Are you noticing your employees aren’t as excited about their job as they used to be? Tired of all the complaining and sub-par work? Times are tough, and managers are finding it difficult to keep employees motivated. Your employees are the company’s greatest asset. It is their creativity and hard work that keeps your business going and growing, and as their manager it is your job to keep them motivated. Everyone is motivated to do something in their lives, but when they are not getting that professional motivation from employers, it is easy to become disinterested in their work. Bring that excitement back to the workplace by motivating your employees with these eight tips.
Inspire Them
Employees need transparency and honesty from their leaders. There is no better way to inspire them than by telling them like it is, even in troubling times. No one will be inspired by sunshine and rainbows if it isn’t the truth. Speak your truth and be passionate with your employees to inspire them to follow their leaders and continue on with them.
Share Your Vision
As an organization, it is important to have a mission statement and continually reference it. Making sure everyone is on the same page and is working towards the same goal motivates them to move forward, even during the most mundane or difficult tasks. Your employees want to know that they are a part of the future of the company and working towards that vision together.
Provide Opportunities to Grow
Your employees want the opportunity to prove themselves and move up in the company if possible. Instead of assigning the same tasks over and over again, provide them with more of a challenge and give some guidance on how to accomplish that task quickly and effectively. Learning by doing is an effective approach to growing with the company, and it is up to you to give them those opportunities.
Mentor Them
Not every leader/employee relationship can be like Jack and Liz on 30 Rock, nor should they be. However, taking an employee under your wing and mentoring them really shows how much you care about them and their success. Taking time to mentor makes employees feel valued and is motivating.
Compensate Them
Money does motivate employees, but only when it is combined with other factors. If you pay employees extremely well, but don’t listen to them, mentor them, and give them opportunities to succeed, then money alone will not motivate them. In the same vein, you can be doing everything else possible to make an employee feel valued and motivated, but if you are not compensating them appropriately they will never feel valued and will always be looking for an out.
Be Flexible
Aside from monetary compensation, there are other ways to compensate and keep your employees happy and motivate them. Allowing employees to set their own schedules and work from home makes their lives more manageable and instills a sense of trust.
Invest in them
Investing in your employees is an essential tool to motivate them. No matter how long they have been at your company or in your industry, it is important for them to continue in their education. No matter what industry you are in, it is continually changing and the only way for them to be an asset to your business is to learn and change with it. That reassurance that you want them to succeed by allowing them the time and space to learn is one of the most motivating things you can do.
Self-Motivation
While it may feel like motivating employees falls entirely on their leader, that is not true. Even with the best employer, employees need to also motivate themselves. There is only so much another person can do to motivate, and it is up to the employee to take what is given them and run with it. Sometimes the employer isn’t going to motivate them the way they need or want, and they need to still be enthusiastic and get their job done.
It is time to bring the enthusiasm back to your company. Help your employees remember why they wanted to work for you in the first place, and what they loved about your industry when they started. If you are an effective leader, you can motivate your employees to work hard and bring that liveliness back to the workplace.
