7 Ways To Motivate Your Employees In Your Workplace

If you want to improve employee engagement, improving employee motivation is a good place to start. Motivating your employees is not the same as babysitting them. Nor is employee motivation about enticing them with gifts and prizes to inspire them to action. Motivating your employees is about changing the culture of the company and making sure that the work environment is conducive to productivity. But where to start?

Let’s take a look at seven ways you can motivate your employees more effectively:

1.Ensure that employees feel valued for their efforts.

In a study that surveyed 1200 employees from various industries in the US, the majority of respondents (70%) indicated that their most meaningful recognition had no dollar value. In this case, “recognition without monetary value” referred to praise from colleagues, recognition for special work performance, and praise from supervisors, as opposed to rewards or gifts with a specific monetary value (e.g. gift cards or trophies). So what we’re saying here is that you don’t need to spend a lot of money on recognition – just make an effort to thank employees for a job well done.

2.Align rewards and incentives with employees’ intrinsic motivators.

If employees are only motivated to perform well by a dangling carrot in the form of rewards, they are unlikely to be motivated for long, and it’s not sustainable to boot. Recognition is a far more effective means of ensuring sustainable motivation; formal or informal recognition usually comes as a result of excellent work and strengthens employees’ inner drive to do a good job.

Employees will be more inclined to work hard for incentives they value; remember that not everyone is motivated by the same things in life. Therefore, companies will achieve better results if employees have a variety of incentive options from which to choose. (See also: Employee rewards: Give your employees what they really want).

3.Turn managers into coaches

The best managers are those who are not only able to elicit the best performance from their employees but are also able to recognize an employee’s potential and help them develop – which benefits the individual and the company, and improves employee engagement. Yes, managers have a role in holding their teams accountable for their work, ensuring that the right processes are followed, and putting out fires; but a workplace where managers slow down success through unnecessary gatekeeping can extinguish motivation rather than ignite it.

4.Provide easily accessible learning and skills development opportunities

Without easy access to resources to improve their skills or gain a deeper understanding of their field and role, employees may become bored or experience their day-to-day work as monotonous or a dead end. Give your employees access to training opportunities, both work-related and for future skills, and allow them to create a learning path that fits their career goals within the organization.

5.Cultivate a culture of mutual support

Cultivate a culture of mutual support by emphasizing the importance of teamwork and not just individual performance. Motivate employees by recognizing excellent work done by teams; this leads to the team and organizational pride, which in turn turns employees into brand ambassadors.

6.Enable open communication and information sharing

Employees who feel disconnected from the companies they work for are far less motivated and engaged at work, as a lack of communication also limits individual agency (the ability to continue working based on an informed understanding of company goals, etc.) as well as a sense of community (fostered by the ability to ask for help, receive feedback and feel connected to colleagues, even if they work from different locations).

7.Create an enjoyable working environment

Having fun at work does not have to mean “all play and no work”. Nor does it necessarily mean that a company needs a pool table and nap pods to keep employees happy. A pleasant work environment is simply one where employees are happy. Cultivate a company culture where individuals feel fulfilled by their work and opportunities, and provide planned and unplanned occasions to get employees to unwind once in a while (e.g. birthday parties or surprise raffles).

Visit findmyjob.lk to see how we can help you motivate and sustainably retain employees in the workplace.