Motivating Employees

Successfully motivating your employees will help you achieve and maintain business goals. Ultimately, you want to create an environment that allows your employees to meet or exceed expectations, do their best and feel valued. While employees are clearly motivated by tangible rewards such as salary and promotion, there are more intangible factors such as mentoring, personal and professional growth and the ability to work on independent projects.

Motivational Drivers

We are all individuals with different needs and aspirations, so what motivates one employee may not motivate another. Creating a work environment which includes a range of motivators can result in improved performance as well as increased retention and enthusiasm for the company.

The following is a brief summary of different motivators:

• Opportunities for promotion
• Giving employees the freedom to work independently
• Challenging and satisfying projects
• Personal and professional growth – training and professional development
• Status/power which can be represented in a job title
• Responsibility and trust by allowing employees to work without unnecessary supervision
• Promoting the building of relationships with colleagues and customers
• Recognition of employees’ performance and contribution
• Financial rewards and incentives
• Flexible work arrangements that allow employees to accommodate personal needs

How to Motivate Your Employees

These strategies may motivate your employees to contribute to your businesses performance:

• When the jobs are more challenging and interesting, employees may find they feel more accomplished and satisfied.
• Consider lateral moves if you can’t promote employees. Many times, people like to do different jobs to build their skills and knowledge.
• Get to know your employees--learn about their interests and what is important to them.
• Recognize employees’ efforts and achievements by personally thanking them for a job well done.
• Publicly recognize your employees by highlighting achievements at meetings, and on the company intranet.
• Create opportunities for social interaction such as a company sports team.