14 Great tips for motivating your employees

It is obvious that you wanted to have your own business venture and you had a strong desire to have something of your own. This is the place where you want to give the best market value. Hence it is understandable when you have that inner motivation  which helps you work harder. 

However, you cannot expect your employees to have the same motivation. Many of them are working for their own career and they mean their salary. But if you want to build a sustainable business organization, the contributions made by your employees are equally important. For this, employee job satisfaction and employee engagement are crucial. 

As an entrepreneur you have to make sure that employees are feeling connected to the business. Giving out incentives, maintaining a positive report with as many employees as possible, taking care of their work issues, solving their grievances, and helping them in need are the basic to-do things for any business owner.

Your team can work with the utmost productivity if it is motivated enough. So here are 14 tips to keep the team motivated.

Recognize their efforts.

If you wonder how motivating your employees or recognizing their efforts will be helpful to you, let us understand how humankind works. Well, we all know that any living animal, including humans that can be trained or educated, would perform better if given incentives and praised for doing the right task.

Hear your HR team has to be active in developing recognition programs and conducting employee satisfaction campaigns within the organization.

Recognizing efforts create a positive emotional connection between employer and the staff which is important for employee retention and the Atmosphere productivity of the employee. Plus any human would want nothing else but a sense of belonging and esteem. Spot bonuses are effective in this sense. It can be anything from cash, gift cards, extra salary, trip, dinner treat, etc.

Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value. – Albert Einstein

Convey to them your trust.

If you can successfully convey to the employees that you trust them, and depend on them for even the most important task, they will not fail you. They would not mind going the extra mile for the organization to get the allowed task done, as they know that the organization trusts them and they are chosen to do the crucial task. This approach from your and the employee’s side would help the association to go a long way.

Having a work uniform might be a good idea.

Army, sports team, doctors, or lawyers community for that matter. There is one thing common in all of these sectors. They all wear similar uniforms, they are recognized by the uniforms and they stand out as one because of their uniforms. Why not deploy the same sense of unity and team spirit in the organization by deciding a workplace dressing code?

Set Smaller Goals

Every business has a goal and every business wants to earn a revenue of certain figures. But an entrepreneur cannot burden the employees and with larger than life goals. Entrepreneur’s job will be to set smaller and achievable goals for the employees so that they feel confident and interest in the work and gain enough courage and enthusiasm to go for bigger goals.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit. – Aristotle

Imbibe a Purpose of Business In Their Mind.

There is always a purpose behind any and every act. Once the purpose is known, the strategy planning and execution becomes more meaningful. Conveying the purpose in the right way allows your employees to see the bigger picture and fit their duties and role in that.

Keep it Positive

Keep sharing those positive thoughts and pep talks from your side for the employees. If you are enthusiastic about something, let the employees feel the same. Add some fun to your work activities. Conduct small games during meal breaks. Try to keep the ambiance happy.

Fall seven times and stand up eight. – Japanese Proverb

Transparency is the Key

Transparency is important for team spirit, productivity and to keep the team on the same track as you are. Horizontal hierarchy makes sure that the employees and junior level subordinates are also aware of what decisions the higher management is taking. This helps them in trusting the company more.

Focus on Individuals

While on one side you will be focusing on team goals and accomplishments; you have to think about the individual employee and his/her contribution too. The team is made up of individuals and if they are happy, the team is happy. 

Know what they do and don’t like:

Ask your employees what they like and don’t like in the daily work that they perform in the office. Share the company’s goals with them and ask them to come up with their doubts, and suggestions. If there is something they want to take care of voluntarily, allow them to share their thoughts and if possible assign the work to them.

Feedback

It is a good idea to share feedback to the employees and receive their feedback too. This way, you know what is the perspective developed by the management and employees and if it is in alignment with the business goals. Adopt an open-door policy.

Balancing the work and personal life

The aim always has to be to create a balance between work and personal life. Both the personal and professional life has to be spent well in order to enjoy life happily. Employees have to be given vacation leaves, weekly offs, and leaves in the special days of life. These are the moments they are going to cherish and you do not want to spoil it.

“Don’t confuse having a career with having a life.” ―Hillary Clinton

Politeness

No matter what position you are working in, in this organization, it is a basic etiquette to treat everybody around you politely. What values you imbibe within the organization and how to treat the subordinates, will impact your employees’ behavior and work ethics.

Allow Them to Lead

Employees would be interested in their job when they feel the ownership towards it. Mere salary hike and vacation will not be enough to make them feel the responsibility towards their jobs. One way of letting them give their best in their respective roles is by letting them lead.

“Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple and it is also that difficult.” – Warren Bennis

Make Them Look at the Bigger Picture

It is crucial to show your employees a bigger picture. They should know how far the organization is planning to move and what are the factors that need to be taken care of by each employee in order to reach the goal. The bigger picture will help them understand how their job roles will contribute to meeting the end goal. 

Keeping employees motivated is an effective way of leading to long term business growth.  Motivated employees are the real assets of any organization.