Having a productive workplace doesn’t mean that you have to push your employees to work harder. It’s like the saying goes: It’s easier to attract flies with honey than it is with vinegar!
In other words, to get the best out of your employees, you have to inspire them to want to work hard for you. You have to motivate them and let them feel that they are part of the success of the business and not just another cog in the wheel.
Motivating your employees is key to a business’s success. The level of commitment, drive and energy that a company’s staff bring to work every day has a significant impact on the growth of a business.
Below Are Five Simple Ways to Motivate Your Employees to Do Their Best
Set Goals and Recognize Success
Employees want and should have a challenge. Showing up every day with the same menial tasks to work on with no goal in sight, it becomes easy to be unmotivated.
By setting achievable goals for your employees, you allow them to work towards something concrete and will also give you something to measure their performance.
Then there is recognizing when they do well and achieve their own goals and not just the goals of the company. This validates them as people and not just a productive employee.
You should encourage them to tell you about their personal goals and then when they achieve it, recognize it with something special.
A step challenge or office fitness challenge app is a program in which employees can compete throughout the day by trying to achieve pre-established step goals and achieve personal goals like staying healthy.
Pay Them Well
Paying your top employees a competitive salary is a great way to keep these valued employees motivated and inspired, especially if their performance merits a raise, give them one, this lets them know that they are valued and appreciated.
If you pay your employees generously, then you can expect more from them and hold them to a higher standard, and they too will expect more from themselves.
If you want people to jump high, you need to set the bar high, and you cannot excite top performers with low expectations.
Care About their Future
Showing interest and involvement in the future of your employees does wonders when it comes to motivation. You could create opportunities for your employees to move up within your business by either offering them a bursary or funding their studies to further their education.
Employees feel valued, motivated, and essential when they think that you care about where they are headed within the company as well as in their career.
Make the Environment Pleasant
No one wants to stand around in a dull space for hours on end. If you have an aesthetically pleasing, functional, and fun space, you will make work a lot more pleasant for your employees.
The first step is to make sure that you have updated working equipment. Smartening up your space does not have to be expensive; you could feature a few local artists or pick up exciting furniture pieces at a flea market.
Asking for your employees input into how the space should be decorated will go a long way towards feeling like they have a say in things. They can also tell you where there are layout issues that can be changed to make their jobs easier.
If they have to make a lot of stops throughout the office then putting things in the same area can prevent a lot of wasted time.
All these little touches will make things a lot more enjoyable for your employees.
Be Respectful and Supportive
Things like respect, honesty, support, and clear communication are the foundations of a successful business and may seem like a no-brainer.
Being respectful towards your employees can be a deciding factor of an employee running for the hills because let us face it, no one wants to feel that they are mistreated and not respected.
Keeping your employees motivated to work hard and to put forth their best efforts is key to a successful and healthy business.
Some employees may need a nudge to work harder, and some that do it on their own, despite this, managers play an important role in motivation.
