. If your recruitment was fruitful, you will have gained individuals that want to improve and advance throughout the careers. This means that your employees will want to stay relevant. They will actively seek new ways to learn and improve their skills. This is also great for the employer, because as their skill sets develop, more innovations and progress will be in reach for the company as a whole. As leaders, provide opportunities for your employees to improve themselves. Remember that your employees will be more driven by intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation.

Challenge Them. While rewards in the form of money work poorly, talented employees respond positively towards challenges. In fact, one of the strongest motivating drivers is how creative an employee feels as they work on their project. Give them projects that they can exercise their creative will in.

Allow Advancement. There is nothing more frustrating for an employee that is wishing to improve than knowing that they have no chance of moving forward. Help them out by opening doors of opportunity for them, so that advancement is possible. Create opportunities for them, and then open their eyes to what they can achieve in the future.

Be a Strong Leader

Be a leader that cares about his employees. Show them that you have their back and that you are always looking out for their best interests. This way, you will gain their trust as well as motivate them to achieve. Be direct in your communications and tell your staff exactly what you expect from them. Always give direct and honest feedback, so that they know your word can be trusted. In addition, try to include your employers and show that you value their opinions too. Rather than treating them like subordinates, look for new ways to include them and allow them to contribute their ideas to new projects and improvements.

Develop a Positive Working Culture

People are heavily influenced by their peers. In the right environment, peer motivation can be a strong factor in your workforce. When you are recruiting new members, make sure that they are the type of people that practice open communication and are able to thrive in collaborative settings. Encourage your staff to communicate with each other and develop friendly relationships through team building activities. If you have people that are encouraging and supportive, you will soon see your workforce grow as a whole.

Final Thoughts

Given that recruitment was successful, you have an incredibly talented and skilled workforce at your disposal, and it is up to you to bring them to their full potential. If you refocus a significant amount of effort and concentration on motivating your employees, your industry will be greatly rewarded. Not only will you have happier employees that are loyal to your company, you will see improvements in work productivity, performance, as well as skill and expertise.