When it comes to understanding how to keep your employee’s motivation levels high, many leaders mistakenly think that money is the prime way to drive their employees to succeed. However, it has become apparent that this is not always the case.
While money is an important factor, when it comes to celebrating your employees; it is not the most critical factor. There are a number of other components that should be taken into consideration when aiming to keep your employee’s motivation levels high.
Achieving goals is one of the most important sources of intrinsic motivation. Your employees will maintain motivation if they are driven by an interest in the tasks you have set. Setting goals that are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and in a time-frame) will lead to greater output and a better team performance. By outlining this early, there will be little room for misunderstandings by team members, with open and honest communication encouraged by you as the leader.
Creating a company culture that allows staff to constantly feel empowered and self-motivated can be a challenge. Encouraging participation from your staff relies heavily on two-way communication, openness and the direct involvement of team members in the decision-making process. Everyone within the team should have a say, and this should be well received. Provide support and facilitate discussion as often as you can, whilst working together to solve any obstacles that may arise. As confidence and competence increases from the inside out, ensure you delegate tasks and grant greater responsibility to your team, particularly when it comes to problem-solving.
If you’re in the driver’s seat of your team, it can sometimes be hard to accept help. With this being said, if you start thinking that you know it all or can do it all by yourself, this is where issues can arise. There are many ways in which you can perfect your people skills; undergoing a Diploma of Human Resource Management for example. Familiarising yourself in a field that you may not feel 100% comfortable in is a great way to bring you back down to earth, teaching you most up to date ways of how to keep your employee’s motivation levels high and encouraging those around you.
Human Resource courses are a great option as they instil basic principles of teamwork, working with people to instil positive communication habits. By accepting help, you can also lead by example, proving to those around you that you’re constantly motivated to not only improve the work environment but to also improve yourself.
One of the most important parts of understanding how to keep your employee’s motivation levels high is investing time and energy into them. Every single person within the group should feel valued as a member, and as if their time and efforts are appreciated. Recognising their worth is an important part of motivating them, all managers should take the time to show that you are committed and proud of your team’s successes.
Similar to showing appreciation, celebrating big and small wins will help to motivate the members of your team. If you catch people doing something right, you should focus on rewarding your employees excellent performance. To an individual, you can provide positive reinforcements in a number of different ways: issuing awards, making personal phone calls, sending group emails, congratulatory notes or highlighting their name in a newsletter.
This will drive and empower your staff members to succeed, as they know their efforts are truly being noticed and rewarded. If an entire team succeeds, be sure to celebrate this appropriately. Take the team out for lunch or party, post pictures, put performance charts on the wall, give them plaques, certificates, coffee mugs etc. Recognition is key to a happy and motivated workforce.
There are so many low-cost ways that you can help to motivate your employees, requiring minimal effort on your part. Not only will this help to increase the corporate culture, but it will also encourage every member of your staff to do better in the hope of being recognised in the future.
